Snipe Shooting

[16BoreFan]

We have a few wet fields that attract Snipe. Has anyone waited and shot them coming back to the fields after being flushed? 

[Rob85]

My father in law used to shoot early season snipe as the were flighting in to the bogs at dusk. Im not sure how regular a flushed bird would be at coming right back to where they were flushed from though.

[marsh man]

5 hours ago, 16BoreFan said:

We have a few wet fields that attract Snipe. Has anyone waited and shot them coming back to the fields after being flushed? 

I am not sure they would come back after being flushed , why not try shooting them as they lift , or standing a few guns around the field for a shot a driven birds . GOOD LUCK whatever you try .

[SuperGoose75]

Yes I've tried this many years ago after reading that Snipe usually come back to where they were originally flushed after about 20mins or so.

So if you flush snipe by walking up and either miss or don't manage to get a shot off, I've hid in cover near the boggy ground they where flushed and waited. The Snipe did come back but usually flying well up in the sky and offered some chances of a high flying shot. I never had much success, but it is a thing if you have the patience.

[wymberley]

It's a long time since '75 and I can't remember. Is it for the snipe or woodcock that it is said you count to 7 before firing when they're flushed?

Edited February 9, 2022 by wymberley

[islandgun]

17 minutes ago, wymberley said:

It's a long time since '75 and I can't remember. Is it for the snipe or woodcock that it is said you count to 7 before firing when they're flushed?

I read that the time to pull the trigger is when they void, having seen lots of snipe rise they do in fact tend to slow down when doing it [dont we all] .🙂

[scobydog]

Always waited until they start to fly reasonably straight after a couple of jinks.

 

s

[SuperGoose75]

1 hour ago, wymberley said:

It's a long time since '75 and I can't remember. Is it for the snipe or woodcock that it is said you count to 7 before firing when they're flushed?

 

5 minutes ago, scobydog said:

Always waited until they start to fly reasonably straight after a couple of jinks.

 

s

I think it must be Snipe as in my experience Woodcock would be long gone after counting to 7.

Like scobydog has put it was said that you should wait until they stopped the initial ''Zig-Zagging'' flight after being flushed.

Personally I had the most success by ''Snapshooting'' as soon as they flushed, much the same with Woodcock really.

[Walker570]

On 03/01/2022 at 19:11, marsh man said:

I am not sure they would come back after being flushed , why not try shooting them as they lift , or standing a few guns around the field for a shot a driven birds . GOOD LUCK whatever you try .

Yes, many moons ago just after the war,  my Grandfathers farm had a meadow which was a bog and always held snipe. The first walk through/drive on a partridge day,  was always for the snipe, so some driven some going away...wait till they stop zig zagging.   That field is now bricks and mortar. 

I have enjoyed a few driven snipe days which can be quite testing, Eights or nines a must for the little beggars.  If you get enough then skewered together and roasted wrapped in smoked bacon they are delicious finger food.

[dipper]

Snipe were about the first thing I ever shot.Nota lot of game about were I could shoot in them days .I was still at school.I had a 16 bore. With very little. Choke in the first barrel I walked them up with my gun mounted .I always shot very quick and I did quite well.

[marsh man]

3 hours ago, Walker570 said:

Yes, many moons ago just after the war,  my Grandfathers farm had a meadow which was a bog and always held snipe. The first walk through/drive on a partridge day,  was always for the snipe, so some driven some going away...wait till they stop zig zagging.   That field is now bricks and mortar. 

I have enjoyed a few driven snipe days which can be quite testing, Eights or nines a must for the little beggars.  If you get enough then skewered together and roasted wrapped in smoked bacon they are delicious finger food.

Very interesting , I can well imagine a group of the old boys in your grandfathers time making there way at at a slow pace marching across the wet meadows with the hammers on at half cock waiting for that flicker of movement when a Snipe have jumped up only a matter of feet away , then the gun is mounted and waiting for the Snipe to level out before the trigger is pulled with one of Eleys gas tight cartridges stuffed full of very small lead shot .

When we were young and trigger happy we would walk the rhonds on the estuary after a blank morning flight just to have a shot at something , the way we shot them were the same as you , wait till they had stopped zig zagging and then give em a shot , we didn't get over excited with Snipe as the cartridges were still hard to come by caused by lack of funds and at the time they were the staggering sum of 12 / 6d a box , even then it was a rich mans sport 

[Walker570]

49 minutes ago, marsh man said:

Very interesting , I can well imagine a group of the old boys in your grandfathers time making there way at at a slow pace marching across the wet meadows with the hammers on at half cock waiting for that flicker of movement when a Snipe have jumped up only a matter of feet away , then the gun is mounted and waiting for the Snipe to level out before the trigger is pulled with one of Eleys gas tight cartridges stuffed full of very small lead shot .

When we were young and trigger happy we would walk the rhonds on the estuary after a blank morning flight just to have a shot at something , the way we shot them were the same as you , wait till they had stopped zig zagging and then give em a shot , we didn't get over excited with Snipe as the cartridges were still hard to come by caused by lack of funds and at the time they were the staggering sum of 12 / 6d a box , even then it was a rich mans sport 

Yup, you got it in one.  My uncle always wore highly polished brown boors and leather gaiters over riding breeches and a tweed coat. At least half of those present would be shooting hammer guns and many of the cartridges where marked with a black arrow insignia being ex home guard but the top card had been removed and the large shot replaced with smaller stuff my Grandfather called dust shot.  I used to be given a 10/- note to go to the newspaper shop in the village for a box of Eley's.. Heh, your bringing bag so many memories, like the Fordson van we had at the time for milk eliveries. The headlights where mounted on the mudgaurds and my uncle would sit here stradling the headlight as father drove him around the undulating grass fields for rabbits after dark after the shoot supper.  One of those fields was too steep to drive on but is now a housing estate.  Birchmoor Road, Birchmoor, Warwickshire.

[aister]

Snipe shooting is one of my favourite ways of spending a couple of hours with the dog and the gun. I think it's because of how hard you have to work for the beautiful, tiny, delicious reward. Some days they flush from under your feet and you get a few shots off, other days they flush just out of range and you hardly get a shot fired. Some days the marksmanship is better than others. Some days the snipe are where you would expect them to be and the next time you cant find them anywhere. They are not an easy bird put in the bag regularly.

[Stonepark]

Pull trigger as soon as butt hits my shoulder is my technique, ounce of no7 usually does the trick.