In all of northern Nebraska, I could only find one public area the Nebraska Game Fish & Parks recommended for Wilson's Snipe. And it wasn't snipe habitat.

I had shot a few limits of snipe in Nebraska many years ago with Critter. Even a combination limit of snipe and sharptails, but the snipe came off a private ranch with a pastured wet meadow. That meadow was a long ways from the eastern sandhills I was hunting for prairie chickens. But then I wasn't finding any prairie chickens either, just lots of sharptails. So I did what every self-respecting bird hunter would do..... I shot a three bird limit of sharptails over Bo and then headed to the lake shore to see what we could find.

It was a wet fall and I was surprised when a snipe flushed from the parking area when we pulled in.

I've never owned a dog that enjoyed snipe. Oh, most would give a half-hearted chase at the flush and gallop for a snuffle when they hit the ground, but a wing tip retrieve was about all the enthusiasm a dog shows for the taste.

Bo was no different. I had marked the parking lot bird down about 100 yards into the potholed meadow but instead Bo flushed a pair or "Reeeaking" snipe. I managed to knock one down with my second shot of Steel 7's. Bo managed to find the dead bird, but she couldn't seem to manage even a wing-tip grip. Hell, she couldn't bring herself to pick up the bird at all, but she did stand sentry over it seemingly to ensure that no one else took our bird.

Fortunately, My Dog Hunts doesn't require full cooperation from a dog to earn a Story Band. I know that because I made the rules. I would argue that Bo earned that band because without taking our first snipe in Nebraska, we wouldn't have the opportunity to attempt a Nebraska state daily bag limit of 8 Wilson's snipe.