Woodcock flights

[Kevin McCormack]

Jeff, they are on the move across the northeast and north central states. We ran into them last week while grouse hunting in NY State in areas that we seldom see them after Halloween. Of all the upland birds, I rank them most effectively hunted with a dog; walking them up without one is great fun and exciting, but like grouse, many times they will let you walk right past them a few yards before flushing. A decent bird dog nails them in place and they hold very tight till the last second before taking wing.

[OH Osthaus]

Originally Posted by Kevin McCormack

Of all the upland birds, I rank them most effectively hunted with a dog; walking them up without one is great fun and exciting, but like grouse, many times they will let you walk right past them a few yards before flushing. A decent bird dog nails them in place and they hold very tight till the last second before taking wing.

may I add that recovering shot birds is exponentially better with a dog. Dead woodcock are often quite difficult to spot on the leaf covered ground

And I cannot count the birds I have shot at and KNEW that I missed, that one of my dogs has then picked up and brought in

[Double Lab]

Funny you should mention jumping woodcock in the cornfields. I just returned from SD where every field was flooded and they were loaded, and I mean loaded with ducks, geese and cranes. But the icing on the cake were the thousands of snipe, Wilsons to be exact. We would bump them in the cornfields and ditches and once they got up in the 25-40mph wind gusts they proved an almost impossible target. I managed to drop 12 as I was the only one interested in shooting them. While we were duck hunting, flocks of 50 or more would buzz past like teal on crack. A most memorable hunt.

Pictures and story to follow in another thread.