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16minty
PostPosted: Fri Nov 04, 2005 10:09 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 22 Oct 2005
Posts: 10

Anyone here in PA and hunt snipe? Just wondering what its all about, I've never hunted for snipe and it kind of interests me, granted I will probably never hit one but it looks fun to try! Help me out with any tips anyone can offer. thanks!
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LittleDoc
PostPosted: Fri Nov 04, 2005 9:40 pm  Reply with quote
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Joined: 30 May 2005
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Location: Oklahoma

16minty,

I don't know about Pa, but I suspect you have a migrant population coming through like most everybody. Down here, I've had some luck hunting Wetland Management Units which are basically flooded food plots that the Wildlife Dept plants then floods for waterfowl on Public Hunting areas. Snipe seem to hold near the water's edge in these flooded fields in relatively thin cover. The technique is to walk the birds up. I have tried it with and without dogs. My Britannys will point snipe, but the birds don't hold very well for dogs in my experience. A good retriever is always of use on cripples and finding dead. Somtimes flushed birds that are missed or get up out of range will tower then make a spectacular dive (they fold their wings in a way that gives them an arrowhead silouhette) that brings them back almost to the point of the flush. So sit tight for a minute & reload because you may get a second chance at a passing shot overhead. If not you may be able to mark the bird down and get a reflush. A 16 sxs is perfect (of course) I like a bit of choke in the L barrel-IM is good. If the birds are nervous and not lying well you may not get any chances closer than 30-35 yards and even if you get 2 shots you'll be amazed how quick they get out there. If you're hunting public land you'll need non-toxic shot I like Bismuth 7 1/2, but on private land I shoot lead 8 1/2. They're not very tough birds to kill, and my opinion is that pattern density is paramount. Well there you have it. Bog trotting is not for everybody, I come home empty handed more often than not, but if you enjoy solitude and testing your shooting skills rather severely, snipe may be your game.

Best,
LittleDoc
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16gaugeguy
PostPosted: Sat Nov 05, 2005 10:54 am  Reply with quote
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Joined: 12 Mar 2005
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Location: massachusetts

Here in MA, I've found a lot of snipe covens between the Bridgewaters and the upper Cape. They like wet meadows where they can feed on fresh water snails, slugs, water bugs, etc.. Look for marshy pastures and mown fields that are adjacent to good woodcock cover. Snipe are basically a transitional small wading shore bird and are very quick tricky fliers. They are usually plentiful in wet years and scarce in dry ones. However, they seem to be able to bounce back quickly after a bad year or two. They are both migratory and native to Eastern Ma so in good years, they can be very plentiful.

Back in the 19th century, when there were few and very liberal bag limits, snipe were considered a very sporty bird and were hunted regularly. However, most modern upland shooters pass them over. They are small, hard to hit at first, and the marshy cover they live in usually requires hip boots to get around in unless you don't mind getting a little wet. Most waterfowlers would not bother with them. Like woodcock, most folks find them to be an "acquired taste" on the table, although they can be very good if prepared and served right. The old timers used to smoke them whole in bunches. I've had both smoked woodcock and snipe. The breast meat of either is good, but I think my boots would taste good if they were smoked right. It takes an entree of 1/2 dozen or more smoked snipe to serve one person.

Anyway, I use a 3/4 oz. load of #9's for snipe in any gauge from 28 to 16 and follow up with 3/4 oz of #8's although 8-1/2s are fine too. Use a spreader load if your gun is tightly choked. You'll need all the pattern you can throw. I've even used a .410 skeet gun with fair success if the birds are holding well. the trick is to see the flush instantly and pop them quickly before they get to manuvering speed. If you can hit snipe regularly, you'll do well on any heavy cover loving bird including grouse.

