Posted: 2/14/2010 9:29:39 AM EDT
| I live in Illinois and plan on going on a hog hunt in Florida this year. In Illinois where I live the most common venomous snake is the copperhead. It is a nasty bite but not deadly. The only other venomous snake, but is a rarity where I live, is the timber rattler. So when we're hunting, snakes are of little to no concern for us. I know you all have much more potent snakes than we have but are snake proof boots really a necessity? I mean we wear the tall rubber boots when hunting sometimes in Illinois and I was wondering how a snake could even bite through them. Am I right or wrong in this thinking? |
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I live in Illinois and plan on going on a hog hunt in Florida this year. In Illinois where I live the most common poisonous snake is the copperhead. It is a nasty bite but not deadly. The only other poisonous snake, but is a rarity where I live, is the timber rattler. So when we're hunting, snakes are of little to no concern for us. I know you all have much more potent snakes than we have but are snake proof boots really a necessity? I mean we wear the tall rubber boots when hunting sometimes in Illinois and I was wondering how a snake could even bite through them. Am I right or wrong in this thinking? Ask yourself if its really worth the risk? I think not... We've got rattlers, copperheads/water moccasins, coral snakes, etc. None of them are fun and any of their bites can and will be very deadly if not treated quickly. Personally, I'd wear the boots |
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Ask yourself-if I get a full dose of venom from a 6' Diamondback, how far away is the nearest hospital with antivenom? Go with the boots and add gaiters or leggings to go up to your knees. Also, watch where you stick your hands. Remember a few things about snakes-they don't hear, they feel vibration, so if you're being real stealthy, you might surprise one. Likewise, if you're making a fair amount of tremors while walking, they will try to avoid you. If you step on one, they won't rattle - they'll just bite you. Also, if you meet a water moccasin and it shows you the white inside of it's mouth, leave the area - he's pissed. |
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Ask yourself-if I get a full dose of venom from a 6' Diamondback, how far away is the nearest hospital with antivenom? Go with the boots and add gaiters or leggings to go up to your knees. Also, watch where you stick your hands. Remember a few things about snakes-they don't hear, they feel vibration, so if you're being real stealthy, you might surprise one. Likewise, if you're making a fair amount of tremors while walking, they will try to avoid you. If you step on one, they won't rattle - they'll just bite you. Also, if you meet a water moccasin and it shows you the white inside of it's mouth, leave the area - he's pissed. Thank you...I appreciate the knowledge and warnings. I've started looking for some boots already... 
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These are what I wear when I hunt or run around in the woods and swamps.
2 years ago, while dove hunting, I was hit by a pissed off rattler and his fangs didn't penetrate. He got a load of #8's and I got to change my shorts, but the boots worked as advertised. My brother used to laugh at me for wearing the boots until that day. 15" is what I consider the minimum height for snakeboots and combined with chaps/gaiters, you'd be well set. |
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Ask your friend/outfitter etc. if the property even holds rattlers. If the area is thick with hogs, it may be a non issue. My family has a full section of oak hammock/ flat brush and improved pasture in Cen Florida and I haven't seen a rattler since the mid 80's...
I don't like tall boots - if I'm going to an area that's thick with them, I strap on some gators and call it done. |
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I have been in the everglades hunting many years
also pushing a air boat out of stuck swampy situations many a night and I never wore snake proof anything. I have always been told that if a snake is going to "Bite" strike you it will be from the calf to the hip. a diamondback can jump many feet high even laying flat I have seen it. anyway getting back to the subject I don't know if it is warranted but as the adage goes If you don't get struck by the time you get home you did not need gear, But  if you do get
struck you needed boots, leggings, and leather shorts. I think being aware is the best defense. I know this didn't help much so mark it up as a shameless attempt to bump post numbers. Edit OH! do not walk through the palmetto bushs because you will just be asking to be struck by a rattler, mark them off as a rattler house. |
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Growning up in Florida running thru the woods, playing/making forts in the palmettos, playing in the orange groves and swimming in the lakes and ponds, it is a miracle I never got bit. Teenage years going 4 wheeling in the swamps, and then hunting, how did I never get bit? So did I need them? NO Was I lucky? YES Do I own a pair of Snake Boots now? Yes If you get a comfortable pair, they are worth it. I bought mine to use after I started Spring Turkey hunting. Now I use them when out in the spring, summer, and early fall. Mine are waterproof, and that is a great thing. I have found that when I have them on, I will venture into areas that I used to pass up. Which has allowed me to ambush some deer and turkeys I probably would of missed out on. The only thing I dislike about mine is they are lace ups, and that gets to be a PIA after awhile. If I was to get a new pair, I would get the slip on rubber boot style. |
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Even tho h ogs seem to regard most snakes as mobile sausages I would personally recommend you wear something that'l offer you some protection. I've hunted Florida for more than fifty years, I have never been bitten, BUT I have been scared a couple of times.................mostly, you don't have to worry, but there's aways that incident that you will never forget and that you cannot anticipate.
