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World's Largest Rattlesnake Round-Up & BBQ Contest By Rocky Danner Sweetwater, Texas – Since 1958, the world's largest rattlesnake round up has been held in Sweetwater, Texas, and sponsored by the Sweetwater Jaycees.
The contest is held in Newman Park, a 25 acre park, with free admission to the public. Chili is sanctioned by CASI, and the BBQ contest is sanctioned by WBTA. The contest has gone through many changes from its humble beginning but boasts as many as 140 teams cooking at one time. Robert C. Bredemeyer of the team “We Don't Cook Sheep” invited me to the Sweetwater Texas contest. The name of the team is somewhat different from the usual teams' brand, so I asked Robert as to why he picked this one. Robert said he was in the Vietnam war (1967/68) on a destroyer off the Vietnam coast, and their food cache was running low. They were re-supplied by an Australian Navy refer ship, but all that was left was a refer full of frozen mutton. He stated that the ship's cook tried every way possible to cook the mutton — boil with veggies, BBQ, stew, and chicken fried, but no matter how hard he tried, it came out slimy. The ship smelled so badly from the cook's attempts to feed the crew that it brought them close to mutiny. You know it's bad when the ship's store runs out of potted meat and crackers. I arrived at the Dallas airport, and while waiting on my luggage, I received a call from Tracey Dickey, daughter of Robert Bredemeyer who was waiting outside with their cooker in tow to give me a ride to the Sweetwater contest. On the way, they pointed out the several hundred wind-operated electrical generators scattered across the landscape. Tracey and her husband, Reade, cook under the team of “ Fort Angelo,” and believe me, that lady makes a mean Rattlesnake Pizza. I had a chance to sample her entrée at the judging tent, and she placed fifth in the contest. The next day I, along with a T.V. crew, was invited to the Newman Ranch by Tom Henderson, ranch manager, who, along with Cliff Jones, took us on a rattlesnake hunt on a 2,000 acre section of the ranch known as The Blue Goose. I had heard stories of hunters who use gas and other means of catching snakes, but Tom showed us how to safely catch them with long tongs without harming them. All were released back into the wild after the hunt, with the exception of one which hangs on my wall. The meat was used for Texas-style fajitas. Tom is also one of the founders and past-chairman of the Rattlesnake Roundup. The cook-off is just one of the many things of interest going on. There's also the world's largest flea market and a knife and gun show, but the main attraction is the snake house located in the Noland County Coliseum. There are tours and demos for all ages. I'm told there are over 100 Jaycees volunteers, and half, if not more, are trained to work with snakes.
All of the snake is used. They are first checked for health, sex, measured, and milked for the venom which is used in medicines. The skins, rattlers, and meat are sold on the open market, and all proceeds are donated to local charities. Eric Timaeus was given the award for bring in the longest rattler. I'm told it measured 77 inches long. At the rattlesnake judging tent, I saw snake cooked every way possible — talamies, burritos, pizza, tacos, fajitas, cooked whole, and coiled in the box. One entrée was a rattlesnake pot pie.
I found out later that, when all else fails, a tiebreaker for the Grand Champion is the rattlesnake score. This is just my observation, but why would a judge be allowed to score appearance, taste, and tenderness on an entrée that might be used as a tiebreaker for the title of Grand Champion and not sample the product. While walking around the area, I found a variety of homemade cookers, most of which were of the off set design. One which caught my eye was a cooker mounted on a John Deere frame. I also noticed the different styles of cooking brisket. Robert Bredemeyer cooks his brisket on a rotisserie mounted in his offset. His beautiful lady, Gayla, cooks a mean chicken but refused to disclose her recipe. At the awards, a moment of silence was held for long time member Dennis Cornutt, who law enforcement officials said suffered a heart attack while driving home from working at the contest and rolled his vehicle. I wish to thank Robert and Gayla Bredemeyer, Tom Henderson and family, Cliff Jones, Tracy and Reade Dickey, and a host of Jaycees volunteers for one great contest. I came away knowing the meaning of West Texas hospitality. This was one great contest, and I hope to be invited back again next year. For information about the contest, go to their website at www.rattlesnakeroundup.com or contact Mr.Bredemeyer at rcbgayla@hotmail.com. |
The project was conceived by a group of area farmers and ranchers as an attempt to rid the abundance of rattlers plaguing them and their livestock .The event has grown over the past 43 years to be the “World's Largest Rattlesnake Roundup,” with over 123 tons of Western Diamond Back Rattlesnakes turned in as of 2004. 
I do not know the total pounds of rattlers turned in, but Jamie Nail came in with a grand total for one team of 1,665 pounds. The last total I saw was 8,900 pounds, which I'm told will pass the 10,000 mark this year, and they were still weighing them in. 
I was concerned while observing the judging, as it seem the judges were allowed to score without ever tasting the entrée. I saw several entrée pass by some of the judges who gave them a score, but the entrée was not sampled.
