are there snipe in Alabama?

and can you eat them?

Yes. Yes.

Yep

I killed one last winter while dove hunting. Ate pretty good.

Yes they are good to eat. We kill them in Florida in marsh grassy areas. Just walk through and jump shoot them similar to a quail

I used to walk them up in cow pastures, but they quickly learned to get up out of range. I always thought that they tasted similar to a migratory robin, and were about the same size.

Not sure. In high school, we took girls Snipe hunting every chance we got and don't ever remember even seeing one.

Some of my fondest memories. Never seen a snipe, though.

I don't know that I could determine the difference between a snipe and a woodcock without the aid of Google but I have killed one or the other in the panhandle of FL while quail hunting. They ate fine.

Woodcock and snipe are different birds as well as the habitat they use. Snipe are smaller than a Woodcock. Snipe like wide open spaces generally, mudflats, muddy fields etc..... Woodcock like thick woody wet lowlands. Our farm has both birds at times, I'll see groups of snipe flying low and sweeping in small flocks diving around the large muddy areas of cropland. Used to kill them on mudlflats on the river. Occasionally I'll see Woodcock diving into the neighbors hardwoods that are 12-15 years old or around the duck hole where ashe is growing.

They both taste similar to dove, I used to hunt Woodcock at Seven-Mile WMA in the 80s with a Weimaraner, the hardwood strips between the fields. We hunted woodcock and grouse in WI, differing habitats for those 2 birds as well. Grouse in the uplands of slow growing new growth of cutovers. Similar areas but in the bottoms for the woodcock, occasionally both birds would be in the transitioning zones. We used to shoot snipe on the edges of the swamp and pasture after duck hunting when lead shot was still legal. I always breasted them out but a guy I know comes thru chasing the Timberdoodles down to LA. He fillets each breast off the bone and grills them, only seasoning with olive oil. Cooked rare they are mighty fine and similar to filet mignon.

Hardcore hunters count flushes for Timberdoodles like Grouse hunters do, hunting areas so thick its rare to see the bird for more than a second or two. Snap shooting is a how its done. Snipe are generally wide open and ducking and diving much quicker than any dove ever thought of trying.

I've kilt many a snipe. In my opinion, they are pretty good to eat when you get the fat off the breast. It could be just me, but the fat seemed to make the whole affair taste bad. The absolute best Snipe hunting I've had was on an upland game area in CA. See the pics below. They are pretty aerobatic, and if you don't get on them early, forget it. They do circle back around sometimes, however.









I saw my first Timberdoodles here in AL during Turkey season. I walked up to a stump to sit down and flushed some young Woodcock. They just kind of hovered there trying to decide which way to escape. I remember seeing their big eyes and pink legs. At first I was startled, but afterward, I was happy to have seen them. Probably not a huntable population, but cool to see nonetheless.

We used to shoot the piss out of snipe on that big mud flat at Swan Creek.

Audubon rendering of a snipe:

A snipe is smaller than a woodcock but the easiest way to tell is the beak. A snipe beak is shorter than a dollar bill is wide. A woodcocks beak is longer than a dollar bill is wide.

Which are these on top of stack? I never knew either

Excellent description.

Woodcocks also have pinkish colored legs. Wilson snipe have an off-yellow color to them. Might be a regional thing though.

Looks like Snipe in the pics with the wood ducks

Like seeing the pics of the snipe, reminds me of fun times.

Where I hunted up north we always used the dollar bill trick to tell the sex of a woodcock. Males have a beak shorter than the width of a dollar bill and females have a beak longer. Fastest way to tell a woodcock from snipe (besides the size difference) is the direction of the lines on top of their head. Snipe have lines running front to back, woodcock have lines running side to side.

Snipe


Woodcock

I didn't know that trick.

I dont know about snipes..but ive swen an shot some woodcocks..they a fine eatin little critter..crazy flyer tho...daddy could dang near hip shootem..it was like an extra reflex for him..i kinda shck at hittin stuff flyin