In my experience, most rattlesnakes will try to hide or get away from you, most moccasinsill not.........the latter will just raise their head and expose that cotton white mouth and refuse to move........ Usually the smaller ones are more aggresisive.. once witnessed one chase a friend about 10 feet, now granted, the fool had deliberately stoped on it on a sandy road and failed to kill it when it responed post haste...... ............I gave him my pocket knife and suggested he cut off it's head before he removed his foot the second time! More seriously, I well recall a fellow that used to still hunt (stand hunt) on a dog hunt lease I was a memeber of. That fellow would wade to one of the many pine islands in that swampy area as that was where most of the deer'd head when the dogs were really pushing them......he had a great success ratio, but on one of his eary morning treks to his site he stepped on a moccasin that was apparently lying on the bottom of the cypress pond next to his stand.......he was wearing knee high and heavy rubber boots.....that bit penetyrated the boot material and he said he thought he'd just snagged a limb under water....then his foot began to hurt and he discovered that he'd been bitten so he walked out and went to the nearest medical facility. I next saw him a year later and he told me that he was just then beginning to be able to walk well, he exibited the foot and I was shocked as it appeared to be about half the thickness and muscular structure of his other!..........His description of the treatment and pain was frightening and a real attention getter for the folks in my group..........actually saw a couple of newly purchased snake boots after that!! When a person hunts in country that is infested with that sort of threat they tend to develop a pattern of closely watching just WHERE they step....I know I find myself consistantly making a ground scan prior to proceeding on, but still, it's awfully easy to slip up on one . Now I don't mean to suggest that you ought to be so cautious as to destroy your hunt, but ou should be aware of the problem and since you are from a place where that danger doesn't really exist it'd likely be wise to invest in a set of boots |
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I have Hunted in Fl for 30 years. Never wore snake boots nor would I feel the neccesity to. I don't even know anyone who owns a pair What part of Fl are you going hunting in ? I wish I had an electricfied boat to keep the moccassins off though. First of all I really appreciate the feedback. My son lives in Tallahassee so I will be looking for an outfitter near there. The only snake story I have is that a guy I know was squirrel hunting in some Illinois timber. He placed his hand on the side of a downed log and a copperhead got him on the hand. It was a good bite because he ended up in the hospital with his whole arm turning black. But he never had, as far as I know, any later problems. The only other snake we have that is very aggresive and gets quite big are our water snakes. They are mean but their bite is not venomous. |
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I forgot to add in my previous post. While I did manage not to get bit as a kid running all over the place. I had a friend (Middle School) that got bit by a Pygmy Rattlesnake on his arm. He was in the Hospital for quite a while, and as I remember it, was a chance of losing the arm. (It was ugly looking after the bite) Bites are not normally fatal www.flmnh.ufl.edu/herpetology/fl-guide/Sistrurusmbarbouri.htm Comments: VENOMOUS The Dusky Pygmy Rattlesnake has a reputation for protecting itself. Its bite, while usually not life threatening, can be painful and result in the loss of a digit. Some rare cases have be fatal. It feeds primarily on frogs and mice. The rattle sounds like an insect buzzing. He did over come it, but was nasty. Then you have all kinds of other nasty slithering snakes, that can inflict some serious pain. I saw that you are going to be in the upper part of the state, so less chance of getting mauled by the non-native Boa, Pythons, and Anacondas that are now loose in the Southern part of the state. www.cwapc.org/index.html If you are trying to save some cash while doing a Hog Hunt, you might look here. myfwc.com/recreation/WMASites_EglinAirForceBase_index.htm |
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I'll weigh-in on this one, and save you some money.
