Did anyone here ever go snipe hunting?

Posted by FoundObjects4@reddit | GenX | View on Reddit | 90 comments

I rode along on a snipe hunt once, but we never caught one.

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Great-Molasses-7801@reddit

Yes! And crunching mint lifesavers very hard in the dark

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grahsam@reddit

Every fucking day

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FoundObjects4@reddit (OP)

😂

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ONROSREPUS@reddit

I never caught one but I have shot few in the past. Am I missing a joke here?

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2044onRoute@reddit

This one confused me because we live near the coast and there are all kinds of snipes around.

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profcate@reddit

Yes and my cousin Dino (who was older and 6’9”) took me with his friends. It scared the shit out of me Although I could not figure out how these things were out and about yet it never came up in school.

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Wldchld73@reddit

Went Snipe hunting in Florida on a youth group camping trip with. And BTW, I still wonder who thought taking a group of 13 to 15 year olds on a camping trip and didn't think any of us would sneak out of the tents.

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nugporn@reddit

Yes.

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FoundObjects4@reddit (OP)

Good.

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No_Newspaper_9686@reddit

Tennessee so yeah I learned about snipe hunts from my dad. Who then left me in the woods and I had to find my way out. Thanks Dad!

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FoundObjects4@reddit (OP)

Oh man that’s brutal 😆

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No_Newspaper_9686@reddit

Luckily, it did teach me some great lessons even if I think the method was a little sketch. If he was still alive he would absolutely be a Doomsday prepper nowadays. I was his little girl when he wanted a little boy so yeah talk about a tomboy from hell my poor Mama couldn't keep my hair brushed or keep me out of camo bless her heart. There exists a picture from 86 of when my little sister was born and I'm decked out in camo with face paint and all at the hospital, proud as could be🤣

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FoundObjects4@reddit (OP)

Haha! I’d love to see that picture. I was also a tomboy and was the only girl in my neighborhood. I annoyed the little boys on my block because I was better at sports than they were. 😊

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No_Newspaper_9686@reddit

A kindred spirit! I'll have to dig it out for the nostalgia. Yeah, it was a different time for sure. I was always in the woods into something. And back then I had a .22 I was allowed to take and shoot, which in hindsight is scary as hell and certainly got me into trouble more than once, but I'm pretty damn tough nowadays and it takes a lot to scare me.

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FoundObjects4@reddit (OP)

Same here. I didn’t have a .22 though 😆

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No_Newspaper_9686@reddit

I did until I was 13 and got in trouble and it was taken away. Wouldn't advise it now of course anyway!!!

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FoundObjects4@reddit (OP)

Just add it to the long list of things parents wouldn’t do nowadays.

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No_Newspaper_9686@reddit

Right? Most of our childhoods are on that list I believe. When I told my kids the story of how I lost .22 privileges they were completely flabbergasted at the idea that I was a child walking around with a loaded weapon with the potential to cause great harm. Which I did, knocked out power for 3 days in our subdivision 🥲

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FoundObjects4@reddit (OP)

That’s hilarious 😂

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No_Newspaper_9686@reddit

It's been over 30 years but occasionally I'll see somebody that was a neighbor back then that will remind me of the time I knocked out power to an entire subdivision 😭 I spent 4 years paying off the fines and I don't think my mom had forgiven me even when she passed 3 years ago

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zombie_spiderman@reddit

No what is it tell me how to do it so I can go do it right now

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FoundObjects4@reddit (OP)

Unfortunately you can’t do it alone. It’s a rite of initiation. 😕

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slade797@reddit

It was a rite of passage here in Kentucky.

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FoundObjects4@reddit (OP)

Southern Ohio here.

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BillyyJackk@reddit

Western NC

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FoundObjects4@reddit (OP)

I hear they’re bigger the further you go south.

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BillyyJackk@reddit

Truth. I saw one once, damn thing was the size of Emu.

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FoundObjects4@reddit (OP)

It’s dangerous pastime!

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Beneficial_Pickle322@reddit

Central Ohio checking in

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FoundObjects4@reddit (OP)

I wonder if it really was just regional. I thought snipes were nationwide (at the time).

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Beneficial_Pickle322@reddit

Seems like primarily around the Midwest? But don’t know been in Ohio all of my life lol

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FoundObjects4@reddit (OP)

Someone in WI said they had them there. I’m really curious how far they spread. Hopefully they’re global now.

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Fish-Weekly@reddit

Me too!

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slade797@reddit

I grew up in Carter County, only one county from the Ohio River.

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FoundObjects4@reddit (OP)

They hang out by the river so that really is the best place to hunt.

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Wordwench@reddit

Definitely in Illinois as well.

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Agitated-Arm5129@reddit

Golden, CO checking in

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Skully74@reddit

SoCal checking in on this one. Jackalope were extinct around my area…. Only stuffed ones in cabins

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Simple-Purpose-899@reddit

I never went because they aren't around here. Fun fact, the term sniper came from people who hunted Snipes. How it became some weird joke like it was an imaginary bird I'll never know, because they definitely aren't imaginary.

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FoundObjects4@reddit (OP)

Interesting. Makes sense!

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1quickfix@reddit

I first started chasing the ever elusive snipe in the swampy woods of N. Florida in 1979 as a cubs scout initiation. Now I travel the country , burlap sack in tow, looking for signs of my own white whale: Snipus americanus v. Hardtofindus... Unfortunately my runner is 61 and has COPD, so our expeditions are much fewer these days.

