Snipe Hunting

Snipe HuntingSnipe Hunting - Brace of Snipe

Friday, when we were walking through the marsh to our duck spot we flushed quite a few snipe. I have been known to drive quite a ways for a good snipe hunt, so we left early for the blind Saturday. I stopped at the hardware store on the way and bought the smallest steel shot I could find (#4 shot) since I actually missed a snipe Friday through a hole within my pattern of Kent #2’s at 35 yards.

On the mile walk through the marsh out to the blind, there is an area perfect for snipe. We spent an hour trying to walk up birds. Quite a few of them flushed out of range, but I did manage to shoot a brace. They are a beautiful bird that is so cryptically colored that they are impossible to retrieve without a dog.

If you are looking for snipe, look for wetmeadow areas or marshy areas where the soil is totally saturated or the water is no more than 2″ deep. Look for areas where there is good grass type cover from 5″ to 16″ tall and thick enough to hide birds, but not so thick that they can’t flush right out of it.

When snipe hunting, be cognizant of the dog and your partner’s location; snipe flush low and fast, and quick level shots are the norm. Similar to quail hunting, these shots are the most dangerous. The safety advantage here is that the cover is very low and things tend to stand out. 

The duck hunt…? We had a fun evening. It wasn’t as good as yesterday because the wind wasn’t blowing, but we did have quite a few decoy right in.

 


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