Some people come out here scared of snakes. That’s fine. That’s actually kind of the point. You want to face something that makes your skin crawl? Come down to the Everglades and hunt pythons with us. We’ll take care of that real quick.
That’s exactly what happened on this hunt. We had a client out on the boat who was genuinely terrified of snakes. Not “a little nervous” terrified. Actually scared. And I told him straight up, I said, “Brother, I’m going to put you on one.” He looked at me like I had two heads.
Sure enough, we found a snake. The moment came fast, the way it always does out here. No long buildup. One second you’re moving through the swamp, the next second there’s a python in front of you and it’s time to make a move.
I told him to grab it. He screamed. The whole crew started hollering. But here’s the thing, he grabbed it. That’s the part that matters. Didn’t freeze, didn’t back off. He grabbed that snake, and you could hear it in his voice, that mix of pure fear and pure adrenaline that you can’t fake and can’t manufacture anywhere else. That moment right there is why I do this.
We got the snake secured on the boat and I thought that was going to be the big story of the day.
Then we hit the bees.
I don’t know who spotted them first but somebody yelled “BEES” and that was it. Everybody was scrambling. We cleared out of that spot fast, yelling at each other to go, go, go, pulling the boat out. The snake got stung. I got stung. It was chaos for a solid minute.
When we finally got clear and got a second to breathe, somebody pointed out that our cameraman, instead of running, had turned around and started filming the bees. Stinging bees. Flying right at him. And he just stood there rolling footage.
That’s a real cameraman right there.
So here’s what I told the client after all of it settled down. I said, “I cured your fear of snakes. And I gave you a brand new fear of bees.” Everybody laughed. It was a good trade.
That’s the Everglades for you. You come out here thinking you know what you’re in for. You don’t. There’s always something. A snake in a spot you didn’t expect. A bees’ nest right when you think the hard part is over. The swamp keeps you honest.
But that client, he held onto that python. Scared as he was, he held on. And that’s the thing I see over and over out here with people who think they can’t do something like this. When the moment hits, most people rise to it. They surprise themselves.
That’s the real hunt right there. Not just the snake. The whole thing.
