Well, if this was Elk season you would know how this day ended. But it is not. It is Sunday July 31st. A quiet Sunday. No events, no games, nothing scheduled. Relaxing, an unusual sit back and let the day happen type of day.
The family was asking questions about when I was going to start this blog thing. I said, “August would be good.”
August was always the time that my interest in hunting peaked, town team baseball was winding down and I buying hunting magazines on the road trip on the way to upcoming fall football games. .
So, Sunday July 31st was staring me right in the face. I decided to grab a sprayer and spray some weed killer on the beans in one of the food plots. Innocent enough. Walking the rows of beans that needed the help, I thought what is so interesting about this blog? Why would people want to read this? My first thought is some people might enjoy the peacefulness of it, I sure do. Another though was seeing some of the soybeans already eaten to the ground by the deer was fun. People who hunt know that working on food plot is not exciting but it is rewarding in its own way. No adrenaline rush, just a walk with a mission. And so that is where my entry of blogging was going to end, at the end of the bean plot, but my day was not complete at the end of the last row.
The day was winding down and I had snuck out to set another camera on a different food plot.I decided then to take an evening swim. A nice relaxing close to a nice relaxing day. My daughter,Abbey, joined me but she opted for the hot tub not the pool. I settled in the pool. The sun was setting and it was a very peaceful evening. The theme for the day for sure. Abbey had and enough and said she was going in. I said. “ I will be right behind you in about 15 minutes, I will try not to drown.”
I left the pool and started to pick up, moving floating items off the pool and to a designated storage area near the hot tub. Note my designated storage area (Note: not the ideal storage space by my wife. She prefers I do a better job of securing the items. That was just for the record. )
I walked with my hands full to the edge of the concrete and gave the “floaties” a toss. Now you understand why this is not up ‘to code’ so to speak in the clean up hand book. But it worked tonight. Sheila was off flying for American Airlines and all I had to do was put the items close to the right area for day. After the gentle toss I heard the hiss of insects an odd hiss not quite right I thought. But it did not register as alarming, just annoying really.
I went to get another batch of ‘floaties” and deposit them in the temporary resting spot and I froze. Dropped the items and sprinted to the house yelling for Abbey. “Get your camera! Get your camera! (phone).” I was excited, alarmed and curious. “Come with me”, I yelled. “ I need you 
to take a picture of this huge snake.” I armed myself with a rake from the garage and marched to the pool wondering where it had slithered off to. It was going to be easy to spot. it was a good 4 to 5 feet long and fat, really fat , like well fed recently eaten type of snake fat.
Abbey, a 23 year old girly girl, reluctantly came along. Good thing snakes number one sense is not hearing because Abbey proved why she is seldom , like never invited on hunting trips. She is a beautiful young lady , but quiet is not in the description paragraph that makes her beautiful. She was very loud and kind of scream talking. If she was texting I am sure there was an OMG, or some other abbreviation or Emogie in the conversation. All you parents with young ladies know exactly what I am talking about. The rest of you can just be thankful.
I proceeded confidently with rake in hand to get this big boy off my concrete and possibly in the dirt if it came to that. My first attempt at 
snagging it failed and it fell off the edge of the concrete next to the recessed hot tub steps. An easy target, I slammed the rake onto the coiled snake a Bull snake, I had experience dealing with these snakes a semi frequent visitor to the neighborhood. The pile of snake was bigger than I expected and the rake bounced off kind of like hitting a bouncy ball with a hammer. My wrist stung as the force of concrete stopped the energy generated from my excitement. What a wimp I thought. I watched the snake coil and strike at the rake. Then I heard it that odd hissing again. But now I could see where it was coming from and it was not hissing at all. It was a rattle.
An indescribable feeling came over me. A mixture of fear, adrenaline rush, and a wake up call ran through me. This is serious because this is NO BULL snake. I was less than a quality alpha hunter from this point on and the snake retreated to a corner of the 
recessed area I could not get my rake into. There was a reason big animals get big. He out smarted me. This will be a common theme to my blog.
I was left to making calls to the Sheriff’s office to see if they would remove it. They passed it on to the local DNR wardens.
I was happy to communicate with someone who was an expert.The DNR confirmed it as a rattle snake. They also confirmed I was NOT to kill it. It is protected in Wisconsin.
It was NO BULL snake and that is how my quiet Sunday ended and my first blog article started.
Thank You Abbey for the pictures you are a brave young lady. Brave , not quiet.
See a video of the rattler here. The picture of the snake near the hot tub shows my wet footprints in relation to the snake.
-At My Limit
Mark