A calm steady methodical pointer with a good nose is a must for truely successful snipe hunting. The best snipe dogs are boot polishers, just the opposite, of the classic open cover pheasant dog. Antsy or aggressive dogs spook snipe into flushing out beyond the usual 15 to 20 foot range. Snipe tend to hold best in the early morning after they've been actively feeding. However, I've also had success in the late afternoon when they begin to emerge from their hiding spots to feed. However, the range will be greater usually. Mid day is a waste of time unless its a dark misty, foggy, dank day. Then the may be active from dawn til dusk.

However, since most folks don't hunt them, a lot of dogs won't point them either unless they are introduced to the bird early on. That requires shooting one and letting your dog mouth it. That can be tricky and is more luck than anything else until the bird clicks in the dog's mind as a legitimate target. I've seen dogs that will point a woodcock, but ignore snipe and rail.

Anyway, they are a lot of fun to hunt if you get bit by the snipe bug, and one more bird to hunt on an ever shortening list. They are fun for the dog that likes to hunt them too. Good luck. 16GG
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woodcock
PostPosted: Mon Nov 07, 2005 1:29 pm  Reply with quote
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Joined: 28 Oct 2005
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Location: Louisiana

Louisiana was Pringle's shooting ground and we see 'em often.
The previous two posts seem accurate to me without revision other than to say that I have found pointing dogs to be pretty useless in sparse cover (often absent in 'sniperys'). A retriever on the other hand is very useful as the little birds can be pretty difficult to find unless they die on their backs exposing the light breast feathers to view.
Small shot seems best to me and I load 1oz. of 10's @ about 1135/1165 fps with good results. Snipe appear sensitive to noise and typically(but not always) offer 'longish' shots. The 10's will allow you to use more open chokes with sufficient pattern density to get home with a few. Flushing shots are generally low so know where your partner is.
Thigh high boots 25"/27"(trappers here) are necessary for our bogs here as the 17" burleys generally end up full of water. Areas where livestock have/are grazing are popular with Capella.
These birds represent the most challenging shotgunning I have done and are truly ephemeral, here today and gone tomorrow as often as not. Flocks are referred to as 'wisps of snipe', an apt description for the only remaining shorebird still legal to gun.
Excellent on the table, they please my palate prepared rare with a simple butter/worchestershire/port sauce over brown rice.
In many places the season exceeds 100 days. Gunning snipe will improve the scatalogical content of your vocabulary so I recommend leaving the ladies at home.

Ron
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16gaugeguy
PostPosted: Tue Nov 08, 2005 6:23 am  Reply with quote
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Thanks for reminding me Woodcock. I forgot to say that I always hunt my dog silent in the snipe fields---no bells or beepers, and hand direction only. Hiedi learned the game from watching me sneak around slowly, quietly, and methodically. I'd often pause and hold her close by with a low word of caution to whoa if she started to show birdy. She picked up the technique fairly quickly and has become one of the best sniping dogs I've ever hunted over. She is quiet, stealthy, and almost catlike when faced with a snipe in the cover. Its paid off in dividends on grouse and woodcock too. However, some folks would wince at her style. She hunts them as low to the ground as she can get---no head up, tail up points for her. She's all caution when she hunts them, sneaky as a snake.

But it takes time and patience. As far as finding them dead, she's about as good a dog as any I've seen. However, that takes hitting them and practice too. If the hunt is in the dog, then birds make the dog more than any other factor IMO. However, the trainer/owner has to take the lead and show the technique required to hunt a particular bird, then down the birds reliably for the dog to learn. It is team work at its best. Some individual dogs are simply more versitile than others. A good hunter/trainer will recognize this very quickly and let the dog develop its own strong points. Each dog has its own style. Heidi has always been a low nose pointer. It works for us and gets us plenty of birds.
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Parker Trojan
PostPosted: Tue Nov 08, 2005 9:29 am  Reply with quote
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Joined: 24 Aug 2004
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Location: San Rafael, CA

