Tipper
There really is such a bird as a snipe, but he does not live here. Country boys played this prank on the city slicker. They boasted about the snipe, his great size, and how good he was to eat. It was a nocturnal bird, however, so could only be caught at night. After hearing all this the city boy was raring to go hunting. After dark, the poor lad was taken to a remote hillside and told that his job was to sit at the bottom of the hill holding open a tow sack whilst the other boys went up to the top and chased the snipe down into his sack. And there he sat, in the dark and quite literally holding the bag. Sniggering all the way home, the country boys marveled at the ignorance of the city dweller.
—Mountain Born written by Jean Boone Benfield
I was taken snipe hunting one time, but it was a little different.
When I was growing up our church had a good amount of young people attending. About once a year the men of the church took the boys on a camping trip and the women facilitated a sleepover at someone’s house for the girls.
Granny hosted the sleepover one time.
There was always a lot of silliness and you could guarantee at some point during the night us girls would scare ourselves by telling ghost stories. As our imaginations ran away someone would hear a strange noise which led to lots of hollering and running around.
Earlier in the night we’d played in the basement, but that’s where the scary sound came from and we were all convinced an intruder had managed to get inside the house and was just waiting in the basement before terrorizing us. Finally to quell our fears one of the mothers staying the night went down to the basement to prove our fears were unfounded.
Another year the sleepover was at my friend’s house down the road. The women said they had a really great night planned for us. Snipe hunting was on the agenda.
They said it would be so fun and since snipes were easy to hunt why all you had to do was pick them up and put them in a bag. Of course snipes only came out at night so we had to wait till dark to go.
Our gaggle of girls followed the women down the driveway in the dark. They had flashlights but none of us did. We weren’t really interested in snipe hunting but were giggling and talking like girls do. Suddenly the lights were gone and so were the women. It didn’t take us long to start running back to the house screaming all the way. I’m not sure who laughed more us girls or the women, but I’m pretty sure it was the mothers.
Have you ever been snipe hunting?
Last night’s video: Pecking Away at the Trees.
Tipper
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My father in law got me with the prank, but he called it hunting Snallygasters. I fell for it completely. I was a very naive young lady.
So my comment finally went through Tipper but I didn’t get a post on my Email from you this morning.
Yep I’ve been on a snipe hunt!!
Love your story.
My dad told a story about some men and himself taken a man snipe hunting and left him there. He’d had a few drinks. They left him there and he just laid there and went to sleep. Daddy said, he better be glad he did have a few drinks in him or he would have froze to death.
When I was very young, every time my grandfather came from Oklahoma to
visit us in New Mexico, he would put me on his shoulders and take me from
room to room in the house to hunt the snipe. We never found it.
My snipe hunt was at church camp. We were told to get our pillow case from our cabin so that we could catch one. It has been so long ago I can’t remember anything else or perhaps it was so traumatic I blocked it out of my memory. Lol
we took our daughter and her friend snipe hunting. the really fun thing was there were a lot of raccoons around and we did pretty much the same we gave them a bag took them down a little dirt road we had flashlights they did not we turned off the flashlight and circled around behind them because they were giggling and stuff and didn’t hear us doing that and then they started hearing raccoons and they came running it was great fun!
Our version of snipe hunting was to have the “mark” turn on a flashlight and put it in the bag so that the light was showing out of the bag. The rest would go off and herd the snipe towards the light, because snipe always ran towards the light, being nocturnal and all.
Yes, when I was a Girl Scout I went Snipe hunting. The best part is when you get sniped then you can’t wait to snipe someone later. I couldn’t wait to take my sister & the two neighbor boys Snipe hunting. We lived on 40 acres of woods and it was a great place to go Snipe hunting. Thanks for the memories.
My best friend’s momma took me snipe hunting. Like your story, I’m not sure who laughed harder, us girls or her momma. Great memories!!
My only snipe hunt turned into a late-night hunt by the boys, including my older brother, looking for me. I had heard about these hunts. I knew what was about to happen, so as soon as my tricksters left me with the sack and instructions on how to hold it open–down in a gully, facing uphill–I went back home. Later, my brother came to see if I had slipped back home, but I hid and mom told a little white lie on my behalf. The search was on. Some time later, the search party dispersed. They had figured it out. It all happened in a field of broom straw within a few hundred yards home.
A funny memory you share today, Tipper. 🙂 I don’t know why but it always seems fun as a child to scare one another like that – made more readily believable when adults participate in the game! We have Snipes here where I live, but they are illusive little birds so not often seen. They seem to blend in with their surroundings so well, so it is usually only when they fly up that one gets to briefly see it. It is a real ‘find’ when one sees one.
Always heard of it but never been
The country boys played a good prank on the city fellers. However, it was not funny when I was the victim. I have never been snipe hunting, but I’m almost positive my ex went several times when we lived in Michigan. Most of the time, he never told me where he was going, leading me to believe this snipe-hunting adventure was real and should explain his three—or four-day absence. I was immature and believed anything he said, not that he cared. I have learned to laugh about some of his stunts that forced me to grow up fast.
sure, i remember it in summer camp all the way out in california!
