Thought it being around 55 degrees would be cold enough that they would be back up under there aways. Came upon this one rock that looked pretty decent and got down on my knees and elbows and was shining my light underneath the ledge.
Off to the left there was a pretty good looking hole so I got right in front of it trying to shine back to see how far the hole went. Stayed there for a few seconds trying to see sign.
Soon as I started backing away I heard faint whisper of leaves and then that sound that will get your heart to thumping….rattling. Jumped backed like a little girl.
In this pic you’ll see little twigs on the outside of the den. He was laying right there and he was so camouflaged I didn’t see him. I had my left arm and elbow on the ground with my face and chin just inches off of the ground probably just a foot or so from him.
Had some close calls with them before but this one scared me because of how close my neck and head was to him. You don’t want to get bit anywhere but you sure don’t want to take one one to that area…that’s when you might not make it out of there.
So for all the people that go just make sure you check the ledges really close before bending down even in colder weather. Going to try to make damn sure I never make that mistake again. Got a video of him rattling after he got crawled back in there.
Before he did though was acting like he was wanting a piece of me so I gave him space. Good chance we’ll be grabbing him alive today and be putting him in a box hopefully with some more.
I've never been afraid of snakes but a couple of fatties buzzing at me might get the hebiegebies going! Going to be a fun trip!
We’re never guaranteed tomorrow so guaranteed fun it will be today.
I’ll put you first in line to the ledge to check everything out since you love snakes:?)
I hadn’t been snake hunting like this in about 10 years or so. Told em next time I’ll try and have some better dens picked out. There was a few good looking ones today that I thought would give us more snakes but nada.
The Kansas boys did a good job though. It took awhile to get this one. I kind of had giving up hope on the bottom hole where he was the day before so some of us had crawled up above to check and wait on a few holes from up above.
Told em to keep an eye out just in case and sure enough a little later Cat’s oldest boy said he had caught movement and had a snake in sight underneath the ledge. The snake never came out so one of them had to reach in there further than he really wanted with the rake to pull him out.
Lol now it did take awhile to get those Kansas boys to understand that it didn’t take 2 grabbers to put one snake in a bucket as neither one wanted to let go. They got brave though and off in the bucket it went with another Kansas dude slapping and screwing the lid shut.
Now I don’t consider myself someone that scares easy outside but I think I have a little common sense. Told my Cousin’s boy about it and he thought he knew the hole and that him and his dad had crawled in there about 15 ft one day.
Didn’t think they would do it but yep they disappeared crawling through a hole just a little bigger than their body. Now this is back up in rough country where there could be some big cats. Seen some big tracks shaped like a Cat and also some fresh wet spots up in there a few feet where they took a piss. Now I didn’t go no further. When I see a dark hole and when your light doesn’t see no end and there’s no exit hole but that one your crawling in…nope that’s a no for me. They said they didn’t get to the end cause way up in there it made some sharp turns.
I think Cat has some video of them disappearing in there. Now about that time I sure wish the day before I would have been brave enough to crawl way back there and plant a fox pro tape that I could have started playing a mountain lion growl once they was deep in there. Sure would have been fun to hear how fast some brave men could scoot backwards on their stomachs back out of there.
Bowhunter that’s just a regular old pointy rock. Now I’m sure if a person had time he could find arrowheads there. There was quite a few cliffs and rock overhangs.
I can’t quit thinking about that cave though. I’m thinking about asking my cousin if I can put a trail cam on the entrance. Would love to see what animal was using it. Like I said a few of the tracks wasn’t clearly identifiable but they looked pretty good size.
Here’s a few other snapshots of the place. This one had a water pool underneath the rock which was pretty cool.
I kind of feel sorry for whoever he takes back to that little cave though. I have a feeling they'll be the butt of a pretty funny practical joke!
Putting some snake skin on a long bow or recurve would look pretty neat I bet.
If you’ve never been and you find yourselves in Texas about this time I recommend the Oglesby one. You won’t regret it. Good to see all the young kids and the adults for that matter excited about something other than staring at the tv screen or their phone. It’s pretty much like a small fair without the rides.
When I got there early yesterday morning snakes were still being delivered by snakehunters in boxes and cans. I stuck around for the first show which was pretty neat but I left before it was done to go pick up Erica. For the first show I guess since the snakes had just been dumped inside the glass wall the snakes were none too happy and they were striking and pretty lively. Announcer said for the first show they wasn’t going to get too extreme with the stunts because of it.
