Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1896-04-30
Jack snipe Are Receiving the Atten-
ton Of Gunners.
CHARACTERISTICS, OF TIE BIRDS
Pointers That viii Be of Service to
Those Who Hunt.
WHERE THEY CONGREGATE

A big man, with a flush of satisfaction
frightening his countenance and a bunch
of long-billed, long-legged, gray-plumaged
birds dangling at the end of string swung
himself off a train at the Baltimore and
Potomac depot recently. His leggins
We're spattered with mud, and his hunting
coat had similar splotches on it. He reach
ed back to the brakeman for his gun case
and went ahead to the baggage car, where
a setter dog was trembling in nervous an
ticipation of his coming.
What luck?" inquired one of the depot
attendants
Pretty fair, considering" replied the
new arrival. Il got eleven, but there has
not been a good flight yet It's little too
wet" Then the dog jumped out of the
car and whined his pleasure, smiling the
birds to see if they were all right.
His master was one of the early seekers
after snipe, and had been down on the
marsh meadows near Wide Water, in Vir-
gina, after the first corners of the great
army of tackles" from the south All
winter these birds have been enjoying the
climate in the warm savannahs of the
south; 'reveling in the marshes of Florida
and Georgia; boring the mud of Mississippi
and lettering over the damp low grounds
of Texas.
The First Flight.
are now returning. and on their way north
they stop at intervals to replenish their
commissaries or in other words, fill their
crawS
No one knows exactly when the sniDe
are coming. In this particular they are like
the ortOlar in autumn. A man with good
sEipe dog may beat a marsh for days i'll the
early spring without raising {. feather, and
give up in disgust, and the very next morn
ing newcomer may go over the same
ground and put up jackieS rapidly that
his barrels will become, from steady firing,
| too hot to hold The season is far enough
advanced nov to make it certain that snjpe
will be found in the vicinity of Washing
| ton, the big flight of snipe that favors
Maryland and Virginia each year having
| put in an appearance. The Sportsmen who
| hunt the marshes and meadows along up
| per Eastern branch have killed many, and
| the down-river haunts have also been hunt
| ed with great success. Next week, how
ever. will probably mark bigger bags and
more gunnerS
How to Hunt Them.
The jaclFsnipe is an elusive bird, and his
| flight for the fest few, yards describes some
thing very like arpitaoolc curve. He is
wary, too. If you have a good snipe dog
you possess a treasryn. Such animal
mist be slow anitfeareful. y dog that
| ranges with freedom and goes gallopinG
about with his heat nHAs of very little serv-
9s ps when he5 5rGa,es demand fer the
Neloped as his oil->4nrtEi hat would do credit
to a Florida hotel SOL sedate animal, who
pursnes an even coursS, and is not carried
away by enth lsiaSIn, IS needed. A twelve
gauge gun with acknowledge of its use, for
this particular kil1tAsf shooting is the proper
weapon, and the best results are secured
NTH NTH cI ,hrd loase4 BIN Noo shot~ith
hind it. There should w an extra thick wad
on that sort of powief; quarter of an inch
gives, better effects than any other Kind.
and if No. II cartrdSes.are loaded with No
ll12~ wads of this cAaFacter, the gunner will
be surprised at the Improvement In the
shooting qualities Of his sun.
IT.. Advice to NOvices.
a novice in snipe shooting should paste
the word wait" on the stock of his gun
and hang placard bearing the same in
junction to the tail of his dog. if possible
There is no class of shooting that requires
more deliberate care when the game is
flushed than that under consideration The
bird rises with ziz-zag erratc flight. and
his motion is 50 rapid that men not accuS-
toned to the sport blaze away without n
moments thought. The old-timer is not
bothered by this error, however. He knows
that the bird will settle into something like
even going before he flies very far and
waits until such steadiness of flight before
pulling the trigger Then a snipe is COM
paratively easy to knock down.
w me the SHeS anu HleduU"S along
the Eastern branch afford very fair sport
at times. the best snipe grounds down
the Potomac. The marshes around Free
stone Point are usually prolific with them,
and big bags are made around Pamunkey,
Broad creek, Mattawoman creek and Nam
jemoy, while Swanson's creek, on the Pa
tuxent, affords excellent sport. If snipe
are not found in the marshes gunners
should try adjoining meadows without fail,
rs the birds frequently prefer such hab-
itat especially when the former are par
ticularly wet.
Every who goes out after snipe
should register a VOW to shoot at nothing
else, except hawk The chances are that
a snpe hunter now will put up many wood
cock. The latter are now caring for their
eggs, and in some instances their young.
and the killing of the old birds means the
destruction of a family. The flight of the
woodcock at this time of year is peculiar,
and easily tell whether it has
young or not. If such is the fact the wood
| cock will merely futter up when disturbed,
| uttering plaintive cry and alghtng after
traversing a few yards. 1t is the meanest
| kind of murder to kill one under such con-
l At to-,