Though mostly known as a mythical animal featured in teenage pranks, snipes do exist — really. I’m not too sure of the universal protocol, but the Northeast Texas version I learned goes something like this:
First, get a few friends together. The hunt seems to go better if you and the friends are in your teens and works swell if one of the friends has no idea of the nature of the impending “hunt.”
Sacks are important. Most purists prefer burlap sacks while weekend snipe hunters will settle for paper or plastic. The key is finding a sack that will hold an unruly snipe when the action heats up.
Scouting is also important. You can go scout during the day to find a snipe hotspot or you can say you scouted. Either way it really doesn’t matter in the end.
Location, location, location. I would always ask myself, “Can a snipe live here?” If the area is remote and dark, the answer is a resounding yes.
Pick a good night. Early summer evenings work well. Personally, I like a moonless night. Snipes seem to thrive in the darkness so the darker the better.
The set-up is crucial. I like picking a trail far from the truck. Remember the guy who had never heard of snipe hunting? He’s the one who gets placed on the best trail which just happens to be farthest from the truck.
Once the inexperienced guy is in place, it is very important that you tell him that you are going to go up trail and scare some snipes back his way. Therefore, he must keep his senses alert and his sack open and held to the ground. As a distraction, some suggest having the hunter make a call that the snipe supposedly makes. The call can be any sound as long as it is silly and repeated often.
Then, disappear back to the truck for a while with the others in the party. Many snipe hunters disagree as to the amount of time the inexperienced hunter should be left alone. Me? I say it depends on the inexperience of the new hunter. It could be just a few minutes up to hours. The key is to make the new hunter feel as uncomfortable and abandoned as possible.
When you think the new hunter is sufficiently uncomfortable, retrieve him immediately and then spend the rest of the night teasing the new hunter with your other friends.
Try as I may, I cannot find the origins of the mythical snipe hunt although I do know that it is played all over the nation and even parts of Europe. The ritual has even found its way into popular culture as at least one network program, King of the Hill, featured a snipe hunt with Hank Hill and his son. Instead of snipes, the two ended up catching a whooping crane.
Believe it or not, real snipes do exist, and are found in plentiful enough numbers to warrant a hunting season here in Texas. In fact, real snipe hunters can pursue the bird (which is classified as a migratory game bird) from November through mid-February each year. A hunting license with state and federal migratory bird stamps are all that’s required to hunt.
Although most of the legitimate snipe hunting is along the freshwater marshes of the coast and lower East Texas, snipes also exist over much of the state as they spend their winters in Texas.
The common snipe measures about 10 1/2 inches long and weighs about 4 1/2 ounces. It is most comfortable in shallow, freshwater marshy areas. The snipe’s brown, black and white feathering makes for superb camouflage in brambles and low-growing grasses.
The snipe is a wading bird and eats a variety of insects, earthworms, small mollusks and some vegetable matter. Its bill is long and flexible and is capable of finding food by feel alone. Although I never knew what they were, when I was a kid, I saw snipe on a regular basis while slogging around flooded bottomlands. When startled, the birds would fly away in a zigzag pattern while emitting a high-pitched call. The thick brush they inhabit and their erratic flight makes snipe a challenging wingshooting target.
Any questions or comments? Contact Russell at russell@russellgraves.com or visit his website at www.russellgraves.com
Russell A. Graves is a free lance author and photographer who lives in the Lake Texoma area.
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