.22 shotshells for snakes while hunting

I don't mess with shot shells. A mini mag works fine.

I live in southeast colorado and my experiance is that any .22 ratshot load will safely pull sparrows ouf the barn , but are usless for much else . I shoot snakes with solids be it .22 or .44 i dont carry a snake load .

The spread with 22 shotshells is 6 inches for every 6 inches the pellets go forward. So if you shoot from 5 feet away you have a 5 foot diameter of area that that shot occupies.

I carry a Model 66 (.357 mag) with shotshells. It seems to do ok. DOn't know about a .22lr though.

I just avoid 'em & let them be . . . the mice they kill are a greater threat. . .

I've found that .22 shotshells will usually stop a charging field mouse. They can also drop a divebombing hummingbird. I would not trust them for anything bigger.

For snakes I'd stick to solid loads, or go to a .357.

I've had better luck with .22 wmr rounds from my NAA mini I carry when hiking for just that purpose.

My attitude when out hunting, and I see a snake, is, "Why bother?"

My territory is pretty much limited to buzztail rattleworms for poisonous critters--and I've yet to have one attack me. Really. None. So, why bother?

Art

I wouldnt shoot this one with 22 rat shot! How about a dose of 20ga 7.5s?

Saw him last week dove hunting. Let him walk, errrr crawl away.

my grandpa would always keep a .38 special and a bucket of pitch in his boat with him, snakes would drop from trees into the boat and he'd just calmly shoot them in the bottom of his boat, scoop some pitch from the bucket, plug the hole with it, and go back to fishing.

bird/rat/whatevershot from a 22 really won't cut it, not reliably anyway. just use some regular bullets in that single six and you'll be fine.

My limited experience with 22 birdshot was when trying to kill pigeons in a new Butler steel machine shed.

Near as I could tell, the noise would flush them, but at ten feet more or less, it wasn't even scratching them. I suspect a large snake would get annoyed and (hopefully) leave.

Rocks work and are a lot quieter than a gun. I leave nonpoisonous snakes alone but if I am spending much time in a area and a rattler is there I don't feel the need to be wondering where he is at every moment, so he is in dire peril.
Coyotes kill a hundred times more mice that a rattlesnake, but everyone seems to think it's fine to shoot WillyE why not poisonous snakes? Guess I am bassakwards as I am a fan of coyotes and not of rattlesnakes.
I would give my eye teeth to hunt wolves though.

.38 shotshells work great out to around 6 feet. As mentioned before .22 is almost worthless as a shotgun. If you know that you have a good backstop and are clear from other people they take care of wasp nests real good

the .22 shot shells are ok for ballons out to 10 feet or so, I've used the speer shot capsules to load for 38, 44, 45acp (for revolver). One of the problems is that the .22 shot rounds are loaded with #12 shot, 9mm with #11 you have to get to 38 and above before they use #9. If you load your own (not 22) and use #7 1/2 you will find what you are looking for.

You'd probably have more luck if you use 357 or 44 mag shot shells. The 22 shotshells are useless. I generally just leave the snakes alone. It is rare when I will kill one now. Only poisonous snake I will kill on sight is a Water Moccasin and there aren't any in my area, so not an issue.

Art got it right. Why bother?
You would be hard pressed to find a more helpless animal than a snake even if they are venomous. I have NEVER heard of an unprovoked snake attack.
Most snakes don't want to be around people any more than people want to have snakes around.

Not knowing they were there, I've sat and stepped within inches of rattlers more times than I care to recall.
They buzzed at me a few times but more often they simply stay still and try to use their camouflage.
They aren't looking for trouble and they do control rodents.

I leave the snakes alone in hopes that some illegal will step on one at night.

The only rattler I ever shot was because it scared the pee (THR version) out of me and it was with a 20 gauge with #6 shot out pheasant hunting. Frankly, I'm lucky I didn't blow my foot off. Walking along and hear rattling, well I must have woken it up or something because it was right next to my foot when it started. The muzzle was maybe a foot away from it's head.

