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Copperhead travel at night
#6333036
06/13/16 03:05 AM
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Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 15,711
603Country
OP
THF Celebrity
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OP
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Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 15,711 |
I guess I assumed (wrongly, it appears) that Copperheads stayed put and slept like people do at night. Never really thought about it much. But, tonight, while spotlighting the yard to see if any evil armadillos were digging up flowerbeds, there was a 24 inch Copperhead in full travel mode. I grabbed the rifle and cranked the turrets (kidding) and head shot him. Wife was duly impressed. The snake was moving pretty fast, but I don't think I can claim a running shot. And I never heard anybody mention a slither shot.....
It was a Southern Copperhead, not a Broadbanded Copperhead
Bet I'm the only guy that made a slither shot today.
Not my monkeys, not my circus...
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Re: Copperhead travel at night
[Re: 603Country]
#6333039
06/13/16 03:09 AM
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Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 869
Bdontexoma
Tracker
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Tracker
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 869 |
I prefer closer, more personal, methods of killing such as a hatchet to the head.
Nice slither shooting though!
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Re: Copperhead travel at night
[Re: 603Country]
#6333044
06/13/16 03:12 AM
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Joined: May 2009
Posts: 24,362
dkershen
Rev Dave
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Rev Dave
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 24,362 |
They are very active at night during the summer months especially. Good shooting.
To be sure of hitting the target, shoot first and call whatever you hit the target.www.NewHopeEquine.com - Health and Healing through Horses.
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Re: Copperhead travel at night
[Re: 603Country]
#6333245
06/13/16 12:38 PM
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Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 9,185
hook_n_line
THF Trophy Hunter
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THF Trophy Hunter
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 9,185 |
Killed this one just outside my trailer door at night. My dog was barking and running around it until I got it with the shovel.
Sometimes it's hard being me! But somebody has to do it.
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Re: Copperhead travel at night
[Re: 603Country]
#6333277
06/13/16 01:16 PM
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Joined: May 2011
Posts: 8,240
Double Naught Spy
THF Trophy Hunter
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THF Trophy Hunter
Joined: May 2011
Posts: 8,240 |
I guess I assumed (wrongly, it appears) that Copperheads stayed put and slept like people do at night. We all make these sorts of assumptions about critters and all get surprised when we encounter them doing things we don't expect them to be doing. For snakes like copperheads, ask yourself what their primary food is. It is mice. When are mice most active? Night. Now the descriptions of copperheads say that they are diurnal during the spring and fall, but nocturnal during the hot summer months. It isn't summer yet. Snakes don't do calendars. It is getting hot, however. They are more apt to behave based on temperature than calendar. That is why you will find snakes and other herps out during warm periods of weather during the winter here in Texas.
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Re: Copperhead travel at night
[Re: 603Country]
#6333335
06/13/16 01:53 PM
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Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 15,711
603Country
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OP
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Joined: Jul 2012
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Now I'll be a bit less comfortable walking back from the stands.
The wife pitched the dead copperhead into the back yard. Just before I went off to bed, I flipped on the outside lights and saw that our resident backyard Possum (aka 'Little Possum') was happily consuming the snake. The food chain in action.
Not my monkeys, not my circus...
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Re: Copperhead travel at night
[Re: 603Country]
#6333364
06/13/16 02:29 PM
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Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 28,032
Navasot
Hollywood
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Hollywood
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 28,032 |
That's when I kill the most of them.. they like lying right on trails and roads at night waiting for mice... We were tracking a deer once in bow season and got into some thick yupon... I had to push a good size one to the side to get through a small path and felt something hit my shoulder then the ground... turned around and there layed a copperhead just lookin at me... figured he was looking for bats or baby birds
Last edited by Navasot; 06/13/16 02:30 PM.
