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

A big man. with 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
were 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 II 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-
ginia. 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.
Like other tourists to the southland they
are now returning. and on their way north
they stop at intervals to replenish their
commssaries, or in other words, fill their
crawS.
No one knows exactly when the snipe
are coming. In this particular they are like
the ortOlar in autumn. A man with a good
sEipe dog may beat a marsh for days in the
early spring without raising d feather, and
give up in disgust, and the very next morn
ing a newcomer may go over the same
ground and put up jackies so rapidly that
his barrels will become, from steady firing
too hot to hold. The season is far enough
advanced nov to make 1t 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 jackSsnipe is an elusive bird, and his
flight for the fist fem yards describes some
thing very like arpata5olic curve. He is
wary, too. If you have good snipe dog
you possess a tresspEe. Such an animal
ranges with freedom and goes galioplng
about with his heat WIS of very little serv-
ice when jackles Aee$in demand, for the
snipe's hearing qualities are as well de-
to Florida hotel. SOL sedate animal, who
pursnes- an even .courszs and is not carried
away by enthlsiaSm IS needed. A twelve
gauge gun, with .klQ Wedge of its use for
this particular kintAst- shooting is the proper
weapon, and the best results are secured
With cartridges loaded Filth No.T9 shotg%ith
about three drachrhs E. c. powder. be-
on that sort of powdef: a quarter of an inch
i gives better effects, than any otherSkIrd
and il No II cartridSeseare loaded with No
NE wads OF this CHARACTER, the gunner will
be surprised at the Improvement In the
shooting qualities OF his gun.
-tE Advice to Novices.
a novice in snipe shooting should paste
the word wait on the stock of his gun
and hang a 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 a ziz-Zag erratic flight, and
his motion is SO rapid that not accus-
toned to the sport blaze away without a
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
pulling the trigger. Then a snipe is COM
paratively easy to knock down.
While the marshes and meadows along
the Eastern branch afford very fair sport
at times. the best snipe grounds are 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 man who goes out after snipe
should register VOW to shoot at nothing
else, except a hawk. The chances are that
snipe 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 family. The flight of the
| woodcock at this time of year is peculiar,
and one can easily tell whether it has
young or not. If such is the fact the wood
cock will merely futter up when disturbed,
uttering plantive cry and alighting after
traversing few yards. 1t is the meanest
kind of murder to kill one under such con-
ditions.