Hi gang,
A buddy has private land in Plantersville and I am flying out the week before Thanksgiving for five days of hunting. He tells me there are plenty of sneks in the vicinity but that they'll be bedding down for the winter. I hate sneks, so have a set of gaiters on the way just in case. I'm from Washington, so most of our sneks are hibernating this time of year. What says the hive? Am I being overly precautious? I don't wanna go stomping thru the woods and get bit.
Thanks in advance.

It totally depends on the weather.  SC weather tends to be on the unpredictable side, like shorts on Christmas Day warm one year and cold the next.  Most of our snakes aren't particularly aggressive other than the cotton mouth/water moccasin.  They smell bad, kinda like cucumbers, and just generally have a very poor attitude overall.  Contrary to what a poster in GD is currently insisting they will pursue you both on land and in water but fortunately they are usually located near water and you'll probably notice them before they're a danger.  Just give them their space and they'll generally leave you alone.  I've never had any issues with our other venomous snakes and I've spend a lot of time in the woods and swamps (I say that now watch me get bit this weekend ).

Thanks for the reply. This place is alongside a river and apparently there are alligators in the area, too...maybe I should be more worried about those!

Let me qualify my statement about the water moccasins, I don't mean they will actually chase you as in follow you around if you run.  They will on occasion come at you aggressively when they have plenty of other avenues of escape.  The mouth open and tail wiggling is a defensive display.  Their behavior is just atypical for most snakes, or other animals, who would move in a direction away from people.  They are good swimmers, swimming on top of the water, and could easily move in another direction and against currents but will sometimes swim directly at you or towards boats out on the water (even when you're just paddling, not fishing which could be considered baiting them since they eat fish).  They are commonly mistaken for banded water snakes, especially when you hear people talking about them dropping out of trees into their boats.  I've never seen one more than a couple of inches above the water where they will sun themselves and hunt for frogs, fish, other snakes, etc.

We have plenty of alligators from about the middle of the state down to the coast, with far more the closer you get to the coast.  Alligators don't make the news here often and the woman dying on Hilton Head was an anomaly; she was pulled into the water by the dog leash, not dragged in by the alligator attacking her.  If the weather is warm enough for snakes and alligators to be out I'd be much more worried about mosquitoes, biting flies and ticks.  Hopefully it'll have cooled off by then and none of them will be an issue.

I am hoping so. Praying for a cold November. Thanks for the info!

Had a great time in South Carolina. Such a departure from Seattle. Love the people so much more! Anyway, bagged a 7pt buck and a doe. Saw a ton of turkeys, but no sneks. That said, my buddy's wife was out running the day after I left and almost stepped on a cottonmouth in the middle of the road. Weather was low 60's.

Can't wait to go back next year and explore more of the area. I had a short visit to Georgetown and was fascinated with the history. Very curious to know more about the property we were on, too, as it an old plantation along the Pee Dee River.