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Re: Copperhead travel at night
[Re: 603Country]
#6333564
06/13/16 04:49 PM
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Joined: Nov 2012
Posts: 15,645
QuitShootinYoungBucks
THF Celebrity
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THF Celebrity
Joined: Nov 2012
Posts: 15,645 |
Once read an article saying armadillos were nocturnal. Then I drove the pasture at 1 pm and saw 13. Guess they hadn't read the same article!
https://web.archive.org/web/20170223065011/http:/www.rrdvegas.com/silencer-cleaning.html
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Re: Copperhead travel at night
[Re: 603Country]
#6333593
06/13/16 05:11 PM
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Joined: Feb 2015
Posts: 5,169
flintknapper
THF Trophy Hunter
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THF Trophy Hunter
Joined: Feb 2015
Posts: 5,169 |
I find nearly all of mine in the evening or after dark. Usually when I go down to my shop. I live out in the country and keep things clean around the shop and outbuildings. Keep the lawn mowed short to create a 'buffer' around the house, but we have pasture land and woods surrounding us...so snakes are always present.
In the warm months....I EXPECT to see them at night. In the daytime I can find them in shaded areas, especially one area of our property that is fed by a natural spring, is shaded and stays much cooler. That area has always been 'snakey'.
Spartans ask not...how many, but where!
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Re: Copperhead travel at night
[Re: 603Country]
#6333651
06/13/16 05:59 PM
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Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 21,271
SniperRAB
THF Celebrity
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THF Celebrity
Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 21,271 |
We are eat up with them..
Keep boots by back door and front and wife and grandkids are NOT allowed to walk out after dark in flip flops or low shoes..
I have hit the lights and seen 3-4 slide off the concrete ..
My Dogs been hit several times
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Re: Copperhead travel at night
[Re: 603Country]
#6333661
06/13/16 06:06 PM
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Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 15,711
603Country
OP
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OP
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We've had years when we saw a lot of Copperheads, but this year just two have shown up.
Never seen a Rattlesnake on our place.
Not my monkeys, not my circus...
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Re: Copperhead travel at night
[Re: 603Country]
#6333740
06/13/16 07:32 PM
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Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 35,131
Brother in-law
THF Celebrity
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THF Celebrity
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 35,131 |
I see most at night. Usually on roads or concrete. The terrain is usually littered with oaks and vines with shade.
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Re: Copperhead travel at night
[Re: SniperRAB]
#6333777
06/13/16 08:04 PM
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Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 29,609
SapperTitan
Taking Requests
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Taking Requests
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 29,609 |
We are eat up with them..
Keep boots by back door and front and wife and grandkids are NOT allowed to walk out after dark in flip flops or low shoes..
I have hit the lights and seen 3-4 slide off the concrete ..
My Dogs been hit several times You should tie a piece of fishing string to a piece of rebar pounded into the ground fish hook through the back side of a small furry mouse and see if you can catch a few.
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Re: Copperhead travel at night
[Re: 603Country]
#6333778
06/13/16 08:05 PM
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Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 65,529
SnakeWrangler
THF Celebrity
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THF Celebrity
Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 65,529 |
I find them mostly in the evening or at night unless I flipping rocks or logs looking for them....
I believe in science and I’m an insufferable [censored] Actually, BBC is pretty damn good "You Cannot Simultaneously Be Politically Correct And Intellectually Honest!"
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Re: Copperhead travel at night
[Re: QuitShootinYoungBucks]
#6335835
06/15/16 12:41 PM
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Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 9,273
blackcoal
THF Trophy Hunter
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THF Trophy Hunter
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 9,273 |
Once read an article saying armadillos were nocturnal. Then I drove the pasture at 1 pm and saw 13. Guess they hadn't read the same article! Insomniac armadillos, usually happens in groups of 9 or more.
The Greatest Enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge.--Stephen Hawking
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Re: Copperhead travel at night
[Re: 603Country]
#6338257
06/17/16 11:23 AM
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Joined: Nov 2015
Posts: 598
lms
Tracker
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Tracker
Joined: Nov 2015
Posts: 598 |
Lived in the country and killed 20 to 30 copperheads a year, now we live in town and all I find are king snakes.
