It’s Spring. Time to change my BW load

[seaotter]

I was hiking with my wife out in the woods this afternoon. The flowers were coming up, the mink and squirrels were looking for food, and the migrating ducks were swimming in the creek. Springtime is slowly arriving. As we were sitting on a large log watching for fish, and the sun was making things nice and warm, I suddenly realized that I was still in winter mode, and had not looked under the log before we sat down. I checked, and made sure that nothing was lurking there underneath.  We have a fair number or copperheads and timber rattlers around here. I made a mental note to replace the stingers in my BW with shot shells.  Robins aren't the only harbingers of Spring around here!

[adp3]

I just bought a pack of the CCI .22 Mag shotshells for the season myself.  I keep them on a shelf above the mower and yard tools.  I replace 3 rounds of Hornady CD in a Pug when I'm outside or on a walk.  I've yet to see rattlers here, but the copperheads are common.  Over the years I have used up all of my luck regarding snakes with several close calls.  I blast the copperheads on sight and then leave the carcass on the yard trash pile for the crows.

Best Regards,
ADP3

[seaotter]

I just walk away from snakes when I can, unless it is a poisonous one right around our house. I killed a copperhead in our woodpile last Fall because I often have to go get wood at night, and I really don't like the idea of grabbing a snake by mistake! I load the snake shells because we have a lot of  big rock ledges around here, and when we are climbing it is a bit uncomfortable to see a rattle snake sunning his self on a ledge that we have to climb down on. And when we are fishing or swimming, we occasionally have a snake pop out too close to where we are sitting leaving us no where to go. And I have had snakes drop into my canoe before. Not sure just what I'd if one dropped into my kayak. Other than screaming like a little girl and generally panicking, that is.

[seak]

My BW at snake range is straight enough shooter to not need snake shot.

[seaotter]

Accuracy isn't really the problem. If I have to shoot a snake, it is usually somewhere where I don't want to use a bullet,   like in my boat, on a rock ledge, or around the house. The shot shells don't ricochet enough to really worry about, and the lose energy very quickly.

[JRobyn]

Please leave the Timber Rattlers just a little space and they will do the same for you.  They're very timid.

[Dinadan]

I just walk away from snakes when I can, unless it is a poisonous one right around our house. I killed a copperhead in our woodpile last Fall because I often have to go get wood at night, and I really don't like the idea of grabbing a snake by mistake! I load the snake shells because we have a lot of  big rock ledges around here, and when we are climbing it is a bit uncomfortable to see a rattle snake sunning his self on a ledge that we have to climb down on. And when we are fishing or swimming, we occasionally have a snake pop out too close to where we are sitting leaving us no where to go. And I have had snakes drop into my canoe before. Not sure just what I'd if one dropped into my kayak. Other than screaming like a little girl and generally panicking, that is.

I am glad to read the part about walking away from snakes when you can. I used to aggressively kill poisonous snakes. However, now I am older I just leave them in peace, and other than a couple of Cottonmouths and one Eastern Diamondback, they have been happy to slither away. I am a kayaker too, and I have thought about the possibility of a Cottonmouth falling into my kayak many times, every time I paddle under a leaning tree, actually. There just are not any good options ... is it better to shoot your p---s off or to have a snake bite it off ... The closet ever came to something like that was when I was kayaking up a narrow bayou and sticking very close to the four foot high bank to stay out of the wind. I paddled around a sharp bend and an alligator about ten feet long was sunning on the bank. When he realized I was right there he came off that bank in what I would describe as a leap and hit the water maybe two feet in front of my kayak. Talk about an adrenaline rush ... but if he had landed on the cockpit it could have been a bit more exciting.

[seaotter]

Please leave the Timber Rattlers just a little space and they will do the same for you.  They're very timid.
[/quote

If I have any choice at all, I give them a LOT of space!

[Bigbird48]

its nice to hear that people here aren't just killing animals for the sake of killing something.Most critters will leave us alone as long as we don't invade their space.

[Uncle_Lee]

I kill snakes because they eat birds..
I like birds. They eat bugs.
I don't like bugs. They make me itch.

[top dog]

In my area,venomous snakes are very few and far between.
I either have a Bond Arms Derringer in 410  (2.5 in) in my fly fishing vest or more often,A BW in 22mag with the first two rounds being CCI 22 Mag shot.

At the range,I practice with the BW at 6-8 feet with the 22lr cylinder and try to hit small "target dots" at that distance.

I had heard that Copperhead Snakes are more aggressive than Rattlesnakes but do not have any experience,thankfully,with either one.....yet.

