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Do you remember "snipe hunting?" A campout staple, especially if you were in the Boy Scouts, the hunt usually started with one of the older boys saying something like, "Hey, kid, you wanna go snipe hunting?"

And, not wanting to look like a sissy, you replied, "Sure."

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When there is a strong wind blowing, I could probably bag as many snipe with a burlap sack as with a shotgun. ”

"Take a burlap bag and go down to the marsh when it gets dark," the instructions usually began. "Get in a place with some cover, hunker down and get that bag open. Then start calling out 'snipe, snipe, snipe,' as long as you can. We'll go down on the other side of the marsh and see if we can drive them to you."

If you swallowed that one and made a fool of yourself, you probably didn't grow up next to a marsh where snipe are found. Any kid who has ever seen snipe (also called "jack snipe" or "Wilson's snipe") knows they have the most erratic flight pattern of any bird. When they flush out underfoot in a wet field or marsh, they're about the hardest thing to hit with a scattergun, let alone catch by hand or with a bag.

That's one reason why I like hunting snipe — the challenge.

A difficult target

Snipe are migratory gamebirds. They breed from the shores of the Arctic Ocean to the Canadian plains down into the northern prairie states. Like ducks and geese, each fall snipe migrate south, going as far as Brazil and Columbia, before returning northward to nest. Sometimes they flocks in groups of up to two to three dozen. Most often, you find them in ones or twos.

Like their dryland cousins, woodcock, snipe are about the size of a mourning dove. Their distinguishing feature is a long, slender beak that it plunges into wet soil to probe for earthworms.

Snipe are typically found in wet meadows, or on little hummocks rising out of freshwater marshes. When they flush, they utter a startling raspy call that sounds vaguely like "snipe," which is probably where they got their name. There is a telltale orange spot on the back by the tail, which is visible when the birds first take off, helping to distinguish them from killdeer or willets.

When they flush, you've got to raise your gun and shoot quickly, because within seconds they will begin erratically weaving and bobbing like a Heisman trophy broken-field runner. I have been told that the average hunter takes six shots for every duck or goose bagged. I would bet that the average snipe hunter is lucky to bag one bird for every 8 to 10 shots — on a good day.

Snipe are not the wariest birds. I have seen them circle back within range after flushing. Sometimes they fly only 50 to 100 yards and then settle down again. But when they are on the wing, they are like whil-o-wisps on the wind.

No competition

When I was learning to hunt and shoot my father encouraged me to hunt snipe and rails, which are also challenging to hit, because he said that if I could learn to hit something like that, a duck or a goose would be a piece of cake. Today, I still like hunting snipe, but for another reason — the lack of competition.

Practically no one else seems to hunt snipe. In these days of limited access, competition for places to hunt is increasing. In all the how-to hunting books people tell you to scout, scout, scout for good places to hunt. The trouble is, everyone charges toward those good spots as soon as hunting is legal. That land-rush mentality ruins the experience for me.

On public refuges competition rears its ugly head all to often for duck hunters. You set up your decoys and start calling. Birds begin to work. Maybe you bag one or two. Then, some guy comes in and sets up 150 yards away. Now, when ducks circle your decoys the other guy begins calling, too, or even shoots at the passing birds. How many times has this happened to you? I hope less than it has happened to me.

Last year on a public refuge in California's Sacramento Valley I was hunting on the north side of a pond about a quarter-mile across. There was a north wind blowing and birds were working. Two guys appear on the south side and begin to wade into the pond. They waded to a goose-nesting island in the middle of the pond and began to toss out decoys. They were now 200 yards away, which is within range of the carry of shot, so now I had to factor them in before shooting.

Some ducks started to work my decoys. One of the new guys began calling… loudly. The ducks circled over my decoys a little high. I like to wait until ducks set their wings before shooting, so I passed. They went out and came back, setting up to come in and land. On the way in they passed within 70 yards or so of the center of the pond. One guy stands up and starts blasting away. At that point I stood up and offered a few well-chosen words.

It was quiet for a few moments. Then I heard the two guys talking loudly. In fact, they had gotten into an argument. Another group of ducks started to work my decoys, and the guy in the middle began blowing on his duck call like crazy. At that point, one of the two guys got up and walked out of the blind, plodding across the pond and disappearing into the marsh. The guy who was left quieted down a little. I later found out that the one who had left had felt they were cutting me off. I made sure I thanked him.

For me, hunting is not a competitive sport. Sure, you can make bets on who gets the biggest buck or makes the most successful shots. But once you're out in the field, the basic challenge is between the hunter and game, not between hunters.

"You've got to be crazy," some people say when I tell them that I like to hunt snipe. Maybe I am, but if you bake those birds with a strip of bacon around them, they sure taste good. (Their Latin name is "Gallingo delicata".) And when I have the treat of actually sitting down to a dinner of snipe, I am especially proud because I know that I have made some really good (or really lucky) shots to kill enough snipe for a meal.

The bag limit on snipe is 10 per day, more than ducks or geese. It's an awful lot of fun and the ammunition manufacturers love you when you hunt snipe. You don't need a guide or an expensive hunting club. There are no issues about trophies. And there's almost no one else competing for the birds.

Snipe hunting is my idea of a great day afield, and a great teacher of humility. In fact on some days, especially when there is a strong wind blowing, I could probably bag as many snipe with a burlap sack as with a shotgun.

James Swan is the author of the book "In Defense of Hunting."
To purchase a copy visit his website.