The 2020 Okeene Rattlesnake Hunt was yet another casualty of the COVID-19 pandemic, as the annual springtime tradition was canceled and large gatherings discouraged.
But the event was back with a bang in 2021, and beautiful weekend weather drew thousands to The Okeene Park for live music, food trucks, carnival rides, vendors, helicopter rides and, of course, rattlesnakes.
Mike Hippard, a member of the event’s organizing club, has been involved in the roundup for about 20 years. He said it’s nice to be back at it after a rare year with no hunt.
“It looks like everybody’s enjoying it,” Hippard said. “Everybody’s glad that we’re open.”
Hippard said the Okeene event is America’s original rattlesnake hunt, an event that many communities have since adopted. “The hunt was originally started in 1939,” reads the event’s official website, “to remove the venomous reptiles to protect cattle and overall safety.
“Orville Von Gulker was the man who decided to turn the spring ritual into an annual competition, thereby giving birth to our hunt.”
In Oklahoma, the rattlesnake hunting season opens on March 1 and runs through June. Local hunters will bring their snakes to the festival, Hippard said, and there’s also a nearby ranch that allows attendees to hunt snakes on its property during the roundup, with a permit.
The snakes are cooked up and served in a variety of ways for attendees to try, Hippard said, including as a “rattlepeño” appetizer. “It’s a jalapeño stuffed with cream cheese, and the rattlesnake meat is in the cream cheese,” he explained.
Hippard spoke to the Watonga Republican at the Snak Shak under a tent in the middle of the park, where the rattlesnake was served. In a nearby barn, a pit master paced through an enclosed pen, the so-called Den of Death, filled with live rattlesnakes and surrounded by curious spectators.
A box perched on a table nearby was marked “Warning! Baby Rattlers!” and drew shrieks from unsuspecting patrons when it popped open loudly – only to reveal baby toys inside.
James Robert Webb headlined the event with a Saturday-night concert that followed a fireworks show.
The festival wrapped up late Sunday afternoon with an awards presentation and a measuring of the entries in the Longest Snake Contest.
Hippard said he can’t really estimate how many people the Snake Hunt draws every year. “It depends on the weather,” he said.
While Friday’s weather didn’t cooperate, the sunny scenes on Saturday and Sunday drew thousands to Okeene and gave the town a much-needed boost after an unprecedented year. The Okeene Snake Hunt was back and, with it, a measure of normalcy.