While at the annual Williams family/friend camp out at my brother's property in western NC this holiday weekend we had a little excitement...Sunday night one of the campers volunteered his turn to retrieve some firewood from the woodpile. Several of us already walked over to the firewood rack and picked up an arm fill of split wood (you could make out the logs in the firelight) and brought them over to the bonfire in the impressively large firepit ...

As would luck would have it, this person did take a head mounted spotlight and as he was reaching for the wood from the stack...he saw a 2.5' copperhead coiled to strike setting ontop of the log he was picking up (it did make a short strike) and as he saw it and pulled back and started screaming COPPERHEAD!!!...COPPERHEAD!!!...HELP...KILL IT!...COPPERHEAD!!!...

The only firearm handy was the S&W AR15-22 with a loaded 30 round magazine that my brother had locked in his truck...it was retrieved, used and the copperhead's "stand your ground" attitude went for nought with missing a head and all ...

This just cemented my need for a good weather resistant SS .22 revolver to be able to shoot those blue cased projectile snake shot loads from CCI...so I bought a Ruger Bisley Single Six .22 ...(who really needs a "reason" to buy a gun you want )...

Here is the late offending party...this just the third copperhead in the wild I have seen in my 65 years...

Friggin awesome story man! Fire roasted snake anyone?

I was expecting this to be a Ruger Bisley Single Six .22 story. But because it was a S&W AR15-22/30, I'll allow it.
/Gavel/
Next!

They can give you a nasty nip. Got one stuck in my boot stepping over a log once. Hilarity ensued. Tastes just like chicken!

Never trust a snake shot with .22 caliber snakeshot.

I've killed about ten this summer, varying length. Two most recent were in my driveway similarly lengthy as your posted pic. At night simply take a flashlight in your weak hand and blind them as you wield your machete blade over their neck. Quieter.

Now, to be fair, are you sure that's a copperhead? I mean, he doesn't have a head and there is a similarly patterned, non-venomous snake. Yes, I see the hour glass.

I love snakes,but Copperheads are the most aggressive snake I have ever encountered. A Rattlesnake will warn you and avoid an interaction if possible. A Copperhead will just plain attack you and continue trying to get you until it is dead.

quote:

Originally posted by RichardC:
Never trust a snake shot with .22 caliber snakeshot.

Agreed. S&W 642 w/ five rounds of CCI shotshells gets it done for me.

BisleyBH: A good story, and a good reminder to be careful when camping and hunting during warm weather. Thanks.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Tailhook 84,

We had an juvenile rattlesnake make an attempt at coming into our garage a couple of nights ago. he was about 3-4" long.

Dummy got smooshed (smushed?) by the garage door. What are the odds!

Now I'm paranoid as hell walking through the garage.

quote:

Originally posted by Shaql: Now I'm paranoid as hell walking through the garage.

Same here with my pool: 12 summers of jumping in at night without a thought, then about a month ago Mrs. 'Hook found a live copperhead swimming around the edges attempting to get out. It finally got caught in the filter basket where I plucked it out with the snake stick and dispatched it with a shovel. Now we do thorough end-to-end snake checks before we get in, but we're still not as comfortable as we used to be, dammit!

quote:

Originally posted by Bisleyblackhawk:
This just cemented my need for a good weather resistant SS .22 revolver to be able to shoot those blue cased projectile snake shot loads from CCI...so I bought a Ruger Bisley Single Six .22 ...(who really needs a "reason" to buy a gun you want )...

I keep a S&W 617 10 shot .22 revolver loaded with CCI snake-shot. Never needed more than one head shot to kill any rattler we find close to the house.
 

My AZ walkin the dog/snake gun is a ruger lcr with 3 inch barrel and adjustable sights. Looks big but weighs almost nothing.

686 on back of front door...

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Last month found a copperhead in a laundry basket of towels. Was putting towels away when I noticed the snake. Basket & snake were taken outside where the snake & I danced about with my garden hoe. It is now a very "good" snake. Live in a suburb about 100 yards from Trinity River. See 3 to 5 snakes a year, but this is the 1st one in the house. Someone probably left the back door open for the dog to go in/out.

Good riddance.

My mother told me that she and my stepfather killed four Rattlesnakes (two with 17 and 19 rattles) and three Water Moccasins this past weekend at their deer camp.

I told her it sounded like a good start.

Wow! We’ve just moved to NC and are wood turners.
This is a good reminder to be extra careful when selecting wood from the pile...and to carry protection.
Thanks for posting the story and glad everyone’s ok. (Except for the snake of course)

Did you empty the magazine?

I get them in my pool and pool skimmer basket. I turn off the pump now to empty the basket.

quote:

Originally posted by StorminNormin:
I love snakes,but Copperheads are the most aggressive snake I have ever encountered. A Rattlesnake will warn you and avoid an interaction if possible. A Copperhead will just plain attack you and continue trying to get you until it is dead.

It appears that you have never met a cottonmouth moccasin. I grew up in Fla, and we had rattlesnakes, copperheads, coral snakes, alligators and moccasins....I learned how to tell a good snake from a poisonous one when I was three or four.

I avoid them all now.

I keep a Ruger SP 101 loaded with 8 "Snake shot" rounds loaded where I can get to it. When I walk the dogs I tote my Ruger LCRx where the first two chambers have .38 Special Shotshells, and the rest have 125 grain JHP's.