I do have some .38 shot shells in my .357 while out big game hunting but have yet to need to use them. A .22 shotshell is laughable, more of a toy than anything else. Even the .38's are questionable.

I hate snakes and I always seem to end up with them in my shed or garage. I use CCI 22 shotshells in my colt frontier scout and it really does a number on them.I get as close as I can ,,5 feet or so, and then pop them. Have shot snakes from small to 6 feet long. I think they work great.

I use them allot on chipmunks that are taking over my patio. Wife thought they were cute until they started to chew every pot and chair cushion. But anyway seems like the Winchester type with the crimped ends do a little better that the CCI type with the plastic cup on the end at ending the monks reign of destruction. Don’t know about snakes.

I think that, if a .22 rat shot load will kill the snake, you probably didn't need to worry about it in the first place.

.38 is probably minimum I would trust, due to shot size and pellet count.

Art got it right. Why bother?
You would be hard pressed to find a more helpless animal than a snake even if they are venomous. I have NEVER heard of an unprovoked snake attack

Click to expand...

Helpless?
Tell ya what, you guys can keep your ideals about rattlers all ya want. The darn things will bite ya and a guy doesn't need to purposely provoke em either. I had a friend that was bitten twice on his ranch working, he may have provoked the snake, if so it was accidental, he never knew it was there till he was bit. First bite about killed him. Guy near my cousins place stopped and walked out into the bushes to go along the road and a snake bite killed him,( this bite came to me from the media, I never knew that fella). Knew a guy when I was young that had a withered leg from a snake bite, he had to walk on crutches. I Lost a good dog to a rattler. When I see them if I can it is their last hour. Gopher or other snakes can make up for the mice count. To each his own I guess.

Coyotes kill a hundred times more mice that a rattlesnake

Sorry, Eph, but they also include in their diet: game birds (fully 75% of those my friend raises & releases each year become "dog chow" - that would be in the neighborhood of 700- 750 birds), fawns, calves (I lost 3), "other" livestock, and domestic animals, if kept unchecked. But you ARE kee-rect . . . "to each his own." While I normally ignore rattlers, any that pose an immediate or persistent threat to mine or me are subject to be converted to a tanned skin. I probably take as many pix of coyotes as I shoot, however. This one wasn't particularly happy she got "snookered."

Well I am sorry I led this thread astray that wasn't my intent, plus I have nothing against anyone hunting or shooting coyotes. I have with 22LR to 30 calibers, I just don't lately, I may again but for the time being I would rather watch one than shoot it. I have enjoyed watching them interact with one another or hunting alone many a time and it is a better memory to me than another kill. I think I have shot or killed a lot of things I won't or don't plan on again, and you can take it to the bank I won't criticize those that want to hunt things.

I guess my gist was I just miss the "why" it seems OK to kill a coyote or several other critters but guys have a fit when some one kills a snake. A snake will eat a frog as quick as a mouse and I kinda like frogs, but that argument goes nowhere to in circles.

Coyote is a survivor I have watched them eat apples many a time, I do think they will eat just about anything, and unlike the wolf, man will never eradicate them. Who knows for sure know how hard man tried in the last century? The government even hired guys for just that purpose and coyote won.
As far as I am concerned when it comes to domestic animals, cats in particular, the coyote can have all of em he wants.

Blaming a wild critter for killing birds that grew up in a pen just some how doesn't seem fair to me.

I have often wondered how much domestic stock a coyote feeds on that wasn't his kill, he just got the blame.
When I was growing up my folks raised goats among other things. I think there just might have been as many coyotes per square mile there as any place on earth and we never lost a kid but you could not have a cat if it went outside at night, but then the goats were in pens and not a free range animal either. Bovines were in the area and behind barb-wire but basically outside and unprotected and you'd see healthy calves grow up just fine.

I'll shut up and hope if it was your plan Koja48 that you got that yote in the picture.