Grouse/Chicken and Snakes

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MrRedNWhite

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I am planning to come up to Fort Pierre Grasslands early October. Can anyone share info on the snake situation in that area at that time? How prevalent, how active? If I avoid prairie dog towns and rocky areas, are we safe?

I am trying to find some snake avoidance training before we go, but haven't found anything yet (Dallas, TX area if anyone has recommendations).
 
MrRedNWhite said:
I am planning to come up to Fort Pierre Grasslands early October. Can anyone share info on the snake situation in that area at that time? How prevalent, how active? If I avoid prairie dog towns and rocky areas, are we safe?

I am trying to find some snake avoidance training before we go, but haven't found anything yet (Dallas, TX area if anyone has recommendations).
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Most of the snake avoidance training in TX will use western diamondbacks....not prairie rattlesnakes. The have different scents. There is guy near Houston that does snake training with western diamondbacks. The Western Bird Dog Club of SD is in Rapid City and they do snake avoidance clinics with prairie rattlesnakes. You might check with them to see if they will be doing any additional clinics this year. Trainng should ideally be snake specific. Scent is a really important part of it.

I haven't hunted the grasslands but those that I know have, told me they waited until after the first snow fall. Avoiding the pd towns is important but I think you could run into snakes anywhere on a warm day in that part of the country. You can get a map of the location of the towns, to help avoid those areas specifically. I attached a link but don't know how current the attached map is.


Snakes can be an issue anywhere when hunting west of the Missouri River. Good to be prepared. Have run regardless.
 
On a warm day in October, the snakes will be out. Snake avoidance is the best. My dogs avoid anything that looks or moves like a snake, regardless of species. I also use the snake vaccine that is back on the market. Even though it was developed from one species, the vets I trust say it reduces the cost of treatment if they are struck. I hunt quail in New Mexico also. The vets down there deal with Mojave rattlers and still say "vaccinate". Good enough for me and it isn't expensive. The vet I use up here (SD) is a hunter and he uses it. Personal preference...
 
Those western Rattlers are tough but nothing like six foot diamond back in South Georgia. Had a relative and friend that lost two pointers. Chances are if hit by one of them they probably would not survive it. That’s why I don’t bird hunt down there unless it’s a good cold snap.
 
Ft Pierre NG is my favorite place in the world to photograph prairie rattlers. Granted, I'm usually looking for them in May while I'm out photographing chickens and sharpies on the leks, but rattlers are common and abundant at Ft Pierre. I usually wait until nighttime temps drop to around freezing to hunt out there with my dogs. I warned one friend about this and he passed it off as fear mongering - then he almost stepped on a rattler 15 minutes out of the truck. YMMV

I also take my dogs through snake avoidance training. It's not perfect, but it can't hurt.

A Fort Pierre Rattler
PRA_RTTLR_IMG_9330.jpg


Web Parton conducting an avoidance seminar.
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My breeder lives near Rapid City and puts on a snake-avoidance clinic every year. I can give you his contact info if you want.

However, I am not real worried about my dog attacking a rattler, I'm worried about him accidentally running over one while retrieving a bird or something. I basically don't go out until it's cold enough to drive them into hibernation. Also looking into a vax I understand is available.
 
If there was a snake avoidance clinic locally I would take my dogs to it. But that’s not happening, so I don’t come down until it is freezing at night. Also freezing gets rid of the blue green algae problem.
 
Here in Alberta by the time the pheasant opener comes, Oct 15, the nights are getting cool but still warm enough during the day that the Prairie Rattlers will be out. My big fear is that the dogs run hard and will just run over one and get nailed. I only hunt early season sharptails in areas outside the snakes normal range.

Last week while camping I took the dogs to the river, I have used the same path down the river bank for years. I let the dogs off lease at the top of the bank and they use a beaver slide down to the water. I step to the side for the last six feet as the grass is easier to navigate. I barley heard him he was 4ft from my foot. It was a rodeo as I scrambled back and to my left. I was able to quickly leash the dogs before I checked him out.

It would a hell of a tough way to loose a dog!

Rattler.jpg
 
rae61 said:
Here in Alberta by the time the pheasant opener comes, Oct 15, the nights are getting cool but still warm enough during the day that the Prairie Rattlers will be out. My big fear is that the dogs run hard and will just run over one and get nailed. I only hunt early season sharptails in areas outside the snakes normal range.

Last week while camping I took the dogs to the river, I have used the same path down the river bank for years. I let the dogs off lease at the top of the bank and they use a beaver slide down to the water. I step to the side for the last six feet as the grass is easier to navigate. I barley heard him he was 4ft from my foot. It was a rodeo as I scrambled back and to my left. I was able to quickly leash the dogs before I checked him out.

It would a hell of a tough way to loose a dog!

View attachment 11487
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You're right. Fortunately, there aren't very many fatalities from prairie rattlers - dogs or people - but I do know of one guy who lost a young setter a few years ago to a snake bite at Fort Pierre.
 
And the golfer in Spearfish a few years ago. The likelihood of running into one seems pretty low unless you are near a p-dog town but if a dog gets a good bite it is probably not going to make it unless you can get anti-venom quickly.
 
Al Bonkers said:
And the golfer in Spearfish a few years ago. The likelihood of running into one seems pretty low unless you are near a p-dog town but if a dog gets a good bite it is probably not going to make it unless you can get anti-venom quickly.
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FWIW, I stay away from P-dog towns and I still find plenty of snakes.
 
In 20 years I've had 2 dogs bit by snakes. One was chukar hunting in Decmber with snow flying. It was lethargic and was a dry bite. The other was in September in Montana. She was a bit on the inner thigh. She recovered in a few weeks and was no worse for wear.
 
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