This ain’t no joke. Last year a snake handler died at the one in Freer Tx. He got bit by a rattler on the shoulder while performing and was dead by that same evening at the hospital. Years ago this guy that was doing some of the more exciting stunts yesterday got bit on top of his head after they laid a coiled up snake on his head. I think he did the same stunt yesterday again.
Sorry I didn’t get many good photos for y’all cause time I got back with Erica for the 2:00 show the place was jam packed and the only way I could take any pics or see anything was to hold my phone up above peoples heads.
You’ll see the same guy that got bit on the head held a balloon in his mouth in front of one until the rattler finally struck and popped it. In one pic you’ll see him doing a kiss of death on top of a cobra they brought. That cobra looked wicked. Another trick is where a guy crawled in a sleeping bag with them. You’ll see where they placed one on top his chest even. Then he had to very slowly crawl out of that bag.
Later got closer up shots when the show was over but they were still carrying them around for people. They were still striking at them by the way and some were connecting but they had snake boots under their jeans.
There having another few shows there again today. Erica is pretty short and so she didn’t get a good look so we might run over there again today so she can get an up and close encounter by the glass during the stunts.
I'm going to help you here Mike: First off, I know the screenshots are working for you, as far as orientation, but you can also "edit" them and shrink the size down by "cropping" the screenshots(that will remove the "dead/blank" white space above and below each pic). Send me a text or PM and I can walk you through it buddy. As for videos, you'll have to either start a YouTube, Vimeo, or other video sharing page. Then you can either upload a link, or embed your videos into a Bowsite post. I can explain over the phone too if that's easier.
If that fails though I might reach out to you though and we’ll see what we can do.
Didn’t get back there anyways today. Had to push and burn some brush today to get ready for a fence and it got late on me.
Yeah his videos are clear. The 3rd video is before the first show started but it showed how lively the snakes were. Think they might have have been a little pissed being just brought out of the wild to the pen there.
The other 3 was from the first show where I had better seating but the 3rd show was a lot better but don’t have really good videos of that one. Maybe next year I’ll get some good pics and videos of it. They must really trust those snake boots and too most of them only goes up to right below the knee. I know that time my brother got bit was on the side of the knee. He told me the other day he has a little trouble with that knee hurting but not sure if it was from that though.
I would have liked to catch more while we were down there but it certainly wasn't our host's fault. He worked is butt off for us, then fed us like kings, then introduced us to some great people. The trip was a blast!
There really wasn’t many snakes at that show and they’re getting more and more scarce down here. Talked to a local hunter down here the other day and he said they went to some really good dens that hadn’t been hunted in years and there wasn’t no snakes in them.
I think hogs is the biggest problem. I’m pretty sure they’re killing a lot off.
I’m going to try and get one more day off though to try and locate a few more snakes between now and the convention. If I do find a few small ones I’ll bring them to you Griff.
The base of the bluebonnets is already starting to pop up down here so the old saying is when that’s happening snakes are crawling out of their dens so we’ll see. Be exciting if I could catch some on the outside.
1. Skin the snake and with belly incision and tack out to dry with scales down. 2. When skin is completely dry trim off belly skin edges with xacto knife and roll up paper thin rectangular shaped clean skin. 3. Rehydrate in warm water and ring out moisture on towel. 4. Apply TiteBond III in a thin coat on both the skin and the bow limb and let it get tacky. 5. Carefully roll out skin on bow limb making sure to keep wrinkles worked out and everything linear and lined up straight. You can moved the skin for a few minutes before it gets too tacky to move. Wrap excess 1/4 to 1/2 inch of skin over limb edges and don't worry as it can be easily trimmed and sanded off for a clean edge after it dries. 6. After drying for a couple weeks, it can be trimmed cleanly and finished with varnish or polyurthane finish product. *** Some folks carefully removed all scales after skin has dried before applying finish spray*** GOOD LUCK.....you can always strip it back off if you mess up or don't like it.
Roughcountry thank you for your time sharing that. Useful knowledge right there.
Matt that’s a pretty one
That’ll make you jump right out of your flip flops!
Went looked at a property down here for sale awhile back and this was out in the old garage.Never seen this many rattlers on a snake before. I’m counting 19 and a button.
