Missouri birds question

[RUGER]

Saw them last year over there and saw a few more this weekend.
Look to be a little bigger and fatter than a quail, have a long bill and take off and fly VERY fast.
Best guess I am looking at a Rail of some kind?

Possibly Snipe now that I am looking at pictures?


Anyone have a clue?

 

[Cache]

Pretty sure you are talking about snipe. I don't know how many times I've jumped up to shoot at teal to only realize I've been fooled.

 

[RUGER]

Looks like they are in season till December 16th in Missouri.
Wonder if it is legal to shoot them with steel shot?

 

[TAFKAP]

Woodcock?

 

[chimneyman]

Ask gasman

 

[TnKen]

Dowitcher possibly. I know we have a bunch of them around our pit. Sometimes mistaken for snipe, but not legal to shoot.

Short-billed Dowitcher Overview, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology

In breeding plumage, Short-billed Dowitchers are lovely orange, brown, and golden shorebirds with chunky bodies and very long bills (despite the name). Look for them in wetlands across North America, from coastal mudflats to sewage ponds and flooded fields. Like the very similar Long-billed...

www.allaboutbirds.org