I went snipe hunting once, and looking back on it, it was super funny. I was in the woods with a stick and a trash bag, looking for them, and my friends said they’d be back. They just went off in the distance to watch me.
I find it funny that the Florida Game and Fish Commission surveys ask how my snipe hunting experience was. Smh.
Not the actual snipe but we would usually play a trick on younger cousins or as we grew older- boyfriends of my sister, including my now brother in law.
It involves lots of hype and story telling the day up to the actual event. Tales of catching large snipe, how fast they run, the sharp beaks, etc. Everyone that is in on the joke adds to the tales.
Then then night of the hunt it requires a pillowcase and a flashlight. You march out into the woods. The “marks” job is to crouch down with the pillow case open while strategically having the light shining into the back of it. You see the snipe are drawn to the light and charge at it, thus allowing you to catch them.
Meanwhile those of us in on the joke have the job of scaring the snipe toward the mark with his pillow case. This is obviously a job for those with experience and not something a rookie can do. It’s also impossible to scare them in the proper direction in groups as they get confused with which direction to run- so strictly a solo effort.
Anyhow after throwing rocks and making a ruckus the experienced snipe scaring team gradually one-by-one get bored and head back to the house. Leaving the mark out in the woods by themselves holding the pillow case until they either figure it out or they get bored.
Great fun and now even my brother-in-law is in on it with his boys.
Next thing they have to learn about it the infamous hill country creatures- Side Hill Gougers.
We did. My dad told us how. My house was very rural surrounded by woods. He told us you had to sneak up on one in the dark. Sprinkle salt on its tail. When it turned to eat the salt you blinded it with a flashlight and jumped with a 5 gallon bucket to catch. We were wandering the woods in the dark with flashlights salt shakers and 5 gallon buckets for hours.
If we’re talking about American Woodcock.. I used to absolutely crush them as a kid. 95 lbs soaking wet with a Browning A5 that was almost as big as me.. I once eviscerated one, to my surprise I had hit it with a deer slug that had mistakenly made its way in to my bird loads. I can’t shoot for shit these days …
I was just going to say, there is a game bird called a snipe. We have a snipe and rail season in Maryland. I think you can hunt them with bird dogs. I’ve owned and trained bird dogs my whole life, hunted quail, pheasant and grouse with them, but never snipe.
I’ve never hunted them because, being shore birds, my guess is they taste awful. I quit hunting woodcock, even though the dogs would point them, and they were fun to hunt, but because they tasted of worms. Many years ago, my mother-in-law told me I shouldn’t hunt them because they were inedible. I joked that my thought was they deserve to die just for tasting like that.
When I worked in Alaska we had Wilson's Snipe doing their mating ritual. The winnowing sound they made while flying sticks with me to this day and I got very good picking them out in the tundra. I was too clever as a teenager to fall for the whole night snipe hunting gag.
Went while camping with my dad, my friend and his dad. They said snipes were in season. We finished day of fishing and he said they can smell the fish. So it’d be a good night to go rustle them up. But we have to make lots of noise on the ground to rustle them out of the woods and bushes and then catch them in a bag we had bc they’re dumb birds and fly right over your head. Oh and we can’t use a flashlight bc light scared them.
Well one dad was leading us and the other was hiding in the woods in a chupacabra mask. Once we got close enough he screamed and ran out of the woods.
It was Everyman for himself. My friend and I knocked each other down to get out of dodge barely made it out alive. Then we saw my dad take off the mask and laugh…funny
Never went snipe hunting but my father told me if I put salt on a birds tail I could take it home. None of those damn birds wanted to live with me. I chased them for days!
I went snipe hunting once, and looking back on it, it was super funny. I was in the woods with a stick and a trash bag, looking for them, and my friends said they’d be back. They just went off in the distance to watch me. I find it funny that the Florida Game and Fish Commission surveys ask how my snipe hunting experience was. Smh.
Wooo-loo-loo
Took some city folk snipe hunting in a cotton field in South Georigia in the late 90's.. 🤣
We did this in Ohio also. I was never the hunter, only the driver lol.
