Rattlesnakes on BLM land?

[nwwoodsman]

I'm staying at the folks place on Crooked River Ranch this weekend. I was thinking of going on a hike on the BLM land that butts up against CRR. My stepfather mentioned I should carry a big stick as the rattle snakes were starting to get more active this time of year. I of course got excited as I brought the 10/22 along. I can't find much info online so could anyone tell me if it would probably be legal to try to bring home some snake meat with a rifle from the BLM land

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[RedneckRampage]

Hahaahahaha....

My grandpa use to have property in Prineville, not far from the Crooked River. He always talked about snake hunting and had a few rattlers and skins in the gun room...last summer, my best friend and I decided we would take a "snake hunting trip".

We headed out of Portland to Bend, and started asking around and we were directed out there highway, east, towards Burns. I don't remember the town, but we stopped at a small gas station/post office (had a HD Mossberg 500 behind the counter lol), and the lady directed us to the bevvy town, east farther. We asked the gas station owner about snakes and he told us that he kills them around his yard and what not. He sent us out to some mountain/peak and said that's the "gold mine". We looked EVERYWHERE! Finally we found two, in a big man made rock structure, but we had to really look.

Our tactic was to hit the rocks with a stick to make them rattle, since they blend in so well. The ones we got were about 3' long and 1.5" diameter. We pinned them down with an old broom handle with two nails in the end like a fork, and cut their heads off with a machette. DO NOT TOUCH THEM IF THEY STILL HAVE A HEAD!!!! After having the one I got on ice for hour, I pulled it out and tried to cut the rattle of, the damn thing struck my hand as soon as the knife touched it's tail! Ofcourse with no head, it just hit me with a bloody neck. Anyway, we skinned them and fried them. They tried to climb out of the pan, with no guts, head, tail, or skin...after all was said and done, I'd of got more of a meal out of a pack of saltine crackers. The taste was good, but it was a P.I.T.A.! You'd have to get a big one to bring any meat home.

My original plan was to shoot them with my .410, but when the moment came, it seemed like a bad idea, and I went for the machete. All the locals seemed to be happy to have us kill them. I'd get your hunting license if you plan on killing one that isn't a direct threat to you, to cover yourself legally, even though you MAY not need it.

Good luck!

 

[dragonsden73]

My only concern would be if there are any hunts going on at the time. You'll need a valid tag for the area (Deer, elk, etc.).....just to cover your butt. Bring a .22 handgun with buckshot and call it self defense

ETA: We killed a bunch of 'em when I was in Oklahoma. Tasty little guys, but a lot of work for just the meat. Batter them with flour and eggs and drop them in boiling oil. Yummy!

 

[Mark W.]

We have caught quite a few back in high school days for the biology class. Course we kept those alive. We have also killed a few to eat over the years. About the same amount of work to food ratio as trout.

 

[westcoastal]

22 bird shot in the head seems to limit the death wiggle ...
great to eat ...
peel em from the head down . keeps them a tube n soak in antifreeze ... cures em and protects the color in you use blue or green antifreeze.
never tried other colors tho don.t really know if it would die one or not

 

[hermannr]

Used to shoot rattlers back when I was a kid. We used a .22 pistol. We would sell the skins and rattles to the tourist traps for ammo money. That was back in the early 60's.

The warning has been made, and I repeat...I dead snake can still bite you! That is very true. We would put them in a portable cooler with ice in it. That would slowdown their reactions, but they would still move for several hours after they were dead.

 

[coyote223]

Easily found them in kommiefornia when I was a kid, all the time. Hiked around Prineville resevoir, never found a one. Think it's an old wives tale, there's no rattlesnakes in Oregon.

 

[TapRackNGo]

Hahaahahaha....

My grandpa use to have property in Prineville, not far from the Crooked River. He always talked about snake hunting and had a few rattlers and skins in the gun room...last summer, my best friend and I decided we would take a "snake hunting trip".

We headed out of Portland to Bend, and started asking around and we were directed out there highway, east, towards Burns. I don't remember the town, but we stopped at a small gas station/post office (had a HD Mossberg 500 behind the counter lol), and the lady directed us to the bevvy town, east farther. We asked the gas station owner about snakes and he told us that he kills them around his yard and what not. He sent us out to some mountain/peak and said that's the "gold mine". We looked EVERYWHERE! Finally we found two, in a big man made rock structure, but we had to really look.

Our tactic was to hit the rocks with a stick to make them rattle, since they blend in so well. The ones we got were about 3' long and 1.5" diameter. We pinned them down with an old broom handle with two nails in the end like a fork, and cut their heads off with a machette. DO NOT TOUCH THEM IF THEY STILL HAVE A HEAD!!!! After having the one I got on ice for hour, I pulled it out and tried to cut the rattle of, the damn thing struck my hand as soon as the knife touched it's tail! Ofcourse with no head, it just hit me with a bloody neck. Anyway, we skinned them and fried them. They tried to climb out of the pan, with no guts, head, tail, or skin...after all was said and done, I'd of got more of a meal out of a pack of saltine crackers. The taste was good, but it was a P.I.T.A.! You'd have to get a big one to bring any meat home.

My original plan was to shoot them with my .410, but when the moment came, it seemed like a bad idea, and I went for the machete. All the locals seemed to be happy to have us kill them. I'd get your hunting license if you plan on killing one that isn't a direct threat to you, to cover yourself legally, even though you MAY not need it.

Good luck!

That was a funny post! I read that as "after all was said and done, I'd of got more meat out of a pack of saltine crackers."

 

[birdhousepdx]

Small meal lol

 

[blitz]

i am also planning on going out snake hunting soon, last year we searched all over around south junction and found none, we were headed home (after dark) and we had to take a detour going into maupin because of the fires. we ended up finding one in the middle of the road on one of those backroads (bakeoven rd).
i made a noose on about a 6' pole so i just grabbed him with that and whacked his head off with a machette.

make sure not to pick up the head after i cut his head off he was still striking and following the tip of the machette around, i picked the head up with a machette and buried it right away

 

[blitz]

it was only about 2' or so and it was like eating an artichoke, very tedious. hoping to find some bigger ones this year.

 

[Oregonhunter5]

Best way to find them. Back dirt roads, toward the evening. Like down by fields, or French Glenn. Killed many there.

 

[sixfoot674]

used to live on CRR. theres rattlers there,just not many. shot one at the end of our driveway. ( found out the hard way that shooting on the ranch is illegal ,but back then they only had security and no police coming through)

 

[John Gault]

Good Hunting,
I went camping out of Steens Mountains in June. Bought bird shot for .22, 9mm and .40 (spent $25.00-30.00) Never saw a snake in 7 days and I was looking, hiking, etc in all the right places. I was disappointed not seeing any. I wasn't looking to hunt them, the bird shot was just in case I got closer than we (the snake and I) were comfortable with :>)

 

[ragermack]

Bury the head after you cut it off, They have been known to bite curious people and dogs quite a while after being cut off.

For what it's worth I would no longer kill them just to kill them. They have a role in natural pest control. They are only dangerous to people in situations where they are either accidentally or intentionally bothered at close range. They won't go out of their way to attack or bite anything that is too large for them to eat.

 

[Greenbug]

I have seen them quite often while hiking/fishing along the lower Deschutes river. That would be a good place to start looking for them.