I just paddle along with my Snipe Decoys blowing my Snipe Whistle "skreech skreech skreech".



Then when they get close, I send Blaze out. No gun needed.



But she actually has a distaste for Snipe, so after catching them she just  flicks them on her back and retrieves them that way.
Smart Dog!



It is all true I tell you. That is how I hunt Snipe. A guy from Texas would never tell a Tall Tale like that.
 

December 4 - The years first Snipe hunt

Honestly,
I had asked the Corps of Engineers to add Snipe as Legal Game for three lakes near me. Don't know if it was because of my request, but for the first time ever one of those lakes now lists Snipe as Legal Game. So  I figured I better give them a try today December 5th. Man, the Snipe were winning. Not holding well at all. Some came off the Marsh straight up, kicked in the afterburners two feet off the ground, and kept on going straight up to the sky and never circled back. On the edges they would never leave a foot off the ground and head straight into the brush, again never circling back out. I only got this one because Blaze was able to point it long enough for me to get ready. She rarely is able to get a Snipe to sit long enough for a point. I usually keep her heeled. We probably found 10 singles/doubles, could only pull a shot on three of those, and only hit the one, but man I had a blast trying.

Met a bowhunter today who was walking out as I was walking in at the gate. He asked what I was doing. Told him Snipe hunting. He asked me a whole lot of questions about Snipe which I did my best to answer. But he kept looking at me like I was talking about a campfire snipe hunt. :0) I think he thought I was pulling his leg and rather poaching dove or something.

And here is the day's picture of Blaze with her Snipe.

And a picture of some good Snipe habitat. 

Having seen Sandhill cranes on our Deer lease the last weekend of Deer season, I thought I would give them a go Sunday morning January 13. I told Blaze to" Get in the truck, we are goin huntin"! Left the house at 4:30 am and arrived just before legal shooting time. I set up on the North edge of the wheat field as that is the direction the birds had been coming and going.
About 7:30 am a small flock of Sandhills came in from the East this time so I was out of position. Though they circled about 70 yards out from me andI was loaded up with BB shot in a 10GA with a Turkey choke, I passed on the shot hoping for better later. They ended up smack dab in the middle of the field. I positioned in the Broomweed due north of them with Blaze as my
companion. I knew they would fly North into the wind and this was also the direction they had been leaving to some distant roost. After a very long nap buried in Broomweed with Blaze at my side to keep me warm I was awoken about 11:00 am
to the constant dreeep, dreeep, dreeep sound those Cranes make when flying. They came right over us!

First shot, nothing happened. I picked another bird and took a little more lead. It folded and looked like it was going to dive bomb me, but opened it's wings again and swooped back up separate from the flock headed to the stratosphere. I had immediately picked a third bird, shot, but I just rocked it a little. It left the group soaring up to the other bird I hit. Just as it joined the first bird, the first bird gave up the ghost and folded. It was so high it seemed like a good minute of falling, but I am sure it was much less. It was the loudest Pfoomp! I have ever heard from a falling bird. It pushed up this Great donut of dust out in the field. The other bird just started circling the location of the first bird slowly losing altitude with each circle and finally folded and fell on about the third or fourth circle.



Wow, just Wow, my first Cranes! Wounded Sandhills are known for trying to take out an eye on a Dog, so I would never even think of letting Blaze tackle one of these. She would only had been used to locate downed birds if they had sail'ed off into the thick creek bottoms. We waited  a couple minutes before walking out to retrieve the Cranes to make sure they were
good and dead. I knew they where big, but I had no idea..... Blaze walked  over and picked up one bird as I was picking up the other. She looked funny holding  onto a bird bigger than her so I told her to "let go" and picked it up myself.

Then more Quail/Rabbit/Squirrel hunting, We only flushed a couple rabbits that would not hold long enough to get a good shot through the briars. I did not expect much anyway, bad Quail year and a windy day, so fishing we went. I did very well last weekend on the Cats between Deer hunts.

But with the water iced over that morning, the water was really cold. There was nothing but Bullheads biting today. But you would have thought I was fishing for Hawgs. Look real close in this next picture.



These two had a stare down for some time. Blaze would make a low "Ruff" and the Hog would give a low "Grunt". They went back and forth a minute or so, before the Pig felt it best to leave.

The Feral Hog is actually a bit bigger than the first pictures make it out to be. 

January 16th Blaze and I made a run over the State line into Oklahoma for some Duck hunting in and around a Wetland Development Unit on the mighty Red River. Paddling my Kayak with a couple portages I was running off all kinds of ducks in the dark. Several were still around us after I got the Decoys out. The Ducks were very vocal. Many were close. But as legal shooting time approached I could hear the Ducks flying out all around. First thirty minutes of legal shooting time, nothing, not a bird. Then when I took a single shot at a Wood Duck Rocket, I witnessed several remaining flocks, pairs, and singles of Teal and Mallards blow out of the area probably a half mile circle around me. I stuck it out, but it was over. Never saw another 
duck. Really disappointed. I had scouted the area recently and saw several Teal and Mallards but it was in the evening. Obviously a Roost with most of the Ducks blowing out of the area before first light. I did get one of the best naps I have had in a long time. Blaze stayed on lookout.

It was the last day of Snipe season in Oklahoma and that was really my main reason for going up there today. I got some, but Blaze and I earned every one of them both in lots of walking through slimy shallow water muck, retrieving birds from some really nasty stuff, and difficult shooting. I enjoyed the challenge.

Found Quail! And in the thick deep dark woods. Crazy. Best I can tell the Covey had been to the River for water and were headed through the woods back to the fields for the night. Difficult tight quarters shooting. Kind of stuff you normally find Swamp Rabbits. It is a place with a known Bigfoot sighting. We moved the covey three times and I only got two birds. Blaze was outstanding in holding a very long point one of those times as I moved around to a position where I thought I might get a better shot at them.

Now I was actually Squirrel hunting when we found the Quail. Two Squirrels found, but both hugged the top of a tree limb and refused to move for a shot even with sending Blaze to the other side of the trees and giving the "Squirrel" command to get her to bark. I lost patience waiting on the Tree Rats to move both times. They won, this time.

It was a tough one being public land, long first half day laying in the kayak for nothing, then smart skittish birds and hours of walking for the second half. I live for challenging days like this.

Blaze with her Snipe.  I think this is my best picture of the season.



After the Quail I was compelled to take another picture with the Quail added 
to the strap. Not as good as the first picture, but it came out nice.