A
Anonymous
Guest
I had kinda forgotten this story till the Rattler was mentioned..........
It was in 1978, a couple friends and i had decided to do some Antelope hunting in southern Alberta. We took 3 days for the trip as it was a 300 mile drive to our chosen place.
Late September is usually quite warm and we elected to tent camp near the South Saskatchewan river. We could hunt the flats above the river with a 5 minute drive and not have to commute from the nearest town with a motel which was 45 minutes away.
The two "characters" i was with were both my longtime friends and a pleasure to hunt with. Wes was an incurable practical joker with a laugh like a PA system. Ron a quieter guy with a very dry sense of humor and not loath to pull a fast one on a buddy, but would do it quietly and poker faced. I had been the brunt of a couple of his setups and had been looking for some payback.
A very intelligent and capable guy, Ron was the kind who seemed to have a healthy dose of "careful" but did not appear to be afraid of anything at all! I was "dog with a hambone" lucky though, the day before we were to leave i happened to meet his brother in law and mentioned that we were going hunting "prairie goats" down south and since we would be in the right country for it i would try to hunt up some "Diamondbacks" while i was there. Skinned out and tanned with Borax and oil they made great hatbands and i sold lots of them at the Calgary Stampede making good money (under the table <img src="/metal/html/grin.gif" border=0 width=15 height=15 alt=":grin"> ) it was not politically correct, (read legal) heh heh.
Right out of the blue, Rons bro inlaw says hahaha, Snakes! the only thing Ron is scared of! Well i liked to burst but kept my peace, nodding and smiling, then quickly changed the subject, all the while thinking gotcha you sucker! <img src="/metal/html/lol.gif" border=0 width=15 height=15 alt=":lol">
Right off i call Wes and tell him its gonna be a funny weekend, and we set it up.
After a long boring drive we finally found ourselves at the camping area and set to organising while it was still light. Come grey light in the morning we would be hunting. First however, i volunteered to get firewood along the line of willows and cottonwoods nearby. On returning with an armful, i started to get the fire going and casually mentioned, hey guys i saw a big old Rattlesnake over yonder, but he was gone too quick!
Wes just said oh ya? But the look that came over Rons face although fleeting, told me a lot! Then i made sure that i needed Rons help with some camp chores while Wes disappeared into the tent and began working on Rons sleeping bag!
I had come up with the idea of mentioning snake to set the stage and that we would, from the bottom of the zipper in his sleeping bag, insert a piece of soft cotton rope, leaving a couple feet out and up the side of the tent next to Wes.
All went well, we banked the fire and headed for the tent. After a bit of the usual small talk and hunting anticipation things got quiet. We waited for about 15 minutes i think before the soft snore started from Ron and Wes started slowely pulling the rope out of the bottom of the sleeping back and i gave Ron an elbow, he grunted.....huh? what? and i said.....what was that noise? He said, i didn't hear anything. (course i knew that <img src="/metal/html/lol.gif" border=0 width=15 height=15 alt=":lol"> he was sleeping, but too dozy to figure that out) I said.....i thought i heard a buzzing sound? And just then Ron felt the movement of the rope by his feet!
Yep, one sleeping bag destroyed! Also a torn tent flap! Two guys laughing fit to bust, and one very pissed off Cowboy threatening all kinds of murder and mayhem! Things finally quieted down and Ron slept in the truck <img src="/metal/html/lol.gif" border=0 width=15 height=15 alt=":lol"> <img src="/metal/html/lol.gif" border=0 width=15 height=15 alt=":lol">
I did not get to make any Snake money that trip. Ron said if i even mentioned it he would try out one of his special reloads on me <img src="/metal/html/shocked.gif" border=0 width=15 height=15 alt=":shock"> <img src="/metal/html/grin.gif" border=0 width=15 height=15 alt=":grin">
Wayner (the snake guy)
It was in 1978, a couple friends and i had decided to do some Antelope hunting in southern Alberta. We took 3 days for the trip as it was a 300 mile drive to our chosen place.
Late September is usually quite warm and we elected to tent camp near the South Saskatchewan river. We could hunt the flats above the river with a 5 minute drive and not have to commute from the nearest town with a motel which was 45 minutes away.
The two "characters" i was with were both my longtime friends and a pleasure to hunt with. Wes was an incurable practical joker with a laugh like a PA system. Ron a quieter guy with a very dry sense of humor and not loath to pull a fast one on a buddy, but would do it quietly and poker faced. I had been the brunt of a couple of his setups and had been looking for some payback.
A very intelligent and capable guy, Ron was the kind who seemed to have a healthy dose of "careful" but did not appear to be afraid of anything at all! I was "dog with a hambone" lucky though, the day before we were to leave i happened to meet his brother in law and mentioned that we were going hunting "prairie goats" down south and since we would be in the right country for it i would try to hunt up some "Diamondbacks" while i was there. Skinned out and tanned with Borax and oil they made great hatbands and i sold lots of them at the Calgary Stampede making good money (under the table <img src="/metal/html/grin.gif" border=0 width=15 height=15 alt=":grin"> ) it was not politically correct, (read legal) heh heh.
Right out of the blue, Rons bro inlaw says hahaha, Snakes! the only thing Ron is scared of! Well i liked to burst but kept my peace, nodding and smiling, then quickly changed the subject, all the while thinking gotcha you sucker! <img src="/metal/html/lol.gif" border=0 width=15 height=15 alt=":lol">
Right off i call Wes and tell him its gonna be a funny weekend, and we set it up.
After a long boring drive we finally found ourselves at the camping area and set to organising while it was still light. Come grey light in the morning we would be hunting. First however, i volunteered to get firewood along the line of willows and cottonwoods nearby. On returning with an armful, i started to get the fire going and casually mentioned, hey guys i saw a big old Rattlesnake over yonder, but he was gone too quick!
Wes just said oh ya? But the look that came over Rons face although fleeting, told me a lot! Then i made sure that i needed Rons help with some camp chores while Wes disappeared into the tent and began working on Rons sleeping bag!
I had come up with the idea of mentioning snake to set the stage and that we would, from the bottom of the zipper in his sleeping bag, insert a piece of soft cotton rope, leaving a couple feet out and up the side of the tent next to Wes.
All went well, we banked the fire and headed for the tent. After a bit of the usual small talk and hunting anticipation things got quiet. We waited for about 15 minutes i think before the soft snore started from Ron and Wes started slowely pulling the rope out of the bottom of the sleeping back and i gave Ron an elbow, he grunted.....huh? what? and i said.....what was that noise? He said, i didn't hear anything. (course i knew that <img src="/metal/html/lol.gif" border=0 width=15 height=15 alt=":lol"> he was sleeping, but too dozy to figure that out) I said.....i thought i heard a buzzing sound? And just then Ron felt the movement of the rope by his feet!
Yep, one sleeping bag destroyed! Also a torn tent flap! Two guys laughing fit to bust, and one very pissed off Cowboy threatening all kinds of murder and mayhem! Things finally quieted down and Ron slept in the truck <img src="/metal/html/lol.gif" border=0 width=15 height=15 alt=":lol"> <img src="/metal/html/lol.gif" border=0 width=15 height=15 alt=":lol">
I did not get to make any Snake money that trip. Ron said if i even mentioned it he would try out one of his special reloads on me <img src="/metal/html/shocked.gif" border=0 width=15 height=15 alt=":shock"> <img src="/metal/html/grin.gif" border=0 width=15 height=15 alt=":grin">
Wayner (the snake guy)
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