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FoundObjects4@reddit (OP)

That’s hilarious 😂

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smhealey@reddit

Anytime family had beach party/fire pit night on beach it was snipes or legit grunion run. I was so confused in 70s wasn’t sure what was true. Until. There was actual fucking grunion run!

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FoundObjects4@reddit (OP)

Haha.. yep! So many fallacies to weed through. I was not pleased to find out my parents lied about Santa.

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PsychologicalTry892@reddit

No, but took a lot of others 😁

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FoundObjects4@reddit (OP)

We need to teach this younger generation about snipe hunting. I’d hate for the tradition to be lost.

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kimbersill@reddit

Yep, Washington St. here. You had to wait till it got dark and use your pillow case and shine a flashlight, cause that's what they're attracted to. Also, Bigfoot country, so the hairy moss all over the trees was Bigfoot fur. I don't know how I ever agreed to go camping.

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FoundObjects4@reddit (OP)

Wow…I didn’t realize snipes migrated so far west. Now that you mention it, I vaguely remember a pillow case being involved.

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BlueSnaggleTooth359@reddit

A couple times and one of them I actually did see a snipe.

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DrumsKing@reddit

No, but Curious George's drug patrol have. IYKYK

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50YearsofFailure@reddit

There's too many puppies in this comment for most people to handle.

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esquirlo_espianacho@reddit

Primus sucks

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50YearsofFailure@reddit

Been saying it for years.

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esquirlo_espianacho@reddit

Curious George and his drug patrol are out here hunting snipe… Primus

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endosurgery@reddit

Yes we did.

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Parking_Garage_5899@reddit

Walcamp in Illinois, late 80s early 90s. Didn't find out the truth until years later...😂

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1BiG_KbW@reddit

More of a winter hunter looking for snow snakes.

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azchocolatelover@reddit

No, but I've sent a couple of military newbies snipe hunting in my time.

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FoundObjects4@reddit (OP)

Passing on the tradition 🫡

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RandyBeaman@reddit

Good Lord, Diane, a man does not crouch in the woods for two hours without having a revelation or two.

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aluminumnek@reddit

No. But it was always a joke during Boy Scout camping trips

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Igmu_TL@reddit

I was in WA State during my Cub scouts and we used to camp in Mt. Rainier over winter. Not much daytime to set and check on traps.

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jIdiosyncratic@reddit

Only when Jimmy John Liautaud invited me.

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FoundObjects4@reddit (OP)

THE Jimmy John Liautaud? I thought he only hunted big game. I believe the biggest snipe ever recorded was 6 feet long.

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itusedtorun@reddit

This one time, at band camp, ( no, seriously...) we had one kid convinced that he actually almost caught one.

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some_one_234@reddit

Too busy at the submarine races

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UpOrDownItsUpToYou@reddit

Sure did. I was a Boy Scout in the early 90's

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JellyfishFit3871@reddit

My older cousin took a bunch of us kids once. And I got him back the same night. He drove all over the place to get to the snipe field. By the time I figured out the joke, I had also figured out where we were: one field over from my house. So I just cut out and went home. It was about 2 hours later when Cuz had to come tell my mom that he couldn't find me.

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Analogsilver@reddit

Wilson's Snipe https://preview.redd.it/v4duobhmhyaf1.jpeg?width=480&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fa110fde4d54525ef71418231966f79df0ffb054 [https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Wilsons\_Snipe/id](https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Wilsons_Snipe/id)

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Skelley1976@reddit

Hunted them in Northern Indiana, fun times!

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Analogsilver@reddit

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Wilsons_Snipe/maps-range

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ElderberryMaster4694@reddit

You need a left handed smoke sifter for distraction and striped paint for camouflage

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JazzfanRS@reddit

I made a left handed smoke shifter AND a bacon stretcher in 8th grade for my troop. We loaned them out at camp or jamborees so often we had to brand them with our Troop and city

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FoundObjects4@reddit (OP)

That’s the hottest snipe talk I’ve ever heard.

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Trees_are_cool_@reddit

Nope, just muff diving

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Didthatyesterday2@reddit

Wisconsin here. All of us kids went snipe hunting.

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FoundObjects4@reddit (OP)

I’m so curious to see how far west this went. So far, central OH to NC has checked in, and now WI. Thanks for shouting out.

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Didthatyesterday2@reddit

For sure. I thought it was a wisconsin thing.

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FoundObjects4@reddit (OP)

Nah I think they were an OH thing, like lightening bugs.

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Echo15charlie@reddit

Didn’t that end when they did it to Frasier in Cheers?

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Beneficial_Pickle322@reddit

We took girls snipe hunting all the time in the corn fields, never caught one but dang it was fun!

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FoundObjects4@reddit (OP)

All the ladies loved the snipe. You gotta get deep in the corn fields to have a chance of seeing one.

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Havetowel-@reddit

We took a guy once…. It did not end well.

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rooterroo@reddit

Yup, thought we caught one with a trash bag but it escaped in the bushes. Haha

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FoundObjects4@reddit (OP)

Damn it! I guess you didn’t pictures either.

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_coffee_@reddit

Took part in a few of those when I was a Boy Scout. I've never seen a snipe up close.

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FoundObjects4@reddit (OP)

They’re so quick it’s hard to get a good look at them.

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El_Briano@reddit

Never even heard about it till I saw it on an episode of The Simpsons, I think

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monstertruck567@reddit

Man, we never did catch a snipe, but I’ve got a few jackalopes back in the day.

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FoundObjects4@reddit (OP)

The ever elusive jackalope…score!

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