My husband and his dad took my son out snipe hunting one snowy night. There in the bushes he crouched with his plastic Walmart bag, on the side of the hill while the snow and flashlight beams fell all around. We were falling out laughing while that wild boy tried to be still and quiet, waiting for the snipe to come popping out of the brush.
In listening to my Mother’s stories of family times growing up in ETN and NEMS, she told me about hearing her brothers talk about snipe hunting and I guess she was intrigued thinking there really was a bird. She begged and begged her oldest brother to take her snipe hunting and she had her sack ready to catch those birds in but the joke was on her. She laughed about it later but not so much at the time.
Took a few boys over my time from Appalachia to Big Cypress preserve. Funny thing is the Wilson’s Snipe spends time in the Big Cypress and legal to hunt, very hard to hit with shotgun.
I have heard of snipe hunting all my life. My hubby said you would leave someone with a sack ready to catch the snipe. Then everyone was supposed to make a big circle around him and chase the snipe in to him. Of course, the other hunters would just leave…laughing all the way home. Hubby says he never went snipe hunting…he wasn’t silly enough to fall for that.
Many years ago, when I was a Boy Scout, it was a common thing to introduce the new boys to Snipe hunting on their first camping trip with the Troop.
Never been snipe hunting but familiar with the prank. The bird, for which one name is snipe, is also known as a timber doodle and the American woodcock. I have seen one ever in Georgia. I guess it must have been snipe hunting that produced the phrase “left holding the bag”. On a completely different note, I just this morning cut three yellow daffodil blooms to bring in the house, the very first for 2025. So now, how can I not plant some things even though the seed pack says, “after all danger of frost”?
Ron, you know there are also snipe that are hunted in the coastal areas. I think they may be called Wilson snipe, but am not sure. I bet Gene could educate me! I have saw a few woodcock while quail hunting in Greenville County, SC. I have always wanted to go ruffled grouse hunting, but never did. One time I saw about 5 while trout fishing up near the Walhalla Fish Haterchy.
I have heard about it, but never been on a snipe hunt. Our Baptist church once had a lot of young children. Some of the men of the church would take the RA boys on a camping trip each summer. It was common for the older boys to tell ghost stories and sometimes slip off and dress up like a ghost and scare the younger boys. I don’t know what the GA girls did. My first supervisor at Michelin was from up north, we were talking about guineas one time and he would never believe there was such a bird. He thought we were “pulling his leg,” he knew about snipe hunting. At that time we didn’t have cell phones and internet to prove it to him. I have heard of southern boys selling cockleburs to northern boys and telling them they were porcupine eggs.
“Sure I’ll go!” I told them. “I’d like to try snipe!” So, off we went into the darkness. I took the sack and sat where they told me. I listened until I could no longer hear their chuckling and snickering then got up, took up my sack, and eased around to the other side of the mountain. Finding a thick bed leaves I threw down the sack, laid down on it and went to sleep.
I was awakened by late morning sunshine in my eyes and the sound of my name in the distance. Waiting for them was exhilarating but finally:
“Where have you been?”
“What do you mean where have I been? I’ve been right here where you put me! I caught a couple of them snipes last night but they were too little so I let them go. I am so sorry, I got tired and fell asleep.”
“Well you’ve got everybody in this end of the county out looking for you!”
“What do you me? Why don’t you go back and tell everybody I’m fine and that I’m still out here holding the bag!”
I was never the victim, but helped victimize several others. Usually it was a couple of girls. We did pull it on a boy from New York City once.
Fairly common for young boys when I was growing up
Never went on a snipe hunt. But where I grew up there really wasn’t any wooded areas to support a snipe population. lol. But we managed to get into other mischief at sleepovers.
Daddy took us 3 kids snipe hunting once. I remember falling off a very tall retainer wall that night and got hurt, but I dared not cry about it lest make daddy mad and never go again, but we never did go again and we never saw nor caught the elusive and mysterious snipe.I never did snipe hunt with my girls mainly cause it’s not true. As a girl, I’m like you, Tipper, about hunting etc. I’d fish but it takes forever and I get hot. However, I do have a strange propensity to ENJOY shooting and detonation much to my own shock and surprise. If I had this life to live over, I’d most likely become a professional demolition expert. Shooting is great fun, but getting lifted off the ground a foot or more while watching a mountain of rocks come down is FANTASTIC so for old times sake -fire in the hole!!! Good times with Uncle Sugar…He’s the most interesting imaginary man in the world and will take you places to see things you never dreamed…have a great day all as we sadly kiss the 56 degree days goodbye for the dip and plunge.
Hi Sadie, just read your replay about blowing things up!! That was great.
name is Donna, live an hour away from Oklahoma City, literally where the wind blows down the plain.
Was wondering if you were able to finish the rest of your house before the nasty cold came in. Have been praying for you and all those still suffering from the hurricane mess.
Thinking of you. Have a warm weekend and God bless you and your family.
I got taken once by my brothers when I was quite young—I soon rationalized something was up (after I was left in the dark) because I did not remember mama ever cooking anything called snipe lol. I was scared but made it back home where they were laughing and I was trying to act nonchalant and unfrightened but I dont think I pulled it off