Snipe, the other gamebird

We were sitting in a duck spot when I noticed small groups of snipe were buzzing around. Without saying a word, I opened up on one group and dropped three birds. I was immediately given a bunch of [censored] from everyone in the blinds about shooting field larks and wasting shells..... from guys with 100+ years of cumulative waterfowl hunting and dog training experience. Needless to say, there was a lot of embarrassed looks when their asses were straightened out about snipe, that it's a (tasty) game bird, and Texas has an actual snipe season.

There's snipe moving through N Texas at the moment and resident birds year round as well. It's a shame few people know how fun they are to hunt.

I've never been able to tell the difference in a snipe and a sandpiper. How do you ID them in the air? I thought a snipe was more of a solitary, "flushing" type bird that didnt fly in flocks? I see a bunch of what I think could be snipe, but am never sure.

Hard to explain, but definitely different.

Snipe have short necks and short tails and are smaller in stature. But once you see one flying you'll know the difference, similar to the difference between big ducks and teal.

C'mon Big Dave. Help the boys out.

Snipin' ain't easy. But I love it, usually wait until duck season is over but I'll take 'em when I can.

I got a pair if hipsters just for it. Wait... wrong thread.

What I've been seeing lately has a bright white belly and snipe-like bill. The snipe I see online have a darker belly. Any pics, aerangis?

They have a white belly.



When they flush, they'll make the "Snipe Chirp" listed here.
http://www.soundboard.com/sb/Snipe_bird_sounds

One of my favorite birds to shoot, and a real delicacy in europe.
When you flush em you will always hear em before you see em.
They make that raspy chirp when they take off. Always!

Snipe have much longer beaks compared to sandpiper.
Plus they make a distinctive sound

That''s a good pic of the birds in flight (which is how I like to shoot'em)

The brown back/white belly, short neck, long bill, and flight pattern is how I ID the birds. They like low and fast, and fly patterns in small groups. And they are hard as hell to hit.

Imagine a cross between a quail and a teal. That would be a snipe.

I much prefer wing shooting a small group than jump shooting single. My hit-to-miss ratio drops significantly if I have to react to a bird flushing from cover.

Yeah.. I've killed a few snipe in the past couple years

I remember when you would rarely see or hear of anyone hunting them.

x2

I was lucky enough to be introduced to them by "Sniper" John Once you've been on a hunt with someone and positively ID'd them a time or two, they are pretty easy to pick out.

The Cajun quail. A blast to hunt and pretty good eatin too

Dave has been known to teal and snipe hunt simultaneously.

Know your seasons, Gary! Snipe isn't open during teal Rails, on the other hand, hey if the teal are slow and Griz & Little Griz are getting on your nerves, pop some rails!

Dave's Snipe #1, 2008 season

^^ those waders make me look fat.

Too easy, so I have nothing to say.

We really should do a THF Snipe Hunt again after the 1st of the year.

Got my boys to try it recently. Hard for a kiddo to get the jump on em. I got a couple with the. 410.

IMHO, the most underrated waterfowl to come down the flyway. Don't they love those shallow water smartweed fields. Good stuff guys.

Snipe are an awesome hunt opportunity! They are fast as #%^ when you jump one. I've always ended up finding areas of them by accident when out in the field....then I have a snipe hunt! Pretty challenging but tasty! You just have to deal with the classic "snipe hunting" jokes when you tell people what you did. Few believe they are an actual game bird.

Did you hunt them with lead that day? Its legal right? Even over water

I believe you can shoot them with lead. We shoot steel around our lake. #6 steel works great.

Lead is legal as long as the area you're hunting doesn't say otherwise.

And yes, everybody I know that doesn't hunt thinks I'm pulling their leg about snipe hunting. So then I have to pull up a few hunting pics on my phone. About half still don't believe me.

Yeah your right. That's why I don't rail or snipe hunt, how you distinguish them from all the other birds is a challenge in itself.

Its very easy to hunt snipe since you will always hear em before you see em.

Hunt them without airplugs and into the wind.

You need a dog as they blend in really well.

They taste great! They really do.
Slow cook in crockpot with carrots, onions and red wine
A delicacy overseas. Now even a rarety as hunting is forbidden in holland and belgium.

Haven't seen many this morning. Whipple about caught one about 5:30.

I thought you used a burlap bag and hunted them at night.

I have to admit, I'm one that always thought that snipe were a made up bird and a big hazing event as a child.

I'll keep my eyes, and ears, open for them now!

Is that dead smartweed in the background?...hmmm.....

If that pic is where I think it is, I hunt the same spot. I flushed a good 30+ snipe out there yesterday.

Nov 1st is the start of waterfowl and snipe. You can hunt teal and snipe simultaneously, I've been hunting both since last Sat.

Got checked by the GW yesterday. When I laid the birds out, he didn't know what a snipe was. Thought it was a shorebird of some type.

Great looking Vizslas in those pics! I have one and I love those dogs. Never thought about snipe hunting with my guy though. Where do you guys go to hunt snipe?(areas of state not spot) I only used to see them in rice fields etc. don't see to many in N Tex

I've never understood what makes some folks want to give advice about a subject they obviously know nothing about.

Did you use lead for the snipe? Did the GW give you any grief if you were?

Wheres the paper bag and flashlights????

You are correct, been hunting snipe for 20 years with my dad overseas and shot thousands (most of them overseas and there was no limits back then). I must have done something wrong. In holland it was very easy to walk the polders for 3 hours and come back with 30-40 snipe each. When you shoot doubles it was very hard to find the birds without a dog. In the afternoon we were hiding in a ditch to pass shoot the returning birds. These were the days. After that the population went down and the dutch government shut down all snipehunting for years. Not sure if they reinstated it, will ask dutchman.
Of course it helped to have hunted on one of the biggest snipe concentration in the world (dinteloord Netherlands)
We leased the property from the government (3000 acres flooded marsh that would fill up and recede with the tie) for 1 euro per year in condition we would maintain and protect the lication as a wetland. It was loaded with mallards, geese, heirs and snipe by the thousands. It was unreal. My family hunted there from 1902 till 2003.

