124gr +P HST to the dome works pretty well.
124gr +P HST to the dome works pretty well.
I had a friend with a chunk of land outside of town in north East Oregon where rattle snakes are not uncommon. He had 4 little kids at the time as well as lots of friends with children as well whom he'd given permission to to go hang out and visit the parcel as they pleased. So of course it was a snake-free zone.
One day The owner, myself, and a fellow named Terry were out there doing something. Terry at this time was in his late 40s about 6'3" tall as well as being a little heavyset and he's a straight-up legit cowboy with a mustache that would impress Sam Elliott or Tom Selleck and the wardrobe to match and a deep booming voice.
Anyway we spot a snake slither away down a hill into some tall grass and we can hear the rattling. Sorry Mr. Buzzworm but we can't have your kind 'round these parts. Terry tells me to grab something he can bash the snake with so I grab the tire iron out of my car because it was the only thing handy. So ol' Terry goes skiing down this short hill, maybe 6 or 8 feet, on his cowboy boots holding this tire iron over his head, finds the snake in the grass and get's to whacking. Turned out to only be a bull snake we figured it best to not have any snakes at all around anyway that the children might accidentally get into.
So a tire iron will work in a pinch.
These days I reside in southern Colorado and work as a security guard at a facility that's on a section of prairie with plenty of snakes. I'm doing my checks one evening right after sunset and there's this one door up a short staircase, 5 or 6 steps. I shine a light in the area and take a good look for any nope-ropes hanging around and see nothing. I walk up the steps and check the door and start back down when one of the legless bastards starts buzzing right at the base of the stairs where I just was literally one second ago. I let out a yell and jumped backwards up the two stairs I had descended and back up onto the landing. But the fucker just slithers under the front step and is just hanging out there. Luckily there was a set of moveable stairs that weren't in use and just so happened to get plopped down close to the stairs I was on. So I had to climb over the railing and onto the other set of stairs to make my escape.
I'm told using a snow shovel like a guillotine works pretty well for dispatching them also.
Originally Posted by MattyD380
I catch the non-venomous ones with my hands if I can and relocate them.
The venomous ones usually get the hint and get away from me not allowing me to get close to them at all. I had a rather obstinate Cottonmouth stand it’s ground a few months ago. After prodding it with a stick it got the picture and went off the trail into the tall grass.
I'd only offer that if carrying "snake shot" is considered, spend a few rounds to establish an effective range and determine whether the rounds will cycle in your gun. Shot loads are typically way lower in energy, and many semi-autos just won't fully eject them. And, depending on the brand, etc., there's not a lot of shot to begin with, so shot patterns thin out pretty quickly. The range of some provides yet another reason to consider a good stick.
Although I do recall once being out and running across a rattlesnake with a US Forest Service acquaintance. He demonstrated how versatile a fire rake can be.
Indeed. The pattern deterioration is the biggest issue with handgun shot loads, though functioning the gun in automatics would obviously be something you want to check. Within 10-15 feet they do OK, 5 feet is better. Ive shot a couple with the CCI 22LR shot loads from about 2 feet and had mixed results, sometimes OK, sometimes not OK, so I quit using them. 38 spl is very good in the 5 foot range.
Ive killed them with shovels, sticks, rocks, tapped one or two on the head with the butt of a Winchester carbine, driven over a couple, shot the one in the house with a 44 birdshot, rather hard on the floor, but fortunately it was the subfloor rather than finished floor. 45-70 round ball loads work, as do 30-30 round balls, and 45 Colt and 45-70 home made shot loads all work well. 22s work great, hollowpoints preferred if theres any distance involved or shot loads arent handy.
I knew a surveyor that always carried a small garden shovel when out for snakes. Smallish head, long handle.
Last edited by Malamute; 07-27-2020 at 10:27 PM.
“Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.”
― Theodore Roosevelt
I may finally have something to contribute.
We have killed three rattlers in the last 2 weeks while on family runs/jogs and scouting for lion sign. Last year we dispatched ~15 in one morning on a knife hog hunt in TX.
CCI 22lr (blue #12) snake shot is quite effective at ~5' or so. The S&W43C works well with them. I also carry a speed strip with a few extra rounds in an HPG kit bag when running. If size and weight are a concern the J frame / CCI 22lr shotshell works just fine.
CCI 9mm (blue #12) will cycle my G19 and is amazingly effective at 5yds or so. It is a significant step up from the 22lr. The CCI 9mm Big 4 (red #4 shot) has been abysmal at best. If you are already carrying a 9mm I would keep a spare mag with a different colored base pad loaded with CCI blue #12. Avoid the CCI Big 4.
I have taken two rattlers in the last two years with a 16" AR 2-12x Z6i (suppressed). You need to remember your sight offset. Not ideal but it works. It is quieter suppressed than an unsuppresed 9mm.
I have killed a few with a long handed shovel or Cold Steel shovel. I usually cut the head off and bury it.
In my testing “Big 4” sucked.
I also have a Scandium .44, and .44 is mo better than .38, which is mo better than 9mm. The .44 won’t slip into a front pocket like a .38 J.
Likes pretty much everything in every caliber.
A number of people have told me they believed bull snakes kill rattlesnakes. I dont know that its true, however, my current place is long on bull snakes and very short on rattlesnakes, of which Im happy to have to contend with. The older place was very long on rattlesnakes and very short of bull snakes. Whatever the reason, the greater numbers of bull snakes does seem to equate to less rattlesnakes. I encourage bull snakes to hang around, except when they terrorize the dog, then they get a gentle ride on the rake out to the edge of the place. If they want to stick around and eat mice, cool. The dog is terrified of them though, so if they keep annoying her, they get encouraged to go hunt elsewhere.
“Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.”
― Theodore Roosevelt
Yep. Just not enough shot to get a good pattern, at least in the .38/357 version. I'm sure the 9mm version is just as bad. The standard #9 shot patterns decently in 9mm and .38 CCI shotshells, IME. I sometimes carry a 442 full of CCI #9 shells when I feel like snakes are likely to be encountered. 9mm version hasn't cycled my Glocks, but did cycle the Kel-Tec P-11 I used to have.
The "Big 4" load might be okay in .44 or .45, if they make it... but for dispatching a snake, more smaller shot should work a hell of a lot better, even from the big bores.
I think all my home grown shot loads, entirely home made or using Speer shot capsules in several calibers have been with No 9 shot. Its worked pretty well for the most part.
“Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.”
― Theodore Roosevelt
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