Snipe Hunting
 

So I am bored and anxiously waiting bird season.I was surfing the web and came across this webinar from Calif. Game Dept..They did and looks like they do webinars on all species that are eligible to hunt.Anyhow this webinar is informative and kept me interested for an hour.I was pleasantly surprised towards the end during the hunting tip section to see this picture of a Parker Shotgun and snipe.

https://youtu.be/7I2fdukhNrY

I love to hunt snipe. That is, shoot at snipe.

The most under rated upland bird.

I’ve taken snipe, but don’t see numbers to approach a meal here in Ohio- more of a hors de oeuvre. Where do folks recommend for hunting? Would love to go, I’ve read plenty about it.

We get a good migration/numbers most years here in Florida.Last year was real good.

Here are few days from last season

They are wonderful tasting little birds, very different from woodcock which I also enjoy. And what a terrific way to get your dog tuned up for bird season. It starts on Sept 15th in NH and you NEVER run into anyone else hunting snipe up there. The shots are open, no thickets of alders or spruce to get in the way. They can be sneaky so must be patient with the pup but given you're hunting a game birds before October 1st it's all good.
I run into them in a lot of places. I was a volunteer bird planter at a NAVHDA test in western Montana a few years back and watched a young GSP run 300 yards ahead of his handler to a ditch in front of where we were hiding at the end of the field, and then point a snipe that I had watched fly in about 15 minutes earlier. One of the judges, knowing that we wouldn't have planted a bird there, made the handler call the dog back off the point (ouch). Which is why hunt tests and trials aren't perfect.

WOW a 28 gauge DHE!!...or...?





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A 20ga with the fishtail and red pad
28ga in the first pic
The other is a 28ga Churchill repro

I love hunting snipe myself but have had trouble finding a good place with huntable numbers in recent years.

Mills its less than 5 hours away point the truck south and come down this fall.

The Jersey marshes used to be great. They might still be.
https://parkerguns.org/forums/pictur...&pictureid=319

I think they are more plentiful than we realize. Depending on where you live it's a matter of being in wet areas when the migration comes through. Look for a field with big puddles and flooded areas after a rain, the edges of beaver ponds, drainage ditches in or on the edges of hay or corn fields especially if they have standing water.

I think Chris is correct and that the numbers of snipe are good throughout its range. I see them at the duck marsh during the teal season. I think most of these are local birds. During wet Falls we run into migrations occasionally in low meadows, but since it's not the kind of place we often frequent during our upland hunting, we rarely encounter them. But I know they pass through in decent numbers.

I do have a dedicated "snipe Parker" and hope to see if the specs I've determined to be good for snipe will turn out to be appropriate. Stay tuned...

Snipe hunting
 

When I lived inHouston Tx the rice Prairies were full of snipe. After our duck hunt I would take my Golden Retreiver and walk them up in the rice fields. Back then I shot a Win Model 97 full choke and could really drop them at a distance but hard to find without a dog. My last snipe hunt was at a lease I had on the coast near Seadrift Tx. Had a yellow lab and dropped a bird she went after. She yelped when she reached the bird and I immediately went to her. There was a huge water Mocasin coiled up. The snake was dispatched and my dog had two fang punctures in her neck. Called a local vet he said give her Benadryl which I did. Next day she was up and running retreiving Ducks like nothing had happened. Only evidence of the bite was hair did not grow back at the bite spot on her neck. I'm a believer that Benadryl is good for snake bites other than coral and rattlesnake and works for scorpions up here in Hill Country.

I witnessed John Davis get a double on snipe during our first hunting trip together (I didn’t think such a bird even existed). The shots were so impossible I just looked him and said, “I believe you just channeled Fred Kimble”.

Surprising to me that snipe are considered an "upland" bird. They're never found far away from standing water.

My son's Lab was bitten by what was probably a moccasin last week. His head and neck were badly swollen. My grandson saw him and gave him Benadryl. Next day he was up chasing squirrels. I didn't know about Benadryl for snakebite until then, but I'm now a believer.

I didn’t know that either but I’m going to make sure I keep some handy.

I really need to do more this week

I dont know about the efficacy of benadryl but I did recently read that liquid gels are very bad for dogs, the synthetic sugar coating can lead to big trouble, I would check with the vet on the details though.

I never go afield without Benadryl for the pups. Or for me for that matter. Sometimes on a warm fall day you can kick up some yellow jackets. We have Benadryl in each hunting vest, car, and our boat.

Would popping a couple of Benadryl tablets have any helpful effect on a person bitten by a rattler or cottonmouth? I'm thinking, as in immediately after being bitten, to be taking effect as you were being transported to the ER?

I live and work in snake country everyday. Snakebite is always a possibility for me, my son and my grandson, here on the farms we own and rent. Heck, even in the yard. I've had two big timber rattlers on my patio in the last few years.