The new Atlanta show schedule

Chuck, I had never heard of you until a few months ago..maybe as much as a year ago when someone posted a link to a photo of someone freehandling a very large copperhead. Someone said it was you...To be honest, it was so long ago, now that I've seen you in person, I can't recall enough about the photo to swear it was indeed you. But, being a hot keeper myself, I find that irresponsible if it was indeed you and I have no reason to believe that it wasn't. Letting photos like that out to the public is one of the few things that I find almost as damaging to the hobby as promoting voids.

Cricket? Jealous? lol ok...yeah I wanna be just like Chuck someday lol

oops here it is...right on Chuck's site. THIS is why I wouldn't want my name attached in any way to yours where liability issues may arise.


I'm not sure what message you are trying to pass along with stuff like this but it's not any I would want my kid to hear. Nothing personal, you seem like an OK guy. I just don't agree with crap like this especially displayed to the public.

Well, I don’t know the picture in question, but yes…that sounds like me…probably was me. I have always been a free handler. My entire lifestyle has been reckless, its not just the aspect of my herpetology. As a young man, I greatly enjoyed dirt bikes. I couldn’t tell you how many ass whippings and lectures I got for laying boards over fences and jumping cars, trucks, tractors, etc. Was the same way when I played football in high school and college, was always told to “play smarter” stop being reckless. Then in wrestling, oh lord, you wouldn’t believe the things I have done there. I was on the cutting edge of taking down the ropes and replacing them with barbwire and laying thumbtacks in the floor. I have lived on the edge in everything I have ever done. A few years ago, I became an officer in the SHHS and they asked me to curve the freehandling in pictures and videos, and I have for the most part. If you saw me freehandling a copperhead, it was either a very old picture, or one someone else got of me and posted somewhere, which happens all the time. I have happened across images of me with snakes all over reptiles sites, wrestling sites, and even religious sites….since I do so much with work with the Christian Snake Handlers from Sand Mtn. Doesn’t bother me, if you need to use my picture for something, feel free. Anyway, as with most freehandlers, I do not encourage people to try to do the things I do. I have the right to risk my own life as much as I like, but I don’t have the right to risk anyone else’s. Ask anyone who worked under me what I told them about freehandling. Other freehandlers like Haast and Ray Hunter, tell people the same thing. Don’t try to do the things you see me do. Anyway, you got me off topic on this, what does any of it have to do with the discussion at hand? I have a problem with you cause I had offered help to you and you repaid my kindness by taking pot shots at me on the internet. I have a problem with Tony cause I was suppose to set up a display at his show at Chad’s table. I already put quite a bit of work into it and Chad bailed. Then when I talked to Tony he acted as though he was above me. Showed a pattern of the man’s arrogance. He acted as though he didn’t need me, as he promoted his 3rd failure in a row. You blew me off, you didn’t need me, as you make statements on the internet about having to do this show in order to have money to make the next show. You are both marketing geniuses and it’s easy to see why neither of you were interesting in my help. Ha ha ha ha ha I wish you both the continued success that you have earned.

Dude, you said you had a picture of me holding a big copperhead??? And you post that??? That is crap man, old general lee was barely 36”. Here is one for you to really cry about. She was over 49”

We are so glad that some people are finally waking up & seeing Tony for who he really is! Many of us are sick & tired of Tony's hibitual lying! We have been to several shows over the years and therefore have dealt with many show promoters...TONY is the worse ,BY FAR!!! The worse mistakes he has ever did was to get rid of Big Snake Daddy..to get the snake babe...AND JEFF MOHRE (the one person who does not have the balls to handle REAL venomous snakes in the program, He falls in the same catagory as Bruce the Venomiod King who is nothing but a butcher!!!)!!
There is still several people wanting to kiss Tony's A-- & believe in his lies & poor show promoting, which also includes ONCE BITTEN, BRETT,G&G & anyone else who is claiming that there was such a large Atlanta crowd,,,you all need to learn to count.
We are glad to know that there is still some honest people willing to print the truth & we are glad that there are still promoters who are willing to be honest with vendors & attendees when putting on shows & events!(Tony I'm sorry that you can't seem to be one of those!)
Anybody who has attended one of his shows knows that what we are saying is only the truth!! His shows have been going way down hill this past year!!!

Hey! That's the picture I saw before. The one I linked off your site was just what I found with a quick search.

Let me ask you a question, Chuck. Do you know anything at all about kids? Were you ever a kid? Do you really think "Don't try this at home, kids" means anything to them other than..."Dude, you gotta try this at home!"? You would do better by begging them or even ordering them to go home and freehandle. Defiance is what it's all about with kids. Anyway...You brought up that Tony didn't let you do a show. I couldn't hold back my total understanding of someone not wanting you to do a show. And again...You seem like a cool dude. A lot of cool dudes aren't fit for teaching our youth for any number of reasons lol. My financial status with my snakehook business is a little odd. I let it pay it's own way and I use shows to make a little extra to update stuff. I just went to stainless steel heads instead of nickle plated heads so I wholesaled off all the old stock to a show vendor on the other coast. I then had to go shaft shopping and replentish my stock. I just bought over 200 new shafts plus some stuff to make a bunch of the big 2 gripper python and gabby hooks. I also picked up some new grinders and other equipment...all that took a chunk out of my reserves and it was a little tight. I think I have enough material now and all of my equipment is once again new or freshly rebuilt so everything I do in the next few shows should be gravy...unless of course they go belly up but since I'm operating strictly off of snakehook profits, I can afford to tough out a loss here and there. When I say I was about broke, I didn't mean I was living in my car eating out of trash cans or anything lol.