                                                                                Top Dog

[OV-1D]

its nice to hear that people here aren't just killing animals for the sake of killing something.Most critters will leave us alone as long as we don't invade their space.

   Thanks . Unless living off the land , literally and you shouldn't have electric for a computer, hunters are on my low scale of mankind also . Think about that last male White Rhino , GONE FOREVERMORE , next time you take a bead on another living  creature . Just my opinion mind ya .

[holiday009]

How often does everyone switch out their carry ammo in their mini's ?

[seaotter]

I have never really had an issue with rattlers. They seem to back away if at all possible. On the other hand, I have had numerous encounters with copperheads.on one very memorable occasion my father was up on a ladder working on the house. I came around the corner and saw a 3 foot cooperhead climbing up the ladder toward him. My father jumped off of the ladder, and backed away, and the copperhead climbed down and continued to come at him. We reluctantly killed it.

On another occasion I was fishing in a lake a good quarter mile out. I heard s loud bang against my canoe. And then several more, I looked over the side and saw a copperhead repeatedly striking at my canoe. I wasn't chasing it, I wasn't bothering it, and I wasn't near anything, but it was seriously angry about something!

And I have several other encounters. So I live and let live, whenever I can. But I like to be ready for the rare occasions that I can't.

                                                                         

[Texduk3]

its nice to hear that people here aren't just killing animals for the sake of killing something.Most critters will leave us alone as long as we don't invade their space.

   Thanks . Unless living off the land , literally and you shouldn't have electric for a computer, hunters are on my low scale of mankind also . Think about that last male White Rhino , GONE FOREVERMORE , next time you take a bead on another living  creature . Just my opinion mind ya .

no comment here

[Dinadan]

its nice to hear that people here aren't just killing animals for the sake of killing something.Most critters will leave us alone as long as we don't invade their space.

Thanks . Unless living off the land , literally and you shouldn't have electric for a computer, hunters are on my low scale of mankind also . Think about that last male White Rhino , GONE FOREVERMORE , next time you take a bead on another living  creature . Just my opinion mind ya .

Wow Ovid. I have killed many hundreds or maybe a couple of thousand mammals (mostly squirrels and rabbits) but I promise that I have never taken a bead on a Rhino. But ... when I was a teenager if a Rhino had crossed in front of my 16 gauge either me or him would have been dead meat!

[OV-1D]

  Me too Dinadan but then I grew up and found the grocery store . Taking bead anymore on defenseless wildlife is just a dam shame and I am talking about hunting not defensive shooting .

[glenn]

Gotta love those guys that "Grew up & found the grocery store" ...instead of taking a bead on defenseless wildlife.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-o8m_D-X-4

.

[LHB]

I assume that those of you who grew up and found a grocery store are vegans.  If you have to rely on some one else to do your killing for you, you can't be much of a carnivore, let alone a predator, so that leaves you to scavenge from other's kills. 

I also assume that you do not wear any leather as shoes or belts, or use leather holsters, because some defenseless animal died to provide you with that leather.  What makes a deer any more defenseless than a steer in a feed lot, or a fish in the ocean than a hog in the pen? 

I found it much easier on the farm to kill a tame chicken, beef or a hog than a deer, or squirrel, but everything dies when it's time comes, and thousands of species have gone extinct through out history, such as the mammoth and mastodon that some people use to make gun grips.

[Uncle_Lee]

There is a difference between hunting and poaching.
I don't think low of someone who chooses not to hunt. Heck this is America, they have the right not to hunt if they don't want to.
For someone to think low of me because I do hunt makes me think they lean a little toward the Al Gore/Nancy Pelosi side of the world. There is a little snowflake in that thought.
I can hear it now. I think those who fish are the scum of the earth. What has those little fishes ever done to them.

[To Old To Run]

How often does everyone switch out their carry ammo in their mini's ?

http://naaminis.com/smf/index.php

I don't shoot as much as I use to, so I carry mine for long periods time, months.
I'm still an active old fart and it's always in my pocket and when I do get a chance to shoot, they all go bang never had a problem.

[Canoeal]

Yeah I usually shoot as my winter 'sport', but with the foot in the boot all winter, my last trip to the range was in Aug 2017. The ammo in the guns has been in there a while, and with surgery coming soon, it will likely be in there 2 more months...

[holiday009]

For those that don't shoot a lot, switching out ammo every 6 months should be sufficient?

I'm talking about mainly CCI stingers.  It seems to be higher quality than the value packs.

[top dog]

I switch the ammo about every six months or so. That ammo goes in with the practice ammo and gets used quite often.

If not at the outdoor range during the warmer months,then the indoor range during the winter/inclement weather.

                                                                   Top Dog