Reptile & Amphibian Forums

In particular the show Dangerous Game? It just strikes me as odd that the guide, professional hunter, whatever his title is hunts in cobra country in low shoes and shorts. Do they actually do this, or is this just another aspect of "staged TV" that we as herpers aren't supposed to notice?

Perhaps the comparision is week, but I hike in WDB and Blacktail Rattler county in shorts and shoes all the time.

When I first started going to the Big Bend region of west Texas to hunt snakes, I alway wore hiking boots and often leggings. Now that I live here, I rarely wear anything other than shorts, except on the occassional cold winter days. Granted, rattlers are nocturnal, but I frequently walk up on them in full daylight during the spring and fall. Some give warning, some don't. None have ever struck, unless I tried to move them.

Also, the hunter you mentioned is probably watching the ground very closely for animal "sign". I think it would be unlikely for a sharp-eyed professional hunter to walk up on a snake unaware, unless in high grass (where the snake would be more likely to retreat than strike).

I've read a couple books by a former professional hunter who hunted in Africa and he mentioned wearing shorts much of the time.

Personally when I hunted in southeast Georgia, in an area known to have some big EDBs and cottonmouths, I hunted in sandals for a good part of archery season because it was so hot. I was in a treestand for much of the time, but walked to my stand in the dark a lot of the time. I never saw a snake while hunting.