A6
NEWS
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, May 8, 2019
Spring is rattlesnake hunting time
Steinbruck fi nds
dens, handles
problems
By Richard Hanners
Blue Mountain Eagle
Springtime is rattlesnake
hunting season for Bob
Steinbruck.
That’s when the snakes
come out of their dens to
warm themselves on rocks
and are more visible, he said.
Steinbruck has been hunt-
ing rattlesnakes for 45 years.
His interest was sparked
during a hunting trip in the
Owyhee Reservoir area.
“We caught some snakes
and ate them for a lark,” he
said.
Steinbruck, who recently
moved to John Day, said
he knows of 20 dens in the
Bend area. He found about
500 snakes last year.
Finding dens isn’t easy.
Sometimes he returns multi-
ple times to a site where he’s
spotted about fi ve snakes
sunning themselves on a
rock before he’s sure.
About 200 rattlesnakes
can live in a single den,
he said. Typically they’re
located on a south-fac-
ing slope with broken rock.
Large rocks take longer to
warm up after a chilly night,
he said.
Grant County is home
to Great Basin and north-
ern Pacifi c rattlesnakes. The
more aggressive western
diamondbacks are found in
Texas and Arizona, and tim-
ber rattlers are found east
of the Mississippi River, he
said.
Rattlesnakes eat mice,
rats and small birds, and
outbuildings or lumber piles
can provide good hunting
grounds. But a rattlesnake’s
den could be a mile away on
the rimrocks above a ranch,
he said.
If someone asks him for
assistance with a rattlesnake
problem, Steinbruck heads
up to the rocky slopes and
looks for skins. Rattlesnakes
shed their skin once a year,
including the rattle.
Contributed photo
A full freezer of meat requires proper care of a game
animal after it has been killed.
SHOOTING THE BREEZE
Caring for the meat
Contributed photos/Bob Steinbruck
Bob Steinbruck holds a northern Pacifi c rattlesnake by the tail when he was younger.
A northern Pacifi c
rattlesnake coiled and ready
to strike.
A Great Basin rattlesnake partially hides under a rock.
Venom from rattle-
snakes is defi nitely danger-
ous, he said. Most people
who get bit don’t die, but it
depends on a person’s health
and age. Emergency kits
today include better suction
devices to remove venom
from bites, he said, but peo-
ple should seek medical
attention as soon as possible.
“It’s easy to say, but don’t
get excited, just get in your
vehicle and drive to get
help,” he said.
Most people who get bit
were careless when handling
rattlesnakes,
Steinbruck
said. Snakes are conserva-
tive about using up their
A man wakes up in
the morning after
sleeping on an
ADVERTISED BED,
in ADVERTISED
PAJAMAS.
He will bathe in an ADVERTISED TUB, shave with an ADVERTISED RAZOR,
have a breakfast of ADVERTISED JUICE, cereal and toast, toasted in an
ADVERTISED TOASTER, put on ADVERTISED CLOTHES and glance at his
ADVERTISED WATCH. He’ll ride to work in his ADVERTISED CAR, sit at an
ADVERTISED DESK and write with an ADVERTISED PEN. Yet this person
hesitates to advertise, saying that advertising doesn’t pay. Finally, when his
non-advertised business is going under, HE’LL ADVERTISE IT FOR SALE.
Then it’s too late.
venom, so many strikes are
“dry bites” with no venom.
Antivenom is available for
sale, but it can be expensive,
he noted.
Steinbruck has no profes-
sional training, but he reads
about them and he’s tested
rattlesnakes in the fi eld. Rat-
tlesnakes are deaf but acute
to vibrations in the air and
ground. He found he could
sneak up on snakes by mov-
ing slowly and carefully, but
the same snakes would start
rattling if he approached
quickly.
Herpetologists
test-
ing rattlesnakes in labora-
tories found their eyesight
was generally limited to
about 15 feet. Steinbruck
said he tested that fi nding
by wearing either dark or
white shirts. The white shirt
refl ected more light and set
the snakes to rattling more
easily, he said.
To make up for bad eye-
sight, rattlesnakes boast
heat-sensing pits between
their eyes and nostrils. These
enable rattlesnakes to hunt at
night, Steinbruck said.
“When they strike a
mouse and release venom,
they immediately let go and
then track the mouse for a
short distance,” he said. “If
they hold onto the mouse,
it might turn and bite them
back.”
Rattlesnakes swallow ani-
mals whole, headfi rst. They
have a tube in the bottom of
their jaw which allows them
to breathe while consuming
the animals.
Female rattlesnakes give
birth to half a dozen live
snakes at a time around Sep-
tember. The young snakes
come “fully equipped,”
Steinbruck said, but while
they are more feisty than
adults, they have less venom.
