snipe hunt

I like a "Snipe and Peacock" soft hackle early in the season ... and

A couple days ago I noticed that the commercially purchased item I have in
my tying kit is actually called "snipe sub." Being a guy that likes real
more than 'sub,' and wanting to tie some up on this dreary day, I just now
grabbed the 20gauge and two shells and went for a walk through our pasture.
I'm now the proud owner of two dead snipe that are sitting on the counter
over there.

Not being too bright, or too likely to plan ahea
d, I didn't give any pre-thought to how to turn a dead snipe into tying
material :-(

I'm leaning towards skinning them, coating the meat side with borax and
letting them dry someplace ... is this anywhere close to the right
procedure?

Pointers ? Tips? Comments? Helpful Advise? Attacks? ( so the RD
Wolfenberry AbUseNet Club can feel included ;-)

Larry ( who is off to look for a scalpel or X-acto knife or single edged
razor, or moderately sharp Swiss Army tool, to start the skinning )

"Larry L" schrieb im Newsbeitrag
...
SNIP
Not being too bright, or too likely to plan ahea
d, I didn't give any pre-thought to how to turn a dead snipe into tying
material :-(

I'm leaning towards skinning them, coating the meat side with borax and
letting them dry someplace ... is this anywhere close to the right
procedure?

Pointers ? Tips? Comments? Helpful Advise? Attacks? ( so the RD
Wolfenberry AbUseNet Club can feel included ;-)

Larry ( who is off to look for a scalpel or X-acto knife or single edged
razor, or moderately sharp Swiss Army tool, to start the skinning )


Yep. Clip the wings close to the body, and borax the knuckles. skin the
birds, remove all meat etc, and borax the skins When the skin no longer wets
the borax, wash the lot, skin and wings in warm soapy water, rinse
thoroughly, and allow to dry thoroughly. Place in the freezer for at least
three days. Add moth crystals before final storage in zip loc bags or
similar.

That was it.

TL
MC

"Mike Connor" wrote

That was it.

Thanks, Mike, I knew I could count on you.

"Jonathan Cook" wrote


Braggart!



Nah, if I was bragging I'd tell about the five consecutive days I got a 10
bird Dove limit ... total shells for the five days ... 50


or the time when two wardens appeared out of the dark and fog as I walked in
to hunt ducks on a California refuge. They were checking everyone for
extra shells ( the refuge had a 25 limit ), gun plugs, etc. For a seven
bird limit, I had 7 steel shot shells ( this was before steel was legally
required ) and 3 lead dove loads ( steel wasn't available in small shot
sizes for head shots ) for possible cripples and my 12ga over and under.
They searched and searched and searched and then sent me on my way.

Later, as I was leaving with my limit, one of the same two came out of the
weeds and stopped me again. This time it was to tell me that he had
followed me and watched me all morning. He and his buddy simply couldn't
believe I only brought 10 shells with me and assumed I was up to no good and
had a stash somewhere or something evil. I showed him my 7 ducks and the
single shell I had left and he said, " Yes, I saw you get them all and shoot
that one cripple a couple times. I'm impressed !"

There ... now, that, is how to brag G

Larry ( who was taught "you do best what you do most" and who used to shoot
a whole lot ..... but the real key is to be a good enough hunter that you
don't need to be a good shot )

P.S. I suck at fly casting Larry ( trying to maintain humility )

On Fri, 09 Dec 2005 00:03:13 GMT, "Larry L"
wrote:


"Jonathan Cook" wrote


Braggart!



Nah, if I was bragging I'd tell about the five consecutive days I got a 10
bird Dove limit ... total shells for the five days ... 50


or the time when two wardens appeared out of the dark and fog as I walked in
to hunt ducks on a California refuge. They were checking everyone for
extra shells ( the refuge had a 25 limit ), gun plugs, etc. For a seven
bird limit, I had 7 steel shot shells ( this was before steel was legally
required ) and 3 lead dove loads ( steel wasn't available in small shot
sizes for head shots ) for possible cripples and my 12ga over and under.
They searched and searched and searched and then sent me on my way.

Later, as I was leaving with my limit, one of the same two came out of the
weeds and stopped me again. This time it was to tell me that he had
followed me and watched me all morning. He and his buddy simply couldn't
believe I only brought 10 shells with me and assumed I was up to no good and
had a stash somewhere or something evil. I showed him my 7 ducks and the
single shell I had left and he said, " Yes, I saw you get them all and shoot
that one cripple a couple times. I'm impressed !"

There ... now, that, is how to brag G

Larry

Larry, there's no delicate way to ask this, but were you adopted? If
so, was your real pappy a dashing young SabreTigger pilot?

Anyhoo, I have a little shooting story, too. There we were, ol' David
Tubb and I, with me doing my best to help him learn a little something
about shooting, in spite of the horrendous mosquitoes. Finally, he
couldn't take it, and said, "You see that skeeter out there about 1000
yards?" I looked and before I could say anything, he fired.

The skeeter was mist. "Um, Tubby, that was a male, didn't you see its
pecker?" "Well, yeah, so?" he replied.

"Well, it's just cruel to kill wantonly, and besides, it's the females
that git ya...see that bitch out there at 1627 yards?" "Uhhhh, yeah,
sure, of course..." he lied.

I took three rounds out, took my kabar from my slick and nicked up a
little spur on the jacket of the first and second, and whipped out my
Rollalite and heated the jacket up on the third. I quickly loaded 'em
up, and fired in rapid succession. "What the hell?" he asked.

"I opened her up with the first, spayed her with the second, and
cauterized the incision with the third..."

TC,
R
....well, OK, so maybe it mighta been 1626 yards...

wrote

Larry, there's no delicate way to ask this, but were you adopted? If
so, was your real pappy a dashing young SabreTigger pilot?



Hehe ..... I didn't tell about the times I took 'one shell per bird in the
limit' and came home far short of that limit and with zero shells left. I
had a lot of self imposed 'rules' to make hunting harder when I was really
into it, but I haven't hunted in several years ... those two snipe were the
first birds I've harvested in a long time.

Training gun dogs as my full time employment gave me far more shooting time
than most guys, so I got pretty decent as a wingshot.

And, at one point I was a damn fine duck hunter, but I define 'duck hunter'
and
'duck shooter' as two different types of people. Both the stories ( dove
and duck ) in my last post had their 1 to 1 ratio because I'm patient enough
to wait for shots I can make ... something very few hunters I've met can do.
But, especially with ducks, if you wait stay hidden and don't try the
tougher shots you'll find that the easy ones happen far more often.

I suggest that anyone that wants to become a very good duck hunter ( as
opposed to shot) carry one shell/ duck in the limit, at least a few days
each season ... learning to only move and shoot when you feel certain you
can score is a lesson few hunters ever master

"Mike Connor" wrote:
Yep. Clip the wings close to the body, and borax the knuckles. skin the
birds, remove all meat etc, and borax the skins When the skin no longer wets
the borax, wash the lot, skin and wings in warm soapy water, rinse
thoroughly, and allow to dry thoroughly. Place in the freezer for at least
three days. Add moth crystals before final storage in zip loc bags or
similar.

That was it.

TL
MC

Mike,

I know you're experienced with this. I have some feathers that have been in
moth crystals for a long time, and they smell strongly of the stuff. A few
years ago I tied some wet flies with these feathers and they just wouldn't
catch any fish. I blamed the smell, do you think that makes any sense? I'm
sure it wouldn't matter in dries, but nymphs, wets, steelhead, and salmon
flies, what do you think?

Thanks

Chas
remove fly fish to e mail directly

On Fri, 09 Dec 2005 03:01:17 -0600, chas
wrote:

"Mike Connor" wrote:
Yep. Clip the wings close to the body, and borax the knuckles. skin the
birds, remove all meat etc, and borax the skins When the skin no longer wets
the borax, wash the lot, skin and wings in warm soapy water, rinse
thoroughly, and allow to dry thoroughly. Place in the freezer for at least
three days. Add moth crystals before final storage in zip loc bags or
similar.

That was it.

TL
MC

Mike,

I know you're experienced with this. I have some feathers that have been in
moth crystals for a long time, and they smell strongly of the stuff. A few
years ago I tied some wet flies with these feathers and they just wouldn't
catch any fish. I blamed the smell, do you think that makes any sense? I'm
sure it wouldn't matter in dries, but nymphs, wets, steelhead, and salmon
flies, what do you think?

Thanks

Chas
remove fly fish to e mail directly

Put them in a (fairly, at least) airtight container with some _plain_
charcoal briquettes - i.e., no "self-lighting" type soaked in starter.
In the alternative, put them in with a small dish of vinegar. Both
tricks are good for a variety of odor problems. For example, a few
briquettes under the seat of a car can help keep the air inside "smell
neutral." I just ask my SO to save her "run"...er, "ran"...well,
whatever they call them.. stockings and use the foot section to keep the
dust contained and the charcoal securely under the seats.

TC,
R

"chas" schrieb im Newsbeitrag
...
SNIP

I know you're experienced with this. I have some feathers that have been
in
moth crystals for a long time, and they smell strongly of the stuff. A
few
years ago I tied some wet flies with these feathers and they just wouldn't
catch any fish. I blamed the smell, do you think that makes any sense?
I'm
sure it wouldn't matter in dries, but nymphs, wets, steelhead, and salmon
flies, what do you think?

Thanks

Chas
remove fly fish to e mail directly


I store a large quantity of materials, and a lot of finished flies using
napthalene moth balls. I air flies well before I use them, and with wet
flies I usually use a good dollop of riverside mud to "treat" them before I
use them. I have never noticed any difference in fish catching
capabilities, between these flies and "freshly" tied ones, from untreated
materials.

Napthalene, and Paradichlorbenzene ( The other commonly used crystals), both
sublimate strongly, and any residue disappears pretty quickly when the flies
or materials are aired.

I do think various smells can be detrimental to flies though. I have seen
fish spook thirty yards or more downstream of a wading angler, and I am
convinced because they got his "scent". I would always try to air my flies
well before use. It is not critical with dry flies it seems, as the fish
have not much chance to "smell" them, but I have always avoided dressings
and the like which cause the fly to produce oily rings etc, as I believe
these can indeed be detrimental. I now prefer the modern "hydrostop"
dressings.

TL
MC

On Fri, 09 Dec 2005 04:55:52 GMT, "Larry L"
wrote:


wrote

Larry, there's no delicate way to ask this, but were you adopted? If
so, was your real pappy a dashing young SabreTigger pilot?



Hehe .....

.....Both the stories ( dove
and duck ) in my last post had their 1 to 1 ratio because I'm patient enough
to wait for shots I can make ... something very few hunters I've met can do.
But, especially with ducks, if you wait stay hidden and don't try the
tougher shots you'll find that the easy ones happen far more often.

I suggest that anyone that wants to become a very good duck hunter ( as
opposed to shot) carry one shell/ duck in the limit, at least a few days
each season ... learning to only move and shoot when you feel certain you
can score is a lesson few hunters ever master

Fair advice, and your good grace my, er, what's the word...what's
the word....AHA! "fatuousness" with the shooting shtick is pretty
cool...OTOH, I notice you didn't answer the "who's yer daddy?"
question...G

TC,
R