With two hard rains since Christmas the water level where I have been doing most of my hunting was up at least two feet, putting the shoreline and mud flats that I have been finding birds on under knee deep water. Unfortunately, with water still flowing into the lake it has only gotten deeper since last weekend. Still, being the eternal optimist I was expecting to find at least one or two birds.

The fog wasn't helping but after just a few minutes I heard the familiar sound most snipe make when flushing. It was a long shot, and I missed. Still, just seeing a bird so soon put the day off to a better start than last week.



Not too much longer and another bird was in the air. This one gave me a little more of a chance and I got lucky. I think it was the only bird all day that fell on dry ground.



The fog lifted so the sun could get us quickly to the seventy-seven degrees the weather man promised. Look how far the water is back into the grass in this picture. With no shoreline at all the birds will find a more promising place to spend the remainder of the winter.



I had to look far and wide but eventually I started finding a few small patches of area that looked better, at least to me. I didn't know if the birds would find food there or if more than one or two had even returned to the lake.



Lots of walking but for every few dry places I found I'd run up on a bird. They all flushed toward open water.



Maybe it's just me but I pick up very few birds doing the backstroke. It sure makes them easier to find, especially in thick grass.



Another floater. I think this was the next to last bird I shot. I was fortunate to find that area. I walked for an hour before shooting again after my fifth bird but the last three were dropped with three shells fired in a span of five to seven minutes.



It hasn't rained in well over a week but the water is still pouring in. I found several places like this with water running out of the subdivisions that border the lake. By the next time I get out there all the new places I found could be under water and I will have to start from scratch again. It is challenging enough without having to scout for new areas every week.



After a letdown last week I felt so fortunate to have some birds that I made the trek a long, long way to use this old duck bling frame in my photo.

Skip, we just can't make you happy. I saw a recent post of yours, maybe on shotgunworld compalining about dried out swamps. Now they get filled up and now you don't like it. You should be a wheat farmer, the local ones don't like any weather.

OR, are you showing the weather and the lack of photos of your wonderful S/S's so we will notice that you are not taking them out to hunt?

Chic, does it sound like I am complaining? The guys on the snipe forum don't even buy my excuses anymore. It was just awful out there yesterday but I can't wait to get back out tomorrow. Doesn't make much sense, does it?

quote:

OR, are you showing the weather and the lack of photos of your wonderful S/S's so we will notice that you are not taking them out to hunt?

You want the truth? I am using that gun because it is the only one dirty and I don't want to clean two. It is my "early season rainy day" gun. A couple of weeks ago I hunted in rain so that gun got used. This late in the season I really need more gun (there I go making excuses again) but I will probably finish up with that one. I was hoping with the right props I could make that $300 gun look more like a $500 work of art.

By the way, this was my all season rainy day gun so at least I'm moving in the right direction.

Skip

Hey Skip,

Nice work on the woodcock. There needs to be mud, worms, and hopefully cow droppings for woodcock, doesn't there? The wet places are the only places I've had any luck in West Virginia anyway.

That break-open single-shot looks like my first gun. It was a Brazilian 20 gauge imported by SS Kresge company and sold by Sears, I believe.

Good luck, hope it dries up and you get a little bit of water there...

Steve

Steve, that little four-ten is a Kresge. Funny thing about the woodcock in my picture is they aren't woodcock. I have shot a few of them in my life but not in a decade. Still, their diet and that of a snipe are similar and there is no shortage of mud out in the marshes where I hunt.

This is what one of the birds I shot Monday was feeding on. It was in his beak but he also had a few of them in his throat or gullet. I bet neither that worm nor the bird thought he would be the one that survived before I entered the picture.

Skip,

Thanks for the info. Sorry for the misidentification; should have figured it out from all the context clues...like your posts and your handle.

It makes me happy to see another one of those Kresge single-shots. I took mine to the trap range last year, and did pretty good with it. I may have to take it out for dove next year.

Steve

Steve, no need to aplogize. Have you hunted snipe? I see that you are from Maryland and if you near the coast you should have a huntable poulation in your area. You'd be surprised to find out how many people, even hunters, don't even know such a bird exists. I read that there is a season for snipe in forty-seven states, the most of any of our small gamebirds. Most bird hunters would be surprised to learn that.

Skip

Skip,

No I haven't ever hunted snipe. I always get asked the question on the HIP permit survey, but I've never hunted them.

If I had seen one before today, I probably would have focused on the long bill and misidentified it as a woodcock.

We have a lot of marshy area out here, and I bet we do have a huntable population. I'll have to start paying attention.

Thanks for the info. I'm going to take a look into it and see if I can find a place out here.

Steve