# Snipe Hunt **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 21, 2000, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snipe-hunt/20144 "2000-05-21T23:31:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2000, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snipe-hunt/20144/1 "2000-05-21T23:31:39Z")
When, where and under what circumstances did the concept of a “snipe hunt” begin? Anyone know? ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2000, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snipe-hunt/20144/2 "2000-05-21T23:46:43Z")
Oh, wow, **Kat,** it’s like deja vu all over again! 😃 Read [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=15553) and if you still have any questions, I’ll be happy to answer them. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2000, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snipe-hunt/20144/3 "2000-05-21T23:54:39Z")
Actually, it’s one of those great unanswerable questions. Nobody really knows who invented the snipe hunt. It’s kind of like asking, “who invented T-P’ing a house?” or “who was the first person who thought it was funny to tip over an outhouse, or smash people’s jack-o-lanterns on their front porch?” ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2000, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snipe-hunt/20144/4 "2000-05-22T00:24:11Z")
Hmm, once I started reading it, I remembered reading that thread before. Except that no one had an answer and it degenerated into descriptions of other kinds of wild goose chases. with a discussion of the actual bird thrown in. Wasn’t looking for the actual inventor or anything, just hoping for a vaguely informative approximation like “It was started sometime in/around/before (date(s)/timespan, preferably less than 50 years inclusive, if possible) in (continent/country) by (group of people).” Anything more specific (like “Why’s they pick the ‘snipe’?”, “Is the fact that the name of an real animal was used significant?” and “What the heck was the point?”) would be gravy (but still welcome). ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2000, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snipe-hunt/20144/5 "2000-05-22T23:25:27Z")
Anyone? Bueller? ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2000, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snipe-hunt/20144/6 "2000-05-23T00:02:48Z")
Sorry, all I could find was this [humorous answer](http://www.snipehunter.com/about.html#discovered). ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2000, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snipe-hunt/20144/7 "2000-05-23T13:21:14Z")
I hadn’t even heard of it before that other thread. I don’t get it, I’ve always known a snipe is real, so what the hell was the point?