Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Around the Campfire => Topic started by: littlehunters19862011 on April 09, 2013, 02:22:40 pm
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killed this copperhead around 10 this morning . it is around 28 29in Long . going to try and skin him out and dry it. this well be my first ever .any tips i throw him in the freezer for now going to go back to him in a day or so. and do it my nerve are bad every time the snake moves i jump a little even tho it has no head.lol we are over run with these snakes here
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Make sure he's defrosted pretty well before you skin him or the skin will tear. Personally I like to do it fresh as the skin peels easier, of course I also like to find snakes for fun and photos and don't mind live handling them so a little twitch here and there don't bother me. My kids and I went rattlesnake hunting once and found a beautiful specimen for my daughters new bow and not ones to waste we took the whole thing to skin and cook back at camp(minus the head of course). Well I kid you not after being dead in the cooler for three hours we skinned it and it still wiggled around it continued while on the stick over the fire it only quit after cooking for about 5 minutes. My son wouldn't even try it after that but my daughter she dove right in.
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lol i was all ways told to stay a way from all snakes . never handled any till my younger brother got Python . and still even then i would jump any time it moved ... we all ways kill copperheads here i live on a river and they all ways try and get to are fish in are miner can. so this summer I'm going to stock up on them if i can I'm sure there is plenty more to come
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I was the exact opposite, I collected all I could as a kid and kept them in jars ,tanks or boxes anything that would hold them long enough to play with. I used too breed pythons and corn snakes but stopped about three years ago now, too much traveling for work and 28 adults and varying amounts of babies was too much for my snake hating wife to care for. You should try skinning a 12 foot boa, their skin is thick as goat hide.
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those would make great trade items herein the trade section
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If you are jumpy with it, use scissors to unzip the belly. It would be a shame to slip with the knife and ruin that skin
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Do you usually split the belly scales or cut to the side of the belly scales?
Grady
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I split the belly scales.Most of the meat tends to stick along the edges of the belly scales,so if I miss any during the scraping its going to be in that area and its going to get trimmed off any way before storing or applying
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If the belly scales are wide enough for a backing I'll cut along the side of them. Two backings per snake on the fat ones.
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well guys i got the snake skint last night. wish i could say there was no holes in it but it ended up with 4 . thank those come from me win i killed the snake with the stick. but o well i got it drying now . how long well it take for it to dry? this is my first time ever doing this .
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Depends on the weather. On a sunny summer day they will dry in a day. I leave them tacked down for a week or so just to be sure they are good and dry.
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it should be in the uper 70 this weekend here after this heavy rain storm moves out to night .last night i tack the skin to a bored . but i did it with the scale side up. i tryed to rase the skin up a little this morning win i got up but the tacks are to small so i flipted it scale side down. thank its good to go once its dry.
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That shore is a beauty!! Love them copperheads!
Scott
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Copperheads are always in demand here for trade goods and always command a pretty hefty item in trade. And why not, they are a beautiful skin for bows!
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I see training wheels in the back ground
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Are my eyes deceiving me?
Is that skin tacked Meat-Side down?
I do love me some Copperheads... :)
-gus
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yes . i skinned it and tacked it up on the bored i was in a hurry to get it done. after i took the pics i fixted it turned it back scale side down . their well be more to come we live on a river and in the summer we are over run with them as long as they stay way we wont kill them but they all ways come to try and get are fish .killed two last night trying to get to the boat did not get my hands on them . tho . and yes i do have 3 sets of wheels on my way lol .
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OK guys the skin is dry now . glad i checked it while i was home.whats the best way to store it . after you dry it out . i thought about rolling it up and placing it in a small box but kinda worried if i try to roll it it might tear .(this is what i ended up with ....
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I trim the edges, roll them up, and store them in a small plastic organizer box. I keep that in my "animal parts" tub that has a layer of borax on the bottom.
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OK thanks Osage outlaw. and to all you other guys . for all the help you have given me. you all have Ben a big help.
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Some people keep them in the freezer.
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And aim for the head... >:D
It will save time patching holes when you lay it down on a bow...
Don't ask me how I know this... 8)
Heck if you plan to catch a bunch pick up a set of tongs.
You can then drop the live snake in a cooler full of ice over night to slow them down a bit.
Makes whacking them much easier and cleaner.
-gus
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Brilliant!
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thanks for the tip gus most of the time we whack them with the 410 . just happens that time i did not have it with me.
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Man I wish I knew where to catch them buggers. Someone put on Facebook last night that their parents ran over and killed one in the road. I drove 40 minutes to get it and it aparently had crawled off. I just never come across them around here.
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Just find a county road that is paved, and has trees on either side, drive up and down that road just as its getting dark,bout 8:30 ish, do about 20 mph, and looj , copperheads are very easy to spot with headlights, and be very careful. Lol, they bite.
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Just find a county road that is paved, and has trees on either side, drive up and down that road just as its getting dark,bout 8:30 ish, do about 20 mph, and looj , copperheads are very easy to spot with headlights, and be very careful. Lol, they bite.
I just don't think we have very many. I keep a look out all the time and in my 27 years of being an avid outdoorsman I have come across 1 and it was a baby. I know they are here but they seem to elude me.
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You cant throw a rock without hitten em here , friend and i caught 13 in two nights out, course thats far from norm,, lol