Snipe , Wood Ducks and Doves .... and NO Burlap Bag Story

[Johnch]

OK I will up front tell you that we didn't use a Cast Bullet
But for Snipe you have to use one of the Non Toxic shots

At the Marsh I am a member at , we used a chopper and cut a lot of the overgrown areas to clear out cattails
It opened up large areas of wet to 12" of water
Much of the area has some cattails coming back but you can walk in the areas again to hunt

We started seeing large numbers of Snipe

So I loaded up a bunch of 1 oz of #7 steel shot at 1500 FPS

Well it was going to be another Blue Bird day
So we knew we would get 30 min to a hour with Wood Ducks and Mallards moving around and maybe a few geese

So I took 8 boxes of the #7 reloads with me this morning

It took me just to ask 5 ( that I trusted ) guys there this morning if they wanted to try and 4 of them laughed and said Why Not

We waited till a little after 9 AM to start , so we could drive down the dike right next to where I had seen snipe the other day
We all put on a orange vest or hat and started hunting

There were hundreds of Snipe in the area I wanted to try
We also saw lots of Morning doves , so we all agreed that they should be fun to hunt along with the snipe

OK the limit is 8 snipe per person
I shot my 8 ... but lost 1 in a patch of cattails
The other 4 guys bagged 6-8 snipe ,with a few more lost birds
I got 2 morning doves and the other 4 guys got 22 more

Bad part for us , Snipe are the size of Morning Doves but exactly the same shade of Brown as the dead cattails
So I am sure we walked past the snipe we lost at least a few times

Oh .... as for hits / misses , well ........We missed more than we hit ..... errrr maybe 2-1 , but we had fun and had a safe hunt

2 of the guys didn't want the Snipe , so we split them up
I gave my 2 doves to one of the guys
So I went home with my 3 Wood Ducks and some Snipe

Grilled up 3 of the Snipe for lunch with onions and peppers
A great mix to add to a salad

I just got done loading a bunch more #7 steel shot loads

4 of us are going to hunt a area Saturday that is owned by another member
He laughed and told us to have fun

So the worst I can do is miss

John

[Wolfer]

Sounds like a good day!

[quilbilly]

Out here on the west side of Washington State the snipe are only here for about a week each year, usually in November, as they migrate south. They are not a water bird but hang out near puddles among the stumps in clearcuts. When they take off they fly four feet above the ground and bob-and-weave among the stumps. I don't think I have ever seen more than one or two while still on the ground since their colors make them nearly invisible. With my 20 ga and #7 steels, I am having a great day if I hit two per box of shells. I have found them to be about the best tasting bird of all I have hunted. They should show up here soon since some of our "November ducks" have already shown up early on a nearby bay.

[Geezer in NH]

Brings back memories of my late teens and 20's! Ipswich bay snipe and rail shooting plus added bonus of low tide, the islands the pheasant had been driven to.

Shot many with 8's or 9's back in the lead shot days, although on the islands for pheasant I preferred 4's, no shot to remove from the bird and fantastic kills.

My mother cooked the rails and snipe the first time and the breasts were inedible. My wife to be did them the next week and they were fantastic! Later I found out it was her first time to cook anything, but she had asked her father a great chef and followed what he said.

We married 6 months later and her father Taught me how to cook. She can make few things but heat up something she can do. Must have worked out we have been married now for 46 and 1/2 years. Our son now 30 is a great cook by the way.

[Digital Dan]

Snipe shootin' is good times all around, luck be upon you next time.

[GhostHawk]

I was working for a neighbor who lived some 2 miles away (I was in my 20's) when I noticed a big flock of some kind of birds wheeling and dipping around a haystack.

Well after the critters was all fed I grabbed my trusty Mossberg .410 shotgun and snuck out there.

I did get 4, eventually. Only took a box and a half of 6's to do it. It was educational. Taught me a lot, school of hard knocks of course. Of course for the next year everyone in town was asking me how the snipe hunting was. Yeah inside joke sorta. They thought it was funny as heck. I thought it made them look stupid. Cause they was snipe. And I did eat some. That made me the only boy in town smart enough to actually CATCH a snipe.

[Texas by God]

I had the pleasure of hunting Jack Snipe in the Trinity River bottoms as a young man a couple of times. They are just as easy to hit as a dove(not!) thanks for stirring a great memory!

[waksupi]

I used to catch snipe regularly in my muskrat traps. It takes several to make a meal.
Snipe hunting ain't what it used to be. Like everything, the quality of burlap bags has gone down. A poorly bagged snipe can be a fearsome opponent, and can be a great danger as they are generally greatly infuriated by the time they rip their way out of the low quality bags now available.

[Blackwater]

We used to have snipe regularly in the marshy part of my uncle's pond, right next to our house with a half mile hike. I LOVED hunting them. They'd flush wild way ahead of my dog, and you had to be ready because they hit the air going nearly full speed, and that darting/dodging/unsteady waggling flight of theirs sure made them a real challenge. I know when I hit one, especially when they flushed at longer ranges, I was awfully proud of myself!

You have to be alert 100% of the time, or you'll miss them, or at least the better shots at them. Here, they're a bit smaller than our doves, which tend to be very well fed and fat, but I've eaten many of them. Always left the table wishing I'd had more.

Sounds like you had a real red letter day! Thanks for the story. It brings back some very sweet memories for me.