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ya'll be careful down there ya hear?

2K views 12 replies 10 participants last post by  buckskin 
#1 · (Edited)
https://www.foxnews.com/great-outdoors/mississippi-hunter-rattlesnake-deer-stand

Mississippi hunter cornered by 4-foot rattlesnake hiding in deer stand: 'There was no way to get away'

By Alexandra Deabler | Fox News


A Mississippi man went hunting for deer on Dec. 28, but he ended up with an impressive rattlesnake carcass instead.

Mack Ginn arrived at his small blind – which is propped up on cinder blocks – around 6 a.m.

"The blind has been there a long time. It's a small blind; maybe 4 by 4 (feet). You have just enough room to walk in, sit, and swivel around,” Ginn told USA Today.

In addition to his hunting stand being small, Ginn also said that the floor, which was at one time open, consisted of a wooden shipping pallet.

Just before 8 a.m., Ginn said he heard something while sitting in the blind.

"I heard a rattle. It echoed in the blind and sounded like it was in the trees,” he said, noting he initially thought it was cicadas before realizing they would not be active in late December.

Although the experienced hunter had never heard a rattlesnake rattle, he began wondering if that could be the loud noise he was hearing.

Sure enough, when the hunter looked down at the pallet, he saw a 4-1/2-foot timber rattlesnake peeking up through the slats.

Fortunately, hunter Mack Ginn only sustained ear ringing as an injury after shooting his high-powered rifle at the snake which, surprisingly, never bit him.

"My foot was on top of the pallet only a couple of inches from the snake. My first thought was to get away. I literally jumped into the chair because there was no way to get away,” he said.

In the tiny square, Ginn was trapped — and his only option was his rifle loaded with a .270 Winchester cartridge,

Ginn aimed, fired and missed. On his second try, the man managed to shoot the snake’s head as it was striking. "My ears rang most of the day," Ginn said.

"There's no telling what it would have measured on a decibel meter,” he added.

Fortunately, the ringing seemed to have been Ginn’s only injury, as the snake, surprisingly, never bit him.

Ginn did take a powerful lesson away from the scary incident: He’s installing a solid wood floor and sealing it.

"I won't be sitting on a pallet again, that's for sure,” he told USA Today.
 
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#2 ·
Anything in the woods that walks, crawls, or flies is a potential resident/visitor in every ground blind and tree stand. Wasps are a particularly "bad deal" when encountered in the folds of a blind's concealment camo at 12 to 20 feet off of the ground or hanging in the rafters of a tree house at the break of dawn. Though I have never, and don't want to, a skunk could be an especially bad day too.

Birds of prey nest in elevated blinds and will leave feces and carcasses that will make you gag. Sitting quietly when an owl revisits its former nesting place will give you BOTH an unpleasant start.

Bears (and snakes) have been known to (and videoed), climb the same tree a hunter is sitting in. That'll certainly elevate one's blood pressure.

Stepping into a covey of quail at O'dark -30 while walking to your blind won't kill you, but when all at once they suddenly flush, the hairs on your neck stand on end, and your fight or flight gut-reaction kicks in, it may make you kill yourself.

I have encountered most of these scenarios (no skunks or bears thank you very much) and have come away with both grayer hair and more self-awareness from the encounters...and my cardiologist wonders why my heart, when elevated, skips a beat, or two, or three, or four.
 
#3 ·
brother in law had my nephew with him one day out hunting. Got to the blind and it had a small door and he sent his son in first. Kid screamed and came jumping out yelling SKUNK!! Amazingly it never sprayed. He went back to camp and went out that night and it was gone. Buddy of mine once found a small black bear in his.
 
#5 ·
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My blind is about 3 feet off the ground on 4X4s with a step. Worst thing I got there so far is some mice which came in a chewed up some burlap bag curtains which were over the windows.
They made a nest of the burlap...I cleaned that out and didn't replace the burlap..so they don't visit so much anymore.

.
 
#8 ·
Hard for a snake to strike if its under the slats of a pallet, but I can see the distress in the situation...

Had a 350-400 lb bear climb my tree while archery hunting for bear... We bait up here and I must have had some bait scent on my hands when I climbed in, he made a B line for my tree and I had no shot. Climbed half way up my tree in less than a blink. He obviously didn't know I was up there, I made a little noise and he dropped... My brother had another big bear climb his tree and sniff his boot, although he had 30-30 aimed at his forehead, he climbed down without incident. Not in much danger in those situations, but does get your blood pumping.
 
#11 ·
Flying squirrels are tops, but never had them nest in a stand. Had six of them crawl across my arm and launch themselves into the unknown while escaping a tree in which I was sitting. Not staying in no tree with a stinking bear (or equivalent apex predator).
 
#13 ·
Not staying in no tree with a stinking bear (or equivalent apex predator).
There isn't too many other good options in that situation, at least I had the high ground... As asked of my bride, I had my 44 mag with me, but decided to hang it off of my stand platform as it's big and bulky, so it was actually closer to the bears teeth than it was my hand.
 
#12 ·
Yeah, Me, my son and my friend see over a dozen deer shooting houses.
We've had to deal with hawks and buzzards nesting, snakes, spiders, roaches, wasps, yellow jackets, rats and nice.
Last February we mowed/weedate under them good, cleaned-out, fixed windows, sealed-up cracks with foam and closed up our blinds up with mothballs in them.
When we opened them in September we had some wasps both inside and out but that was it.
 
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