I'm here...whoever you are... How exactly do you count heads from a table in the middle of a show when people are going in and out all the time? I've only done 4 shows. The first was in Raleigh and I was just helping a friend there at the Piedmont Reptiles table. That show sucked but I managed to do ok and sold every animal I brought and several hooks. The second show I did was with Cathy in Spartanburg. It was kinda on and off traffic wise on sat but pretty dead sunday. I did ok there, nothing to scream and shout about. My next show was again with Cathy in Columbia. I made out pretty good but when I asked Cathy how they did at the door, she shook her head. Again, it was pretty dead Sunday....Then I just did the Atlanta show and I admit, I do not have a good feel yet for head counting at shows. All I know is that at the Columbia show and this last Atlanta show, I made a lot more sales than I would have figured for the traffic and considering certain circumstances as they were...can't complain. Sunday afternoon at atlanta was slow but still..I stayed fairly busy...by that time mostly selling to vendors who will probably kill me with my own product at the next show lol. What is it with Snake show sundays on the south anyway? They must be seeing enough snakes at church here or something. I don't get it. Anyway...keep painting me as Tony's snakehook boy all you want lol. I just met the guy for the first time the other day. Kinda quick to become someone's boy I think.

Back to the topic...I'm as outraged as anyone what Tony sent Cathy in email after she was making what seemed to be a very valiant effort to get along. I'm also outraged at the newsletter that he sent out...I just saw that for the first time late last night when Jason pasted it in chat. I guess Tony's snakehook boy wasn't on the mail list before. But I'm also a little bothered that I had to read any of it. Cathy could have kept the email exchange private. Tony didn't need to be spreading the crap (especially the totally fabricated parts) in his news letter. My whole thing with all of this is that too much of this crap that doesn't need to be happening anyway is being passed along to the public...wrecking all the shows for everybody. The End. I got other stuff to do besides repeat myself over and over...which seems to be where we are now because some people just can't let it sink in...that I'm not against Cathy and I'm not for Tony...I'm simply AGAINST the public squabble.

Oh...one thing I will say about the Spartanburg show...there were two buildings. I was at the second to the last table in the far building (the hot building...more ways than one). To my surprise, when it was dead in the hot building, the nonven building up front seemed to be thumping. I think a lot of people just didn't know there was another building...or else they were afraid of cobras..who knows?

It appears that someone else has told the truth!! I am Proud of the fact that you admitted for all to see that it is almost immpossible to count heads when you are at a table in the middle of a room.

Anyone mention a show? Was supposed to be a display. All native venomous snakes in GA. All locked inside cages that were not suppose to be opened. We were pushing the envelop just having the display, no one advocated taking them out. I took the time to get together, both sub sp of copperheads native to GA….even got an intergrade for show. Had both sub sp of Pigmy, an eastern diamondback, a canebrake, and black and yellow timber….all 3 sub sp of cottonmouth, (one over 61”) and of course, a coral. Had something nice put together to get blown off at the last minute, but what can I say. With a turn out like 1200…the man really knew what he was doing. Its easy to see why he didn’t need me. ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.

Anyone with any sense of promotion knows that sensationalism is what sells. Like my girl in the evening gown posing with the 6’ edb, if you think that is not a good promotion, you are crazy. But the boat has sailed for you on that. And don’t you think the spectators the wondered in from the mall would have got on the cell phone and called their friends. “Man, you have got to come see this. They have rattlesnakes in here that are 6’ long and a cottonmouth over 5’ “ I am not saying it would have made this show a success, but I guarantee there would have been more tickets sold. However, that boat sailed for Tony also. Seems he has jerked around tons of people over the years, and they are finally starting to voice it. I don’t think anyone is happy with the man. Some venders are trying to stay neutral, some even trying to support him, but that is business. If they could voice there true feelings, you would see he has very little support left. I am not even sure you believe the things you are saying, you just want to stay in his good graces. He probably comped your table and you feel obligated. I am not impressed that you are now coming out with you “you are an ok guy.” You tried to insult me, when all I had ever done is tried to help you. So don’t expect me to retract anything and say you are an ok guy to. You are a man of very poor character and I have no use for people like you.

Let me ask you a question, Chuck. Do you know anything at all about kids? Were you ever a kid? Do you really think "Don't try this at home, kids" means anything to them other than..."Dude, you gotta try this at home!"? You would do better by begging them or even ordering them to go home and freehandle. Defiance is what it's all about with kids.

I get so sick of this baseless point. Are you going to go pick up your snakes cause you saw me do it? of course not. So you are saying, well, I am smart enough not to mimic what I see, but other people aren’t. You are no smarter then the general population. If you have enough sense not to do something, just cause you saw me do, then the general population has that same sense. And if you truly believe in what you are saying, how to justify in your mind posting that picture of me???? are you not promoting what I am doing to the children?