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Re: Copperhead travel at night
[Re: 603Country]
#6338272
06/17/16 11:52 AM
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Joined: May 2011
Posts: 8,240
Double Naught Spy
THF Trophy Hunter
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THF Trophy Hunter
Joined: May 2011
Posts: 8,240 |
Once read an article saying armadillos were nocturnal. Then I drove the pasture at 1 pm and saw 13. Guess they hadn't read the same article! {In Cliff Claven voice...} It is a little known fact that your average armadillo is not a reader. No doubt this stems from the fact that very few writers are armadillos either. According to AT&T, armadillos typically do not add texting packages to their cell phone plans. I think if you delve into the subject further, you will find copperheads aren't much of readers either. They don't have fingers to turn the pages.
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Re: Copperhead travel at night
[Re: Double Naught Spy]
#6338992
06/17/16 10:39 PM
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Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 29,134
TXHOGSLAYER
THF Celebrity
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THF Celebrity
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 29,134 |
Once read an article saying armadillos were nocturnal. Then I drove the pasture at 1 pm and saw 13. Guess they hadn't read the same article! {In Cliff Claven voice...} It is a little known fact that your average armadillo is not a reader. No doubt this stems from the fact that very few writers are armadillos either. According to AT&T, armadillos typically do not add texting packages to their cell phone plans. I think if you delve into the subject further, you will find copperheads aren't much of readers either. They don't have fingers to turn the pages. And that is just how I read it.
LETS GO BRANDON
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Re: Copperhead travel at night
[Re: 603Country]
#6339153
06/18/16 12:44 AM
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Joined: Feb 2015
Posts: 5,169
flintknapper
THF Trophy Hunter
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THF Trophy Hunter
Joined: Feb 2015
Posts: 5,169 |
I think if you delve into the subject further, you will find copperheads aren't much of readers either. They don't have fingers to turn the pages. You shouldn't make fun of the handicapped.
Spartans ask not...how many, but where!
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Re: Copperhead travel at night
[Re: 603Country]
#6339163
06/18/16 12:55 AM
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Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 19,820
TurkeyHunter
THF Celebrity
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THF Celebrity
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 19,820 |
To be determined
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Re: Copperhead travel at night
[Re: 603Country]
#6339501
06/18/16 12:45 PM
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Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 265
ELKMTB
Bird Dog
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Bird Dog
Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 265 |
They are bad in east Texas. Not so much in the hill country or north Texas. Usually people handle the bites pretty well. My bro in law got tagged on the foot at night and didn't even have to stay in the hospital
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Re: Copperhead travel at night
[Re: ELKMTB]
#6340003
06/18/16 10:59 PM
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Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 29,609
SapperTitan
Taking Requests
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Taking Requests
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 29,609 |
They are bad in east Texas. Not so much in the hill country or north Texas. Usually people handle the bites pretty well. My bro in law got tagged on the foot at night and didn't even have to stay in the hospital there are a lot of them on Ft Hood
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Re: Copperhead travel at night
[Re: 603Country]
#6340008
06/18/16 11:11 PM
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Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 15,711
603Country
OP
THF Celebrity
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OP
THF Celebrity
Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 15,711 |
Again last night. Was out with the spotlight, looking (again) for the evil armadillos that dig up the flowerbeds, which really irritates the wife, who then makes my life miserable. So, the Dillos must die. No armadillos, but an even bigger Copperhead. Didn't measure this one, but over 24 inches for sure, though not 30 inches.
Our front yard Possum (aka 'Big Possum') apparently ate this one, and left the head. The back yard snake had been eaten by the back yard possum (aka 'Little Possum'). They seem to stay in their respective areas.
Not my monkeys, not my circus...
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Re: Copperhead travel at night
[Re: 603Country]
#6340170
06/19/16 02:37 AM
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Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 1,698
Lotto
Pro Tracker
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Pro Tracker
Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 1,698 |
The bottom of my boot was 1/2 step away from seeing this guy last week.
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