Here in California, I used to get my best snipe shooting on an old high school football field after a heavy rain. It's best to wait until the game has ended before starting hunting. Seriously, this is a true story from the 1960's; how times have changed.
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16minty
PostPosted: Wed Nov 09, 2005 10:51 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 22 Oct 2005
Posts: 10

wow thanks a lot, you guys are great. I'm not sure how great it would be around here, I will have to do some searching for some suibtable habitat. I'm actually a semi-younger hunter and pretty new to the game, and all I hear from everyone around the area is. 'oh you shoulda been here in the 60's and 70's the pheasant hunting, grouse, etc!' and thats just depressing since now its housing developements and stocked birds (which are better than none) I'm not so much about the hunt and have to kill, more so about taking a walk with my dog and gun, and I absolutely love wingshooting. Early dove season was a blast this year, and I've gotten 2 pheasants for the year which is more than enough for the amount of walking I would have to do before flushing a third. So basically with starting this topic I'm trying to explore other options. You guys made me very interested and despite whether there are any around I would love to put myself up to the challenge of actually seeing one, then hitting it! Shocked So I thank you all for the kind responses and maybe one of these days I can post a report of success! mint
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16gaugeguy
PostPosted: Wed Nov 09, 2005 11:55 am  Reply with quote
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16M, I don't know what your living situation is. But if I may be bold here, it sounds like you are walking the birds up without a dog. If you can, make room in your life for a good bird dog. Pionter, flusher, or talented mutt, no matter, it makes all the difference.

There is nothing, I repeat, nothing like having a trusted and loving companon along to help find and recover the birds. Plus, a birdless day is still not a waste of time, because you are with the best friend you will ever have, and you both will be learning the game. Period.

You will learn more in one year from your first dog about birds and hunting than any other way. Trust me here. I hunted dogless for years and thought I knew a lot. then I got my first bird dog, a cast off "non-hunter" short hair, that just needed some love and attention. That dog and I learned so much from each other, that life has never been the same for me.

He's long gone now, but I owe him more than I can ever repay. He tought me loyalty and what friendship really is much better than most folks I've known. I learned to understand things without words, and I learned that patience is a skill we all need practice in. I also learned that friendship means that no transgression is unforgivable if you love someone. That old dog adored me and forgave my every mistake and slip of patience. He bore my stupidity, my meanness, and my impatience, and always came to my side to put his paw on my knee and lick my hand as I fluffed his ears and apologized to him. He turned out to be a better being than me, and I learned to be a better being from him. Get a good natured hunting dog. Your life will be enriched beyond measure, and will never be the same.
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16minty
PostPosted: Fri Nov 11, 2005 8:23 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 22 Oct 2005
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16g, I thoroughly enjoyed your post, Fortunately I do have a dog, that I feel exactly what you described, about. I got her about 4 years ago, as a pup, energetic little cocker spaniel. I've only just gotten into hunting in the past couple years, and there have only been a couple trips I have taken that she has not come along, and mostly those are the ones when shes too pooped from hunting the day before! Granted shes not the greatest bird dog in the world, but she managed to put up 2 pheasants for me this year, probably just by stumbling onto them while bouncing around like a wild-dog. But she is a great retriever and tracker, she finds birds for me when downed, and she will do her best to bring a bird thats just about as big as she is, and drag it to my feet if I dont get to it first! Shes learned the meaning of the word 'hunt' as I grab my gun and vest to get ready to go out, shes at the door before I am! I feel the exact same way as you said, about going out and enjoying a day out there with your best friend regardless whether I even see and birds or get to take a shot.
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Parker Trojan
PostPosted: Sat Nov 12, 2005 7:34 pm  Reply with quote
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Location: San Rafael, CA

16gg: I read your post above about your "non-hunter" shorthair; I wish I could have met the dog that was so loved that he still ellicits such fond memories. My old Wirehair has taught me more about life and love, patience and kindness, that all the people I've met in 63 years.
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