snake boots

laogai

i am moving to a region where the deer woods have a lot of rattlers, copperheads, and cottonmouths. anyone have experience with snake boots? recommendations on brands or good places to buy?

savage170

I like the Rocky's with zipper down the side a lot easier to get off and on got them at Bass Pro on sale for 100.oo

sandwarrior

I wore jungle boots when in that country. The plate in the bottom will stop a cottonmouth strike. When confronted with a big Eastern or Copperhead, gaiters are the way to go. They come up to just below the knee and when in thick brush will do the trick. It is highly unlikely that you will get hit above the knee as North American pit vipers still like to strike on a horizontal plane. They are much easier to take off and put on than tall boots. Let alone walk around in.

It's not really necessary though unless you know you're in an area where they den. Generally speaking they can feel your vibrations and move to an area where they lay very low as you go past. Their brains are programmed not to strike something that can then stomp the crap out of them. If stepped on all bets are off. Make a fair amount of noise as you walk the woods out there and they will want to get out of the way. If you need to be stealthy for hunting(if it's still hot) just look where you step and reach.

Wolf.

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This idea can be very helpful in preventing venomous snake bite.

Wear two pairs of pants. The inner pair of pants should be a thin, loose pair of synthetic fiber such as microfiber or old style doubleknit polyester, which you can pick up at the thrift store for almost nothing. The outer pair should be your regular hunting pants, but they should also be loose fitting; about one to two sizes too big. Wear both a belt and suspenders to keep them up. Your pants should come down over your heavy leather boots as far as possible without touching or dragging the ground. Do not tuck in or blouse your pants. Spray lots of bug spray on the lower inside of both pair of pants and on your exposed lower leg and inside your socks.

A striking snake will get hung up in the outer pair of pants and will not make it through to your skin.

Mikein

quote:Originally posted by laogai
i am moving to a region where the deer woods have a lot of rattlers, copperheads, and cottonmouths. anyone have experience with snake boots? recommendations on brands or good places to buy?


Sandwarrior covered it well, as did some of the other responders. Here in Central Texas, I wear "Red Head" brand snakeproof boots. They come almost up to my knees, are light weight, and I can slog for hours through the prickly pear, Spanish Dagger, and spear grass with no problems. Never had a snake try to bite through them (that I know of!), but I'm confident that they'll provide good protection, since I've seen an old ad on TV that BassPro had where a guy, wearing these boots, walked out into a pit of rattlesnakes while the camera was rolling. He got multiple strikes but none got to his legs.

Here's a couple of reasons I take snake boots and snake safety very seriously here in Texas!





Mike

22hipower

My vote goes with the snake boots for warm weather snake country hunting if the idea of getting snakebit concerns you. For many years hunting in Texas I've ignored the snake issue and have just been careful as Sandwarrior suggests. I've had a few close calls but never been bitten and avoided snake boots because "they're too hot and too hard to get on and off." However, this year I bought a pair much as Mikein suggests; $100 or so from Bass Pro on sale. Mine are lace up the front instead of zipper but I wore them a lot last year and found them to be comfortable and not much of a problem to get on and off. With this year's huge crop of broomweed and other waist high growth I was a lot more confident hunting than in past years. I think the snake bite risk is generally low as Sandwarrior says, but the snake boots are going to be regular use for me now in fall Texas hunts.

laogai

appreciate all the input.

i'll be hunting the Great Dismal Swamp in SE Virginia. the tall reeds make it difficult to see the ground in front of you at times, and the deer season can be quite warm--firearms beginning Oct 1.

gar

FEENIX

Here's what I use ...





http://www.sportsmansguide.com/net/cb/cb.aspx?a=409051

muss

I wore rocky snake boots like the ones pictured above. I stepped on a few cottonmouths while walking to my stand in the morning. Neer got bit, thankfully, but it will scary the crap ou of you to feel a snake under your foot.

I would suggest that you get a pair of snake boots. And just watch were you step.

Last fall I shot a 6 foot rattler about 2 feet from my uncles foot. Both the snake and my uncle needed resucitation after I squeezed the trigger.[:D] We were walking down a dirt road and he never saw the rattler curl up to strike, fortunately I was able to hit it on the first shot with a 357. The snake had a huge hole through it, but was still able to crawl for about 2 mins.

epaker

you might want to look into turtle skin snake armour chaps. they go all the way up your leg and provide good protection from thorns and other hazards that are a lot more likely to bother you than snakes.

glabray

Watch out for your hands and arms also. Around here, we always get a few tourists bitten every season as they climb over rocks and boulders. Their bites are seldom in the legs.