Weird! Animal that Fooled You Actually Exists in Utah

Those older kids who took you snipe hunting on your first campout to make you look dumb were actually the clueless ones. Turns out the snipe exists and people in Utah do hunt them.  

Snipe Hunting Season is Similar to Duck Hunting Season 

It's called the Wilson Snipe, and they very much exist and at one time were a popular bird to hunt. They are not easy to find and usually hide well in vegetation. 

This migratory bird has a long bill that is kind of like an appendage that they can feel through. It is flexible as well and they can use it to hunt for food an inch or two underground. It has long legs with white and brown feathers.  

In the fall and early winter, you can hunt snipes, but it doesn’t involve a bag and a stick, people hunt them like ducks with a shotgun. They fly in an erratic pattern, and it takes some skill to hit one. This is where the term “sniper” came from. 

How Did It Become a Prank for New Boy Scouts? 

Snipe hunts were popular in the United States early in the century, but the population decreased, and the bird was then protected in several areas. This may have contributed to sending new campers out to find these “non-existent” birds. 

It wasn’t that they never existed, they were just much harder to find. This became a rite of passage for young people experiencing camping for the first time. Little did the older pranksters know that one of these kids with a bag could have possibly returned with a real snipe. 

Read More: How To Hunt These Utah Animals: No License Required

Now the population has recovered and in places like Utah where you can hunt snipe. There aren’t many who do. The DWR says about 200 are harvested in a year. Probably because no one wants to admit they’ve been out snipe hunting.