Post by beefjello on Sept 25, 2014 19:44:55 GMT -5
Hey folks, got one more recent hounding trip to bore ya with. Saturday before last I took off around 4 am heading north up to the Verde Valley. Christa had made plans to spend the day with her dad so I was flying solo. Figured I'd hit my spot by sunrise.. here's the view at the top of the canyon
after parking and hiking down I caught the first rays of the day in one of my favorite spots in the state
Found a spot to set down my lunch bag on a rock under a big sycamore tree, then proceeded in one direction looking for rocks. After an hour or so I doubled back and found my way back to my lil 'base camp'. I stopped and took off my back pack, pulled out a cold bottle of water and took a nice big drink. As I sat the bottle down I noticed something moving just inched from my hand
I quickly pulled my hand back and tried to register what I seen.. holy sh!t!!!!
It was a very camouflaged rattler moving it's head back and forth like it was trying to determine where to strike! I know they sense heat and I truly believe the only thing that kept me from getting kissed was the cold water bottle in my hand. It was positioned with it's body over it's tail so there was no warning at all. Being about a mile hike from the truck, and a good hour drive to the nearest hospital (with no cell phone coverage down there), I really dodged a bullet!!
After I put my heart back in my chest I grabbed a stick and gave it a little nudge behind the head. It slowly unwound itself from the nook it was in, and taking its time crawled toward a hole under the sycamore tree
I'd say it was just over 2'.. not sure what kind it was, I'm hoping @shotgunner will chime in here.
On its crawl out it never rattled once.
A short time later I came across this one that didn't spook me quite so much
Needless to say my agate eyes were replaced with 'snake eyes' the rest of the trip, and I wasn't as productive as I was earlier. Hunted a little more, headed back to the truck, enjoyed a samitch and a cold one and ventured on back to the big city. Quite the trip!
My haul
My sweetest find of the day
Thanks a bunch for coming along
after parking and hiking down I caught the first rays of the day in one of my favorite spots in the state
Found a spot to set down my lunch bag on a rock under a big sycamore tree, then proceeded in one direction looking for rocks. After an hour or so I doubled back and found my way back to my lil 'base camp'. I stopped and took off my back pack, pulled out a cold bottle of water and took a nice big drink. As I sat the bottle down I noticed something moving just inched from my hand
I quickly pulled my hand back and tried to register what I seen.. holy sh!t!!!!
It was a very camouflaged rattler moving it's head back and forth like it was trying to determine where to strike! I know they sense heat and I truly believe the only thing that kept me from getting kissed was the cold water bottle in my hand. It was positioned with it's body over it's tail so there was no warning at all. Being about a mile hike from the truck, and a good hour drive to the nearest hospital (with no cell phone coverage down there), I really dodged a bullet!!
After I put my heart back in my chest I grabbed a stick and gave it a little nudge behind the head. It slowly unwound itself from the nook it was in, and taking its time crawled toward a hole under the sycamore tree
I'd say it was just over 2'.. not sure what kind it was, I'm hoping @shotgunner will chime in here.
On its crawl out it never rattled once.
A short time later I came across this one that didn't spook me quite so much
Needless to say my agate eyes were replaced with 'snake eyes' the rest of the trip, and I wasn't as productive as I was earlier. Hunted a little more, headed back to the truck, enjoyed a samitch and a cold one and ventured on back to the big city. Quite the trip!
My haul
My sweetest find of the day
Thanks a bunch for coming along
