Do you feel that Rattlesnake hunting is legitimate hunting?

Do you feel rattlesnake hunting is a legitimate form of hunting.

  • Yes

    Votes: 63 75.0%

  • No

    Votes: 8 9.5%

  • On the fence need more info

    Votes: 13 15.5%
  • Total voters
    84
  • Poll closed .
Rattlesnakes are FAR more common than most city slickers/animal rights advocates think.
They are quiet when you are at a distance and blend into their environment almost perfectly. They are also pretty darned good at finding places to hide.

Even if you know what to look for and are good at finding them there are almost certainly more out of your reach than are within your reach.
Out on the ranch they tended to kill them on principle because of the danger to the livestock as well as a strong desire to never find them in the house.

That being said I never really felt the need to shoot them unless I was in personal danger. I see the guys who hunt them for a living as about half nuts, surely there are ways to make the same amount of money without repeatedly handling creatures that are that deadly. Different strokes I guess.
 
I think that rattlesnake hunting is just as legitimate as rabbit or squirrel hunting, only if you mess up you may end up going to the hospital.
 
Somehow, to me, there is something wrong with a government that protects rattlesnakes. Something akin to "Professional Courtesy."

Bob Wright
 
Animals Rights people want to outlaw all hunting but you don't swallow an elephant whole. If they can outlaw the hunting of any animal it takes them one step farther toward outlawing all hunting. Let'm outlaw hunting snakes now and later you could be sitting home on what used to be the opening day of deer season.
 
jeepstrapped said:
Do you need a magnum caliber to shoot them?

I'd imagine a heart or lung shot would be a little tough.
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A bud of mine is a professional rattlesnake wrangler and he catches them live, takes them home and keeps them in cages until ready for harvest.

He sells the meat, the skin, the head and the rattles. The only thing that goes to waste is the inards.

You ought to hear the din when you walk into his garage. Stands the hair up on your neck.

When people come over he warns them to watch where they sit because a couple got loose. It's his favorite prank.
 
Shotgun's statement is exactly what my fears are. I've been following several online debates and they have a strong following. Even some supposed experts are twisting facts, omitting others and stereotyping the hunters with outlandish lies about abuse and to torture. I have never seen such a narrow minded bunch of people. If anyone speaks up to support hunting, they are called ignorant and uneducated and worse.
 
"ignorant and uneducated " ? that would include NY State Dept of Environmental Conservation !! They have no idea of the number and location of rattlers .They think they're all very endangered ! SSS
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Regardless of how one feels about game regulations or the threatened/endangered classification of protected animals, there is never any reason to endorse or promote breaking the law. Especially if they consider themselves a sportsman/hunter. Gun owners and hunters already get enough negative press, we don't need our own kind giving us a black eye. SSS/shoot, shovel, shut-up is nuttin' but a poacher/violators battle cry. Don't like a rule or regulation, do something to change it or voice your opinion against it. But tellin' others to flagrantly ignore it, or braggin' about doin' it yourself is nuttin' but Bubbaism.........
 
Buck ,I'm old enough to remember when the NYDEC had people who actually knew something about the environment and spent time in in the woods .In the late '60s they [and other states too] began to hire only the tree huggers who never went into the woods and never learned how the woods functioned .I could tell you many stories about rattlesnakes and the bizarre ideas of the DEC. I don't bother with snakes but if you have a bunch of rattlers around your house along with little kids you might have a different idea when the DEC says you'll go to jail if you touch them [screw your kids].
And copperheads ? The DEC 'expert' said they are extinct ! Our DEC magazine then was innudated with letters inviting the expert to come to their home to see all the copperheads !
 
peetza,not meaning to nitpick,but guerillas and gorillas are a different tag!'

There is a trail I walk sometimes that has lots of rattlers.I pay attention!!At dusk,beside the trail I can expect to hear buzzing.Makes a fellow go primal!!
I have not bothered any of them,they belong there.

Anyplace around the house or workplace,though,dead!

Some of the snake roundups,aren't they primarily about gathering venom for anti-venin?

If you search "rattlesnake bites" you can get an idea of the trauma.Here is a link to one story and pics of treatment.
The following link, while informative, does contain graphic images of the repair/reconstruction process... You have been duly warned
http://www.rattlesnakebite.org/rattlesnakepics.htm
 
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Tell you what, send me the name and address of one of those animal activists, and the next time I step out my back door and see a 5 foot Western Diamondback coiled up under my wife's swing, I'll box him up and mail him to the activist. I got no use for those critters up close to the house.

Snakes or activists for that matter. :D
 
legitimate "hunting"

Going to an animals den while hibernating and collecting it I would not call legitimate.

As long as the laws allow it, it is though.

I do know this about rattlesnakes as well it goes for all snakes...If there is a food source for them they will be there.

Its simple root cause analysis get rid of the vermin and you wont have to kill them. Statistically many bites unfortunately occur from people try to dispatch rattlesnakes.

Don't get me wrong If i had issues on property with them I would not hesitate to take care of the problem. they have there place and that is not around me.
 
Brian Pfleuger, I'm generally not opposed to hunting guerillas, at least the hostile ones.

OTOH, hunting gorillas is not so cool. Given the vocabularies in ASL that some of the test subjects have developed, I'd put their intelligence and self-awareness at a level that I think should be protected.

Rattlesnakes are a different matter.
 
If legally done...??? Sure it is legitimate hunting... No less so than those folks who shoot marmots in their natural habitat where they are doing no harm unlike the same critter near your home...

But to digress a little... That link to the injury and repair sequence is one I seen a long time ago... Someone (here I think) asked if my left arm injury was a rattle snake injury... They showed me this as my scars looked similar... I will add the similarity is uncanny...;)

Mine went thru a similar progression of many surgeries with a final skin grafting....

My arm got between roof and road/ground in an SUV rollover...

Brent
 
rattlesnake

definitely a no-no in tenn. one could possibly get prison time. if there is no season on it leave the animal be no matter what it is.
 
This is legal I assure you. You can ignore all claims of population control, venom and everything else and there is still a legal market for snake hides. That in my book makes it hunting. I don't understand the hatred for snake hunters. It stems from protest of the roundups, where protestors feel all captured diamondbacks of the western variety. Whopping the heads off cleanly and skinning is the main complaint.
The species is listed as stable, despite the eradication efforts.

I feel that many landowners will have them killed anyways, so why not let them at least go to market?
 
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