Common Snipe Hunting

Common Snipe shooting season in Scotland

This is a wading bird, common throughout the UK. Their numbers increase through the winter.

Inhabiting tussock and grass cover on wet moorland, marsh and pasture where there is access to soft, boggy ground and small shallow pools. The snipe provides one of our smallest and most difficult sporting targets due to its erratic flight. In Scotland snipe are usually shot as part of a mixed shoot and can be driven from boggy areas or walked up. The jack snipe – a similar but smaller species of snipe – is fully protected.

Common snipe hunting season is 12^th August to 31^st January