I'm a land surveyor who's worked in the swamps of Cen. Fla. for the last 10 years. The vast majority of my 50 hr work-week is spent in the woods or swamps, rain or shine. There are a ton of cottonmouths in Fla, and they are ALL mean, nasty, smelly and generally no fun to be around. I have personally been chased by them, bigs ones and small ones. Bring a machete! Their hypodermic fangs will easily penetrate soft rubber. The largest one I've killed myself measured 4.3' long and was the diameter of a 2-liter bottle. The largest one I've seen a co-worker kill was over 5'. Before you guys call B.S. on a 5 foot mocc., yes, it was measured, and yes it was the biggest fuckin' venomous snake I've ever seen. I don't have a photo on my computer, but there's one on the wall in our office, and, if forced, I could scan it and post the crappy results. Diamondbacks are much less common, but still out there. I've seen three in the last six months. They're not AS aggressive and will usually get out of your way. The good news? Get a pair of ""snake gaiters"." They're made of snake-proof canvas and wrap around your shins, protecting you from the knee down. 
It's all that's really needed, and I've seen them elsewhere for as little as $20. Oh yeah, wear leather boots. None of that sissey gor-tex & nylon. |
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I've been running Florida backwoods since about 1968, had a rifle in my hands since '72, seriously deer hunting since '78. I don't have a lease, have never owned a fourweeler, and hunt only public land on foot. I've been in every type of terrian there is here(except mellalucca world down south.) I've seen piles of snakes, stepped of a few, but never, ever been hit. Neither has anyone I know. It's extremely rare. Snakes as a rule just want to go their own way, and given a chance, will avoid you. Moccisans seem to me to be territorial and aggressive. I shoot 'em every chance I get, Rattlesnakes I leave alone. The rest are not worth worrying over. I wore out one pair of Rocky Snake boots when they first came out and I like them, but I've been too cheap to replace them, epecially since I found a pair of Herman Survivors half price at Wally world I don't worry about snakes, a life time of experience has made me confident and comfortable. BUUUT; there is a sense of security when wading through the thick stuff that you can't see your feet in if you have some protection. If you are just coming for one trip, I wouldn't bother with a special pair of boots. Tallahassee area is relativily open country for the most part, still plenty of thick stuff, but usually a way around it, so just wear a good pair of boots and stay out of the thick palmettos and marshes and you'll be fine.
Just my opinion, I could be wrong |
That's a 24" blade
Fed this mocc. to a gator....fun stuff. 
The guys I work with have logged thousands of hours in snake country, some wear snake legggings, some don't. Nobody has ever been tagged, so I can vouch that bites are extremely rare. I still get real nervous when wading through thick grass and palmetto when I can't see where I'm putting my feet. There is nothing better than a keen eye and awareness of your surroundings, but everyone gets distracted now and then. Make-up your own mind. Is it worth $40 to not have to worry about a ruined trip/ amputated foot? |
Holy smoke, you guys got me creeped out. Not only am I going to bring my AR's and wear armor but I'm also going to bring one of my tactical shotguns for snakes too. When our outfitter sees me he is either going to be awfully wary or laughing his rear off when I step out of our SUV with a nine shot auto and a bandoleer of shells...
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Quoted: Holy smoke, you guys got me creeped out. Not only am I going to bring my AR's and wear armor but I'm also going to bring one of my tactical shotguns for snakes too. When our outfitter sees me he is either going to be awfully wary or laughing his rear off when I step out of our SUV with a nine shot auto and a bandoleer of shells... Perfect excuse to buy a Taurus Judge  |
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Holy smoke, you guys got me creeped out. Not only am I going to bring my AR's and wear armor but I'm also going to bring one of my tactical shotguns for snakes too. When our outfitter sees me he is either going to be awfully wary or laughing his rear off when I step out of our SUV with a nine shot auto and a bandoleer of shells... Perfect excuse to buy a Taurus Judge
Never thought about that but it is certainly a good idea. I've already showed my wife this topic & pictures. She coyote hunts with me and was thinking about maybe trying her hand at hog hunting but you guys broke her of that...  ...she has now decided on visiting our daughter who is in the Navy in San Diego while our son and I are tromping in the wonderful backwoods of Florida..
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18" tall Rocky Mountain side zippered snake boots...
Red Head thigh snap Snake chaps... ( Only two items you need ) Also for those so inclined I have the Metro Dade Emergency Contact number for their World Wide Venom Life Flight... Life Flight - Metro Dade Anti-Venom Unit... Venom Response Unit... 1-786-331-4443 The key to making this work for you if you get bit... ( Know the type of snake that bit you )... Important for proper treatment... |
| Ha! Florida ain't so scary! Jungle it is though, no denying that. Tallahassee is really in LA (Lower Alabama) and has a much more open, higher landscape than the rest of florida. I had a chance to spend some time cruising around in the AMAZON in southern Colombia & Peru a couple years ago, and felt right at home.... different set of critters and plants, but pretty much like florida once you're in the bush.. wet, swampy, hot & humid. Some giant trees though....and no wading birds.... |