I've always considered snipe to be the hardest to hit American gamebird. They will downright baffle a man at times, and I've been that man more than once.
To me the perfect gun would be a 28 inch 12 gauge with right cylinder and left full, with 1 1/8 ounces of #9 in the right and 1 1/8 of #6 in the left. Double triggers of course!
With the longer range shots that snipe oftentimes offer, I don't really think a smallbore is ideal. And I wouldn't want something I was afraid to get wet because the shooting grounds for them are often sloppy.
Last snipe I killed was on one of my most memorable mornings of gunning ever. I'd killed four mallard drakes (one banded), a pair of black ducks, had a right and left on canada geese, and then killed the single snipe as it flashed over the duck blind after we were done shooting. Kevin McCormack and Don Kaas were there, it was quite a day.
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I was as virtuously given as a gentleman need to be; virtuous enough; swore little; diced not above seven times a week; went to a bawdy-house once in a quarter--of an hour; paid money that I borrowed, three of four times; lived well and in good compass: and now I live out of all order, out of all compass. Falstaff - Henry IV
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