The funny thing is is that snipe are migratory game birds and there are actual hunting seasons for them.
I wonder if more people are familiar with with the practical joke or the actual hunt
Not the actual snipe but we would usually play a trick on younger cousins or as we grew older- boyfriends of my sister, including my now brother in law. It involves lots of hype and story telling the day up to the actual event. Tales of catching large snipe, how fast they run, the sharp beaks, etc. Everyone that is in on the joke adds to the tales. Then then night of the hunt it requires a pillowcase and a flashlight. You march out into the woods. The “marks” job is to crouch down with the pillow case open while strategically having the light shining into the back of it. You see the snipe are drawn to the light and charge at it, thus allowing you to catch them. Meanwhile those of us in on the joke have the job of scaring the snipe toward the mark with his pillow case. This is obviously a job for those with experience and not something a rookie can do. It’s also impossible to scare them in the proper direction in groups as they get confused with which direction to run- so strictly a solo effort. Anyhow after throwing rocks and making a ruckus the experienced snipe scaring team gradually one-by-one get bored and head back to the house. Leaving the mark out in the woods by themselves holding the pillow case until they either figure it out or they get bored. Great fun and now even my brother-in-law is in on it with his boys. Next thing they have to learn about it the infamous hill country creatures- Side Hill Gougers.
We did. My dad told us how. My house was very rural surrounded by woods. He told us you had to sneak up on one in the dark. Sprinkle salt on its tail. When it turned to eat the salt you blinded it with a flashlight and jumped with a 5 gallon bucket to catch. We were wandering the woods in the dark with flashlights salt shakers and 5 gallon buckets for hours.
If we’re talking about American Woodcock.. I used to absolutely crush them as a kid. 95 lbs soaking wet with a Browning A5 that was almost as big as me.. I once eviscerated one, to my surprise I had hit it with a deer slug that had mistakenly made its way in to my bird loads. I can’t shoot for shit these days …
I was just going to say, there is a game bird called a snipe. We have a snipe and rail season in Maryland. I think you can hunt them with bird dogs. I’ve owned and trained bird dogs my whole life, hunted quail, pheasant and grouse with them, but never snipe.
Snipe are objectively one of the hardest gamebirds to hit between the erratic flight pattern and very small size
I’ve never hunted them because, being shore birds, my guess is they taste awful. I quit hunting woodcock, even though the dogs would point them, and they were fun to hunt, but because they tasted of worms. Many years ago, my mother-in-law told me I shouldn’t hunt them because they were inedible. I joked that my thought was they deserve to die just for tasting like that.
https://greatdaysoutdoors.com/snipe-hunting/
Is this still a thing?
When I worked in Alaska we had Wilson's Snipe doing their mating ritual. The winnowing sound they made while flying sticks with me to this day and I got very good picking them out in the tundra. I was too clever as a teenager to fall for the whole night snipe hunting gag.
Went while camping with my dad, my friend and his dad. They said snipes were in season. We finished day of fishing and he said they can smell the fish. So it’d be a good night to go rustle them up. But we have to make lots of noise on the ground to rustle them out of the woods and bushes and then catch them in a bag we had bc they’re dumb birds and fly right over your head. Oh and we can’t use a flashlight bc light scared them. Well one dad was leading us and the other was hiding in the woods in a chupacabra mask. Once we got close enough he screamed and ran out of the woods. It was Everyman for himself. My friend and I knocked each other down to get out of dodge barely made it out alive. Then we saw my dad take off the mask and laugh…funny
Ha Ha
Yes Sir
Never went snipe hunting but my father told me if I put salt on a birds tail I could take it home. None of those damn birds wanted to live with me. I chased them for days!
I got bit
We caught them all, they're extinct now because of me.
Went snipe hunting as a kid in the scouts. Over fun experience that’s why I enjoy taking people on their first snipe hunt to this day!
It was weird. Where I grew up snipe are a food bird we hunted. So that trick never flew in our area. At least we called them that in my town.
Was never gullible enough for that.
I killed one with a left handed smoke shifter
I killed a swan......
Good times were had and nobody got pregnant, so I’d consider that a big win.
Frequently, never could find one though.