The Washington herald., 1908-01-05
SHOOTING FOR SNIPR
The Mud Flats Hold Out Ex-
hilerating Sport.
GOOD MARKSMANsHIP NEEDED
COrkscreW Curves of Feathered
Game, as 1t Flashes Through the
Air, Difficult for the Hunter TO Fol-
Iow-WashingtOn Favored by an
Abundance of the Birds.

Did you ever see a bird fly two ways
lat once? If not take a tramp through
the mud flats and watch a Wilson or
air on being flushed
"Consarn the pesky things. said an
old hunter after yainIy trying TO bring
down the thirtieth bird that jumped, i
can't hit 'em no matter when / shoot,
and it is just that difficulty in hitting
your bird that makes you try and try
again. and that when you have mastered
it makes you a crack shot
Suipe shooting Is In a class all by Itself.
1t takes one over ground not covered FOR
any other game; ii takes your strength,
your nerve and your patience, and in
cidentally it can cause more profanity
than any other sport the writer is famil-
lar with, and unless you are on to the
tricks. leave you with less game 10 show
at the end of the day.
Snipe shooting means mud, more mud,
and then some, and you will want hip
rubber boots to begin with, your twelve
bore gun and number nine shot in your
cartridges. Given these you are ready for
all the snipe there are AS to finding
them there are one of two ways-either
depend upon flushing your own birds OF
upon dog. Good snIpe dogs are almost
as rare as a white crow. and while there
are such ! have never seen one.
Snipe are peculiar birds; different from
all other game birds, and dog has TO be
especially broken on them in order 10 be
worth anything at all, and a green dog
on the snipe grounds is worse than none.
Hence. nine men out of ten will be found
tramping the bog and flushing the birds
themselves.
Round about Washington we are
especially favored with snipe grounds
in fact they are to be found in all d.
rections, and, moreover. during the mi
grating season We are right in the line
OF fight Therefore. a man keen after
snipe can get all the fun he wants and
that too without going far from home
Any fiat field that is boggy aud more OF
less overfiowed by neighboring stream
viii offer an opportunity. The mud fats
along the Potomac that are not covered
at high tide offer excellent shooting
grounds, the reclaimed portions in par
tlcuiar.
Eastern Branch marshes are good
ground, so is the fat country around
81. Asaph's and Alexander Island. just
this side OF Brickhaven is a big marsh
on which I have had some Of the finest
sport. and it is not by any means be-
Meath ones notice to work along the
river edge from the end OF Long Bridge
down to Four-mle Run. Some birds stay
with US all winter-enOugh 10 make il
worth while to look for them-but OF
course. the bulk of the shooting is on
flight birds. In March and April. Then,
il one can go 10 the marshes OF the
Patuxent he can find snipe shooting as
is snipe shooting.
Every spring the resident guuners burn
over the marsh in patches here and there
leaving the bare tundra. and here the
snipe goather 10 feed Padding from one
TO the other. il is a simpler manner OF
finding birds than having 10 tramp a
whole marsh. and. beside. those you miss
win be found at some other bare spot
and can be flushed again later.
There is a trick about sn'pe shooting
that has to be learned before one can
hope to be in any way successful in hunt
ing them, and unless one knows it he
can shoot all day and never bag a feath-
er. When one jumps it will be from al
most beneath your very feet. and the
first intimation YOU will get Of there being
birds about will be the 'seaip," "seaip. 7
"seaip" Of alarm as one goes twisting
and c0rkscrewing through the air and
like a bolt from a gun.
As previously stated, they invariably
manage to be in two places at once
sometimes more-and If you attempt to
kill them at this time you will miss them
nine hundred and ninety-nine times out
Of a thousand. Hold your gun steady
and reserve your fire. After the bird has
covered fifteen or twenty yards or there
abouts, he will take a steady straight
away course, and that Is just the time
to turn loose. Occasionally it will happen
that he may get beyond range before he
steadies down. and then. of course. there
is nothing for it but to follow him ur
and find him again or start another.
Snipe are queer birds; they arc found
either singly or in companies of two
three. or four. but no matter how many
there may be, they never jump in a
bunch as do most birds when together
Just as you have your gun turned on
one and are about to pull the trigger a
second springs from your right and
"scaips' it away-you shift your gun
to this nearer bird and another jumps
from your left. and just as you cover
him fourth starts from behind and you
wheel on this one.
BY this time your nerves are tingIins
and on edge. and should another spring
the chances are you will say things, and
possibly wind up by not shooting at all
Here is where you must have full con-
troll of your nerves and not allow your
self to be Disconnected.
You can't possibly get them all. Hold
on to and shoot at the first one that
gets up, regardless Of everything else
then IL another does flush afterward you
may have an opportunity to make a
"double''-if you can.
Another thing must be borne in mind
and that is that because the ground is
bare of birds to-day it does not near
that it viii OF necessity be so tomorrow
Snipe fly by night. and If one fails to find
game the first time. there is nothing fol
it but try again Moreover. they are pc
culiar about distributing themselves. The
writer has gone out more than once sim.
ultaneously with friend, each hunting
in different sections Of country. and one
would find the birds abundant and tn,
other scarcely see a feather
The only note a snipe has is the scalp
scalp" of alarm when it fiushes. Their,
have been many attempts to fashion
call to initiate this. but without success
at least so far as results are concerned
and the reason is obvious. The note i: