298 Life and Sport on the Pacific Slope 



Most men wear long gum-boots when walking 

 through a marsh, but they make the feet very hot, 

 and unless they fit perfectly are likely to chafe the 

 heel badly. My brothers and I found that light 

 shoes and stockings, which could be quickly changed 

 and dried, were the proper foot-gear, and in these 

 we could tramp up and down a marsh all day in 

 perfect comfort. 



In a country where stock is, — cattle, hogs, and 

 horses, — look for your snipe in those parts of the 

 marsh where the stock has broken the ground. 

 This is a hint worth having, for we have noticed 

 without exception that the birds always select such 

 places ; and often we have tramped over miles of 

 seemingly splendid snipe-ground without flushing 

 a bird, and then crossing a fence into an enclosure 

 used by hogs, have filled our bags. 



You cannot work your ground too carefully, for 

 snipe, when they are not wild, lie close, — another 

 reason which accounts for many misses. A great- 

 uncle of mine told me to murmur " snipe on toast " 

 before pulling the trigger — capital advice, by which 

 I have profited. It is curious why a snipe should 

 upset the nerves, but most sportsmen will testify 

 that it is so. His peculiar " scape " as he swiftly 

 and silently whirls into the air startles even the 

 veteran ; because, perhaps, it is in itself an exclama- 

 tion of surprise. 



In the West (perhaps in the East also) the 

 tenderfoot is sure to be told of an original and 

 certain method of catching snipe. The " boys " 

 will solemnly assure him that snipe will fly into an 

 open sack at night, provided a lighted candle or a 



