Hunter Battles Rattlesnake Inside Deer Blind
on Jan 02, 2020
One deer hunter was in for quite a shock when he sat down for a day of hunting from his deer blind in Holmes County, Mississippi.
Mack Ginn told The Clarion Ledger his story in a new article, explaining that he arrived at 6 a.m. and intended to stay all day – but was interrupted by a fearsome rattlesnake shortly thereafter.
“I have a metal ground blind. It’s up on cinder blocks,” he told the publication. “The blind has been there a long time. It’s a small blind; maybe 4′ by 4′. You have just enough room to walk in, sit, and swivel around.”
After getting set up for the day and outfitted with some snacks and drinks, Ginn says that he heard a rattle ring out in the metal shack. This was the first indication he was going to be getting an unwelcome visitor.
“It was 7:45 when I first heard it,” the hunter said of the snake. “I heard a rattle. It echoed in the blind and sounded like it was in the trees.”
First thinking it might be nothing more than a cicada, Ginn was stunned to find out that it was really a rattlesnake – something he’d never heard in person!
“I jumped up in the chair – he was right next to me!”
Ginn was stuck inside the blind with a rattlesnake just inches away from him, but he couldn’t get out without risking getting bitten by the snake – and that wasn’t an option. After he jumped into the chair, the snake got even angrier and was striking the chair leg with every little movement.
“My foot was on top of the pallet only a couple of inches from the snake. My first thought was to get away. I literally jumped into the chair because there was no way to get away. When I was in that chair I realized I had nowhere to go.”
With the situation only getting more tense, Ginn knew there was only one way to handle it: he needed to shoot the snake.
Picking up his rifle and aiming at the snake’s head, he fired and missed. Realizing the scope wasn’t helpful at point-blank range – Ginn then just put the barrel close to the snakes head as it was striking the gun and pulled the trigger.
“My ears rang most of the day,” he revealed after killing the snake. “I shot twice. There’s no telling what it would have measured on a decibel meter.”
The nearly five-foot-long snake was fairly large and had eight rattles. The girth of the reptile was measured to be larger than a soda can. Not uncommon for the South, rattlesnakes can be found to be active at any time of year.
Luckily, Ginn was able to escape with only some ringing ears and a hole or two in the floor of his blind.
See the video below of another similar event.
