Why We Kill Rattlesnakes on Our Ranch: A Cautionary Tale for Deer Hunters

Not sure who gave you grief or why but killing a rattlesnake on your ranch sounds completely justified to me in the best interest of keeping your animals safe.

@Brad agreed

@Brad that one we killed was in our hunting camp we got kids grandparents dogs all running around. It caught me off guard as well

@Chuck well I’m right there with you. We have timber rattlers here but mainly copperheads. If I see any on my property it’s getting “relocated” to the afterlife. My kids and the dog don’t need a run in with all that. 👊🏻

No shortage of rattle snakes in TX. Take em out and send me the skins if they’ll make a bow backing. 😎

By the way, that bull looks rough, did he come out of it ok? Some folks don’t have a clue what a good bull costs. We have a small dairy, and we keep pretty run of the mill bulls for clean up and they usually cost us somewhere between $5-$10K.

@Brian he just got bit a few days ago but he is going to be fine. Still eating cake just looks bad. Not sure what value he would have but he has bred two breed champions at major stock shows over the past three or four years so he would be expensive to replace.

If we are camping the rattle snakes at camp die. Especially if they are babies because it could be a Bull or rattler at that point they pretty much look the same tiny. If it’s a bull snake we let it go.

I’ll kill every one I see , I don’t hunt them down but I won’t pass one up either.

Killing them is the safest option. I love snakes but most people don’t have the first idea on how to handle them properly. Venomous snakes are another level, and being towards the top of the food chain they can be more confrontational. I would never ask an untrained person to handle a loaded firearm without careful instruction and hands on guidance. Likewise why anyone would expect someone to put their/others life in danger out of anthropomorphic attachment doesn’t register to me. My wife loves little critters and I tell her to run them over rather than swerve into oncoming traffic. It’s difficult for her to grasp because her instinct tell her something totally different.

My sister had to teach me that lesson. In Ohio, we have few venomous snakes. In Idaho...whole different story. Is it worth your life? Your livelihood? Life has a balance.

@Rachel yep

Whoever gave the grief has obviously never suffered any from a rattler.

@Mike yeah it was really a shock to

@Mike I would have expected it on some other social media but not here. I was told I should have eaten it and if that wasn’t the plan I should have just relocated it🤦🏼‍♂️

@Chuck I wonder if the same goes for coyotes with them🤔🤦‍♂️

@Mike I told them we killed coyotes and didn’t eat or relocate them. The conversation ended up civil and with a good understanding that since We paid for this place we should have the privilege of managing it like we want to and the gentleman agreed. I hope he looks at the picture of this bull and understands that rattlesnakes on ranches are not really good neighbors and why.

@Brian we have several

@Brian we have several big dens on our place.

@Chuck yessir, civil, logical reasoning should always prevail 👊

@Chuck yep. No shortage there.

I get it. Grew up

I get it. Grew up with a big backyard, so we had copperheads all the time. We had hunting dogs, plus ourselves lol, just made sense to get rid of them vs relocate.