Real or fake
Contributors to this thread:Small Game
From: shedhorn
08-Aug-17
Supposed to be a prairie rattler?
Supposed to be a prairie rattler?
Was told about this picture and went looking for it. Purported to be taken just outside of Ennis Montana. Can't be true. Or I sure hope it isn't because I don't like snakes and I hunt there.
From: Ken
08-Aug-17
It's real. A REAL Short guy holding a snake up to the camera with a REAL long snake stick.
From: smarba
08-Aug-17
Ken nailed it
From: OkieJ
08-Aug-17
Prairie Rattlers don't usually get that big, Diamondback probably.
From: LINK
08-Aug-17
I've seen them bigger than that all over SW New Mexico. ;)
From: Glunt@work
08-Aug-17
Look at the shadow of the stick. We all know how just an arms length effects the size of a trout or an elk rack.
From: LINK
08-Aug-17
Jk the ones I've seen there aren't quite that big.
From: Glunt@work
08-Aug-17
From: Scar Finga
08-Aug-17
When I was a kid, about 14ish, I killed a 7' 6" Western Diamond back in Rancho Bernardo Ca. Right by San Diego! From what I recall, Prairie Rattlers usually only get 3-4 ft.
That's still a big snake!!!!
From: Sean D.
08-Aug-17
Man I was hoping this was something else.
From: drycreek
08-Aug-17
South Texas rattlers will get that big, but I worked Western ND and Eastern Montana and never saw a rattler over 3' long. We would find them in the pipe ditch all the time. Still don't want to get bitten by one though, no matter the size. I killed one javelina hunting that was seven feet long and his head was as big as my fist ! South of Uvalde, Texas on a bowhunting only ranch but I had a .22 mag in my pocket, and I emptied it on him. My son and a friend of his killed two more the same afternoon that were about 5.5 ft. long. Nasty looking critters. Uh, we did not venture off into the brush !
From: huntinelk
08-Aug-17
I think this one came from the same area...
From: shedhorn
08-Aug-17
It is was truly in Montana then it has to be a prairie rattler I think. And I've never heard of one of those getting that big. I wonder about the shadows. You can see the shadow of the guy's leg. And you can see the shadow of the stick. I can see that the stick is held way out there (my favorite trick for the BIG fish I catch) but even so I think with the snake's tail looking to be almost on the ground there should be a shadow of it at the same angle as the guy's leg.
That's for the first picture but looking closer at the picture right above this post, there is the same issue.
From: LBshooter
08-Aug-17
Regardless how long of a stick it is, that's a big rattler.
From: tobinsghost
08-Aug-17
Sean...yup, me too!
From: LBshooter
08-Aug-17
Regardless how long of a stick it is, that's a big rattler.
From: keepemsharp
08-Aug-17
Ain't no prairie rattler!!!!
From: DL
08-Aug-17
Nothing worse than pissing on a rock pile and having a rattler start buzzing. I saw a video of an eastern rattler the other day crossing a road that was huge. I'm not terrified by them, I just don't like surprises
From: MTNRCHR
08-Aug-17
Real or Fake?
From: Kodiak
08-Aug-17
From wiki:
"This species commonly grows to more than 100 cm (3.3 ft) in length. The maximum recorded size is 151.5 cm (4.97 ft). In Montana, specimens occasionally exceed 120 centimetres (3.9 ft) in length; the species reaches its maximum size in this region."
From: yooper89
09-Aug-17
MTNRCHR -- does it matter?????
From: MTNRCHR
09-Aug-17
Not at all...
From: LINK
09-Aug-17
Kodiak, where I live in Oklahoma I've seen prairie rattlers around 54-56" and diamond backs that get 6+ and these snakes don't compare to a south Texas snake. My brother, nephew, and my moms husband hunt snakes and have caught prairies over 54. My moms husband use to go snake hunting in south Texas and those snakes are unreal. He's caught some as big around as softballs and over 7'. The ones I've seen in SW New Mexico while elk hunting weren't bigger than 5' but I'm sure there are some there that are.
From: Florida Mike
09-Aug-17
Thank God MTNRCHR saved this thread! I totally agree with vooper89. If that pic showed the floor you'd see a huge shadow! Mike
From: sticksender
09-Aug-17
From: OkieJ
09-Aug-17
From a .gov site on google.
Adults will range in length from 30-40 inches, with a record of 57 inches. Three-foot rattlesnakes normally weigh 1 pound (a 54-inch snake weighed 3 1/2 pounds).
From: Kodiak
09-Aug-17
Several years ago I saw a few on a North Dakota pronghorn hunt and it seemed like they were all about 3 feet.
Cool critter.
From: Jim B
09-Aug-17
As stated,it's a big prairie rattler,held way out,in front of the camera,taken not too far from here,I believe it was actually Twin Bridges,MT.,at a den.The snake is probably 4.5',maybe a little more.That's big for a prairie rattler.I have friends who know the man in the picture.
From: ScottTigert
09-Aug-17
MTNRCHR: Real. Real expensive. Look just like my wife's.
From: Burt
09-Aug-17
I would say the picture could be real, .but definitely the classic "hold-closer-to-camera" deal.
This is a lovely Alabama specimen from the trap shooting club. No tricks here. Just a solid 5 footer on the tailgate.
From: JeffMartin
09-Aug-17
FAKE THE SHADOW ON THE POLE IS WRONG GIVEN HIS FEET AND THE SUN. I ALSO THINK YOU WOULD SEE THE SNAKES SHADOW. I ALSO QUESTION THE FUZZY GREY AREA....LOOKS SUPER-IMPOSED
From: Irishman
09-Aug-17
Good job Jeff Martin. You are 100% correct, the shadows make no sense.
From: Jim B
09-Aug-17
Sorry but the picture is real.The original picture had more in it.Nothing wrong with the shadows.I'm surprised at this day in age,people don't understand camera perspective.Most snake tongs are 40" long,minimum,for that type work- could be 48".That's a lot of pole to shove toward the camera.That is a den,fenced in with 1/4" mesh.
From: Jim B
10-Aug-17
https://trapperman.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/5971890#Post5971890
From: Jim B
10-Aug-17
I tried everything to get that picture to post here but it wouldn't let me so I posted it elsewhere.Hope you can cut and paste it to view.It shows the rest of the picture and I think the shadows make more sense when you see all of it.
