Roughly 40 years ago a buddy and I were out hunting coyotes in
the So. Cal. desert area, near Barstow. This was legal night hunting,
and it was a warm Fall night.
We had called in a coyote, and after dropping it about 150 yds. out
I headed out with just a flashlight to retrieve it. Didn't bring the
pistol as I knew this critter was 100% deceased..bad mistake.
When heading across the desert with just a flashlight and you're mind
and eyes are focused on where you saw the critter drop, sometimes
you don't see things right in front of you.
When I did notice what was in front of me, I came to an immediate stop.
There were three Mojave Green's sitting in a curved line about 5' in front
of me, and when I turned around to back way I realized I'd stepped right
over the top of two more. They had me surrounded..or more accurately,
I'd stepped right in the middle of them, and they weren't pleased with
how I'd invaded their space.
Looked back towards the truck a hundred yards away, and hollered "Rick,
bring me the shotgun!!" While he was walking out to me, I hatched an
escape plan while calculating the time it would take to get me to the nearest
hospital.
Rick showed up with what we called our "Snakebuster", which was a
single shot Sears 12 ga., sawed off down to about a 8" barrel. Rick
had machined a pistol grip for it, and with a 3" mag. load of #9 shot
it terminates snakes in a hurry. And no, it wasn't anywhere near legal.
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Had to shoot the two behind me to get out of there, and then took a
wide berth around them to finally get that coyote picked up.
I hate to have to kill snakes, but prefer, whenever possible, to simply
move them out of my way..those two behind me left me no options.
They were less than 5' away, pissed off and coiled up..just waiting for me
to enter their striking range.