#4 steel works though it will make a mess of a bird at close range.

The GW didn't ask about lead, but if he had, I had the right answer. No lead in possession while hunting waterfowl.

BURN!!!

Snipe hunting was something entirely different to me growing up too. Usually involved a burlap sack, a flashlight & a good-lookin lady

I thought "Snipe Hunting" was a joke that you play on people. Snipe really exist?

Nah. This entire thread is a huge joke.

So I started looking for snipe last season but never found any. This morning I finally found a good amount in a marsh. I was able to shoot 2 since I was duck hunting and shooting #2 and #3. Pretty fun and stoked I finally found and figured out what they are how they fly and etc. Looking forward to hunting them all up in that marsh.

A few questions:
What is the bag limit in TX? I am still looking trying to find it. (havent gotten the book out yet)
Steel or lead? Especially if you are in a marsh near water? I am assuming that if you shoot them over water you need to use steel but what if you are walking in the marsh.
What size shot? #6?
What is the best method for hunting them? Sitting at a tree, walking, etc.
Last but not least what are your favorite recipes for them. I plucked them like little cornish hens.
Thanks.

U can shoot 8 per day.
U can shoot lead, but if you are duckhunting at the same time, use steel.
Nr 7.5 ideal. To be safe u can find 7.5 steel at wallmart
Best is to jump them walking a ricefield or marsh into the wind.
When u have one down, mark the bird. They are hard to find.
If u miss a bird, they usually going down 200 yards further and u will have a second chance just like quail.
Snipe are always making a raspy noise when u jump them. Usually u wil hear them before u see them.
They are excellent to eat. Just put them in a casserole on the stove (preferabley ceramic) and slow roast them for 0.5 hour on very low heat with the lid on (otherwise they ll dry out) with wine, celery, carrots and butter. Serve them with strips of toast you made in butter in a pan. This is a recepy that was used for centuries in England. Pluck them like cornish hens. After plucking, burn them over newspaper for 30 seconds or so to torch all the light feathers u cannot even see. Leave the skin and head on. It is a delicacy by the way to crack their head open and suck their brains out. No joke! I ll pass. My dad usually plucked them and left them wrapped in newspapers in the fridge for 3 days before cooking. Do not put salt on it during the cooking, just add salt when they are done. As a matter, u should not put any salt on any meat while cooking. It shrinks the meat and makes it tough.

I always carry a box of 7.5 steel in my bag while duckhunting. If i have to go around the large pond to finish a cripple duck on the water i use 7.5. And i usually find some snipe on my way back to the blind.

8 snipe a day.

You can use lead, if you're not going to shoot ducks or geese.

I've shot at them with 4's before while duck hunting but I'd prefer something in the 6-8 range for the pattern density.

here is a smart, fast way to cook them

From the sipe forum:

http://thesnipehuntersforum.yuku.com/topic/5376/Snipe-cookery#.VG15dIhOKrU

Things to consider and check on.

Some public areas require non toxic shot for all game now. 7 steel works really well.

Some public areas do not list snipe as legal game. For example some lakes it is legal to hunt waterfowl only. Snipe are not waterfowl. APH units and WMAs that do not list "migratory birds" or "snipe" on their game list do not allow snipe hunting.

Some of the areas snipe are now listed as game is because I asked the area game managers to add them. Some I had to ask every year until they gave in. Some of those same areas i am now having to go back to ask them to add Rail now. Some game managers don't know they are legal to hunt believe it or not. So if there is a public area you hunt that has them and they are not listed; fire off emails and letters asking to the area's controlling authorities to add them.

Like beav said they'll usually fly just a little ways out. But if you are on a spot they really want to be, hang out a couple of minutes after they flush before moving on. Some will trickle back in and give you a passing dove-like shot. I went duck scouting yesterday and found a bunch of them. Had some #3 steel and got 4 all at pretty long range which I was surprised about. The lucky pellet I guess. Due to time constraints I couldn't finish up.

If you like dove with a jalapeno and bacon on the grill, snipe are just as good if not better the same way.

hello...my name is Michael....

Do they hunt Snipe in Italy?

Good article and excellent cooking instructions:

http://honest-food.net/2011/12/14/roast-snipe-and-slow-days/

Well hello there Michael

no offence but I DO NOT leave the skin or fat on them it practically smells and tastes like cow manure.... now that could be because I shot hundreds in a flooded cow pasture when I started hunting them... but it cured me of leaving the skin on for the rest of my life!!!!!

and BTW this seems to be a really good year for them I have seen more in my spot than I have in several years!

Not my best work for sure... but I had to try it. This is from a couple years ago. I shot 8 over the course of a couple hunts before I got one that wasn't too beat up. (shooting steel 7.5) The rest tasted good! I'll try it again sometime. I know brazos has some nice ones he did.

Looks good. A couple things I would do different from seeing snipe flying over many years of hunting them would be to put more point in the shoulders, tuck the tail into a point, and tuck the feet together under the tail. If my bird I would like a landing pose better with the wings more spread, the tail completely fanned out, and the legs dropped. I think they look spectacular when they end a tucked dive hitting the air brakes by spreading their wings and fanning the tail feathers for a spiral drop.

There are a lot of other things that i would eat or to eat than those S!!t birds

I agree, I was lucky just to get the silly thing together in one piece. That is some thin skin! I'll have to try and get some more this year and try your suggestions.

I've only shot one. They fly a with a wabble