Snipe 11/23/2004

I actually got off on time today. I had everything ready to go deer hunting, but the thermometer in my truck said 78°. I just didn't want to go sit in the heat & bugs. I stopped by a 3-acre beaver pond on the way home, climbed up on the cab of the truck, & glassed it for ducks. The teal haven't been seen since 2 days before the season opened, & no woodies were in sight this afternoon. I came on home.

It looked like I had 3 choices: 1) throw the boat in the river & see if I couldn't drift up on or pass shoot some woodies, 2) go chase the couple of snipe I have been seeing near one of my deer stands, or 3) wash dishes like my wife wanted.

I figured getting the boat in the water would cost me 30 minutes & only leave 30 minutes of legal shooting light. Washing dishes can be done after dark. So I grabbed my shotgun, bird vest, & the dog and off we went. This is the first time my Boykin spaniel, Otis, has gone hunting this year. He saw the gun go in the truck & when I told him to load up, I thought he was going to wriggle to death!

We signed into our block on the hunting club. We got out & walked the holes where I have been seeing snipe (not just occaisionally seeing snipe, but REGULARLY seeing snipe) & did not flush a single one!

We walked on back into a big clearcut to the swamp edge & an armadillo flushed under Otis' nose. When I blew the whistle to call him off, a snipe got up at about 20 yards. Barrel #1 missed. At the report, a second snipe flushed and barrel #2 missed as well. We walked on & flushed a third, barrels 1 & 2 missed again. We now have 3 flushes and 4 shots. We made a big loop up the edge of the swamp in really snipey looking places & didn't see anymore, though we saw both snipe & woodcock sign (I'm really glad I didn't see any woodcock because I have been trying to hold off going in there till timberdoodle season opens). We came back to where we flushed the first 3 and pushed on in the other direction for about 70 yards & flushed #4. At the first shot, down he went. Otis went & got him, & we hunted on but didn't see any more snipe.

Basically we had about an hour in the field. Saw 4 birds, fired 5 shots in about a 3/4 mile walk. I was drenched with sweat when we got back to the truck. I don't know why I thought it was too hot to deer hunt, but not too hot to traipse around in the heat. Oh well, it was a great way to end the afternoon!

Guess I better go wash dishes now...

rip18 said:

This is the first time my Boykin spaniel, Otis, has gone hunting this year. He saw the gun go in the truck & when I told him to load up, I thought he was going to wriggle to death!

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Five shots one bird. I bet Otis still thought that was the greatest hunt he's been on in forever. ALWAYS good to get out. Glad y'all had some fun.
Hunt/fish safely,
Phil

Yep, Otis thought it was GREAT!!! Unfortunately, I think he liked the armadillo chasing part best. I bet he wants to go again this afternoon...

I don't know why snipe are so dog-gone hard for me to hit. When I walk them up going to the deer stand, they jump up & set right back down - about like a medium-good pen-raised quail. When I jump them when I'm hunting them, they get up about 5 feet off the ground & start jinking as their afterburners push them on up. I was behind all the missed birds yesterday. I guess I need to really compress the spring on the trap & have them thrown when I'm not expecting it.

when I was a kid I used to hunt wood cock and snipe without dogs. Snipe were in the wide open cut over sugar fields in the low part that held water. You had to be very stealthy to try and sneak up on them to jump shoot. Success was maybe one in five at a shot and then maybe one in three if you shot.
Woodcock without dogs will get your heart racing in a hurry. Never could see those things and they'd generally only jump when you stepped on them. Not good if the old ticker is not in prime shape!
They were both a blast and I can't say one is more difficult than the other. Pass shooting snipe is definitely easier than pass shooting wood cock. Jump shooting either is a exercise in futility most of the time but it is still a blast.
Get Otis out there (though some BIG rains are coming) if the weather cooperates today. As you know, it's good for his heart and good for your soul.
Hunt/fish safely,
Phil

You could send Corey out at night with a sack to hold. He would get you a snipe, he's that lucky. Are there any good marsh hen hunting down that way.

Hope you and Corey are doing well. Corey could probably get 2 or 3 to walk in his bag at once!!!

Yep, there is pretty good marsh hen hunting down this way. From what I can tell the later in the season, the better it gets. The problem is catching one of the good high tides. I missed 3 really good ones this year. The tides weren't supposed to be that high, but the nasty east winds pushed the water up about as high as I've seen it. I saw it the first day & had some "can't break" commitments the next two days. Oh well...