RattleSnakes

[HighlandLofts]

Are rattlesnakes legal to take in Washington State? And if so where is a good place to go look for them. I don't know any thing about them.

[boneaddict]

Yes, and pretty much eastern Washington anywhere near the Columbia.

[HUNTINCOUPLE]

Yes, and pretty much eastern Washington anywhere near the Columbia.

    Hunt rock slides along main roads running along the river.

[Tracker0721]

I'm gonna hunt em a bit this year. Some friends here in Ferry county that kill tons along the Keller river. The skins can sell for a pretty good price, matching sets 3' long can go for $80, and I haven't eaten rattler since I left Texas and it's actually pretty good. I advise shooting them, others like to do the bare hand stuff. Just know most hospitals don't have antivenom. Id have a minimum drive of an hour and a half if I got bit to a hospital with antivenom

[HighlandLofts]

Looks like I'll be making a week end trip to Eastern Washington to give it a shot. Any one interested in getting together when the time is right to go after them?
I'd assume you would use like a 357 or a 44 magnum with snake shot to shoot them.
Any advise on methods on hunting them would be appreciated.
Also I assume I'll need a hunting license to go after them. I do have a small game hunting license.

Tracker
How do you cook them?

[brush hunter]

Don't forget when you get one, even dead they can bite.

[ghosthunter]

Never heard of anything required to kill snakes.

Except your too of choice.

[rasbo]

Looks like I'll be making a week end trip to Eastern Washington to give it a shot. Any one interested in getting together when the time is right to go after them?
I'd assume you would use like a 357 or a 44 magnum with snake shot to shoot them.
Any advise on methods on hunting them would be appreciated.
Also I assume I'll need a hunting license to go after them. I do have a small game hunting license.

Tracker
How do you cook them?

shovel

[jdb]

 

[vandeman17]

Don't forget when you get one, even dead they can bite.

  cut off and bury the head

[j_h_nimrod]

.22 pistol, as long as you can hit an inch sized target at 8 feet.

[rasbo]

.22 pistol, as long as you can hit an inch sized target at 8 feet.

bad juju in the rocks,

[gaddy]

When I was in high school we went after them with a forked stick about 5 foot long and a gunny sack around Moses lake. Not smart. Kept them in a fish tank and fed them mice we caught in the dunes at nite while driving around drinking beer. Definitely not smart.
Had a guy I worked with in Royal City get bit when feeding his, by the time he got to the hospital in Moses he was about done. Almost lost his hand, hospitalized for a week, out of work for a month. BE CAREFUL.
We ran into a lot of them around the seep lakes south of Mar Don and north of Moses Lake in the Glade Seeps area.
When later in life I took the wife and kids fishing around there, I would put little bells on the end of fishing poles and bump the brush while hiking to the little lakes. That will fire them up so you know where they are.
Rocky terrain and bird shot creates another Issue.

[andrew_in_idaho]

.22 with bird shot was what we always used. Never had any issues with ricochet, the bird shot from a .22 is such low velocity anyway. Shoot em in the head, be sure that you are careful handling them as they can reflexively bite for something like 1/2 hr after death


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[jrebel]

For all you novice snake hunters.....I could tell you stories that would make you change your mind!!  I have seen a few bites in my time and though the bite is unlikely to kill you, the cost associated with one is.  Not to mention if you are pursuing them willingly, your insurance is likely not to cover such cost.  Good luck and be safe, if you get bit......can I be first in line as you liquidate your hunting supplies to pay the bills.   

And yes....a sharpened shovel works great.  After you whack off the head, burry it...never playing with the head or mounth.  I have always used the digging utensil to move the head, not my hands.