Admittedly I have been in some battles - not sure what you mean by “snipe” but I have saved crafts and horses for the last hour or so. I would start the double points at about 90 minutes out, feed in the crafts as they refresh, go through all my horses, then if necessary find other monster trigger areas and start a second double point timer. I only do that if I really really want the item for decoration - been playing long enough that drops are not a priority. And the timing works out well for me since I’m in California and can do this late afternoon. My kingdom is all about how it looks!
And yes,sometimes I stumble into a good position so stay with it.