Steinbruck used to catch
snakes by hand — when
he was much younger. He
uses snake tongs now. Most
people kill rattlesnakes by
shooting them with a .22
or shotgun, cutting off their
heads with a shovel or blud-
geoning them with a stick.
“They’re pretty thin
skinned,” he said.
Steinbruck said peo-
ple wanting assistance fi nd-
ing dens or handling prob-
lems can contact him at
541-508-9332.
vest. Fail-
ure to do
so will
result in
partial, if
not total,
loss of the
Dale Valade
meat.
I like to let my deer
hang for 5-7 days and elk
for 10-14. Some folks eat
it fresh, and others hang
it longer still. Hanging
the meat allows it to cool
and tenderize. During cer-
tain times of the year, this
will have to be done in a
cooler versus in open air
as the weather could be
much too warm and the
meat could spoil. Bow
season, antelope sea-
son and occasionally
even into deer season, the
heat must be taken into
account. After a day of
hanging, the meat should
develop a hard crust or
case on its exterior. This
is normal, and it means
all is well.
Once the carcass has
hung for its preferred
period of time, it’s time to
butcher the meat. You can
take it to Russell’s or do
it yourself. This is a long
and painstaking process
to undertake, so I will let
you decide which course
to pursue. I prefer to
butcher my own as I have
the knowledge and facili-
ties to do so.
Once butchered and
wrapped, you are ready
for my favorite part: the
eating! Venison is rela-
tively simple to prepare.
Like other red meat, sim-
ple seasonings like gar-
lic, salt and pepper work
well! Everyone has their
standby recipes, but my
favorites are fried or bar-
becued. Just one of the
few things in life that is
a literal pot of gold at the
end of the rainbow.
Got any favorite wild
game recipes to share?
Please drop us an email at
shootingthebreezebme@
gmail.com!
19th Annual Grant
County Quilt Show
119351
AND THEY SAY ADVERTISING DOESN’T WORK?
DON’T MAKE THIS SAME MISTAKE
Advertising is an investment, not an expense. Think about it!
W
e’ve shared
lots of columns
geared toward
getting your game ani-
mal on the ground. Now
I want to talk about what
to do with it once you’ve
gotten it there. This is
written with the local deer
or elk hunter or huntress
in mind. These rules or
the order of their oper-
ations could vary some
depending on local cus-
tom or necessity.
Depending on the
location of your har-
vest, you may only need
to complete a basic fi eld
dressing of the carcass
or, conversely, a com-
plete quartering thereof.
Typically, if you’re
within dragging distance
of camp or a roadway,
merely doing the basic
fi eld dressing will result
in keeping the carcass
cleaner until it’s hang-
ing from the meat pole. If
you’re having to pack out
the meat a considerable
distance, then fi eld dress-
ing, skinning, quarter-
ing and cutting all usable
meat off of the carcass
will be necessary there
on site.
Once you’ve trans-
ported your meat back
to camp, hang it up to
cool. I’ve seen folks
hang them by the head,
and I’ve seen others hang
them by the back legs. I
prefer the latter. You’ll
need to remove all skin
and trim off anything
that is bruised or blood-
shot. Having a clean
water source will be nec-
essary for washing the
meat to remove any dirt
or hair. You’ll need at
least 4-5 gallons of water
for this step. Regardless
of weather or climatic
conditions, always cover
your meat with a game
bag to prevent insects
from laying eggs within
it, and to keep birds and
small varmints from con-
suming any of your har-
Blue Mountain Eagle
MyEagleNews.com
Don’t get left behind, call today! Kim Kell 541-575-0710
119347
Presented by the Grant County Piecemakers Quilting Guild
Friday and Saturday May 10th and 11th, 2019
Grant County Fairgrounds Trowbridge Pavilion, John Day, OR
$5.00 for both days – Fri. 9am to 6pm, Sat. 9am to 4pm
Sunday Workshop – Daybreak Quilt (strip set friendly)
taught by Karen Hinton and Mary Lou Drury
Sunday May 12th Workshop
9am to 4pm
$20.00
Flowers for Mother’s
and Mother’s Day
Door Prizes
Vendors for lots of shopping include our Country Store,
Marilyn’s Pickets and Patchwork, Shiny Thimble Quilt Studio,
Thimbles and more, Mary Lou’s Quilts, Amanda Jo’s Lularoe,
Tom’s Beautiful Jewelry, Outlaw Creations and more.
Deli items will be available.
Door prizes, Demonstrations and special awards too.
Pick up a packet for our special quilt challenge for next year.
Our guild will be selling raffle tickets for this gorgeous quilt.
The winner’s name will be drawn on Saturday at 3pm.
For info or class sign up send email to gcpiecemakers@gmail.com
or call (541) 620-2798 (Mary Lou’s Cell) or The Shiny Thimble
(541) 932-4111 (store) or (541) 620-0120 (Karen’s Cell).
Drop off your quilts on Thursday 7am to 6pm for show.