mofireman

As a career firefighter/ EMT, let me piggyback on what BOWTECHBO and Sylvan mentioned above...Things have changed from the old days when you were advised to make cuts to the wounds and suck the venom out. All you will really do is make the wound bigger and increase your potential for an infection, which "WILL" have a lot more possibility of killing you than the snakebite and venom.

Heaven forbid...Only use a tourniquet as the absolute last resort between living and dying. We are trained that once a tourniquet is applied, you are essentially giving over whatever body part is below the tourniquet to the local college for cadyver training!!

m.t.hands

in our area we have the same snakes, early in the season and anytime we havent had some cold weather i wear these, have a friend that was stepping over a log and got bit, it is not something you want to go thru.

http://cspoutdoors.stores.yahoo.net/snakproofcha.html

ronpip

My wife is an ER nurse, and the accepted treatment for cotton mouth, copperhead, and most rattle snakes is limited to tylenol or motrin for pain and observation for 8 -12 hours. They rarely do much else unless there is severe pain or swelling. Antivenom is only used as a last resort as the side effects can be worse than the bite. They did have one guy loose his right arm and half of his left arm to two rattle snake bites this year. He was drunk and playing with it, it bit him on the right arm. He decided to catch it to take to the hospital. When he picked it up again it bit him on the left arm. Long story short snakes and stupidity don't mix.

121553

If you hunt in snake country you have every right to be concerned. I use to pocess a poisonous snake permit and worked for the Florida Wildlife Santuary in central fla. I would capture and relocate/dispose of nusiance animals, gators and snakes included. I have been bitten by more animals than I can remember, but I do remember being bitten by 4 rattlesnakes and once by a cottonmouth. There was good money in venom processing and I would sell a lot of my snakes to Bill Hass at the miami serpenteruim and George Van Horn at reptile world in kissimimee. The bite of the moccasin was the worst. Not only do you suffer from the venom but from infection also. I'm not a big guy (just bad) and the snake had pulled out from beneath my snake hook, as I don't want to apply to much pressure and injure the snake. I am hunting these things in sometimes knee deep water using a head lamp. It nailed me in the left index finger and immediately I knew I was S.O.L. I'm about a mile from my truck and I immediately began sucking the venom out. I got to my truck and drove to a friends house and he rushed me to the emergeny room. My arm had swollen to that the size of my leg and was discolouring. Also I had a cavity in my mouth and the left side of my jaw was swelling and now I had venom racing to my heart from two different places on my left side. I do remember the doctor telling me there was a good chance I may loose my hand. GULP!!! After 6 days in the hospital and rehab and skin grafts I still have a finger but its totally numb and nerveless and don't use it for typing. It really screwd up my dexterity as I don't use my right index finger and there is nothing wrong with it.
Death by a pit viper is rare but usually accompaied by amputation due to dying tissue from loss of blood flow. All pit vipers here in N.A. are hemo-toxin. The canbrake/timber rattler is a hemo-toxin, but does pocess traces of a nero toxicity. Crytotherapy (ice) is not recommended as it slows blood flow. If your hunting in snake country than use leggins or snake boots. The boots are kinda warm but worth the sacrafice.
Good luck and be safe.

Bobby

DaveC

FWIW,
I took out a coral snake from my back yard last week about 5' from where my almost 4 year old was just playing.


GladI read this thread, ggod stuff to know learned right here tonight.
I now hunt in rattlesnake, copperhead, water moccasin (cotton mouth), timber rattler & coral snake country[8D].

I bought a pair of snake boots after last season, but have yet to wear them (or hunt) this season. They sure look hot.

kybowhunter423

this a time when u need a gun, instead of that bow...lol i know in ky you are not allowed to carry anykind of firearms while bowhunting, i think that should be changed, a pistol would be great to carry alone on a bow hunt just for the reason of hot weather while bowhunting in the early season

loanstarhunter

As stated previously, I would recomend carying your cell phone, if it is GPS capable make sure it is enabled. If it is not GPS capable, hopefully you own a gps and cary it with you.This would give cordinates so that you could giveto 911 to aide in locating you.

LaHoytguy

Here in La. it is against the law to carry anything other that a .22 pistol with #12 birdshot. So you may want to check your states requirments, it may have the same thing. And BTW a .22 with rat shot will kill a snake at a safe distance.