NY Catskills Woodcock

[Kevin McCormack]

In October 1969 a former ag biometrics teacher of mine at the U of MD who had moved back up to NH invited me and another hunting buddy up for a week of grouse and woodcock hunting. While we were in the local feed store getting our licenses,the phone rang and the owner picked it up. "Yeah, when? Well, there was nothing there yesterday when my son and I worked though it. Must be flight birds come in overnight. Why can't you go this morning? Well, the 'Doc' (my former teacher) is here with two friends from down South; OK if I send them over? You bet!" He turned to us and said, "better get over there, Lans says they're in there like fleas!" We high-tailed it about a half-hour north to a large dairy farm with several loafing and grazing pastures. As Frank points out, the earth was moist and soft, churned up by hundreds of hooves every day. As I recall we didn't even use Tom's wonderful GSP 'Belle', simply walked the plots slowly. It was the only time I can truly claim to have been into a flight of woodcock. We put a self-imposed limit on ourselves to take only 2 birds each against the legal limit of 3. To this day I don't remember how many we shot, but I do remember we flushed somewhere in the neighborhood of dozen to 15 birds. This was about an hour northwest of Dover, NH.

[Dean Romig]

Originally Posted by Kevin McCormack

In October 1969 a former ag biometrics teacher of mine at the U of MD who had moved back up to NH invited me and another hunting buddy up for a week of grouse and woodcock hunting. While we were in the local feed store getting our licenses,the phone rang and the owner picked it up. "Yeah, when? Well, there was nothing there yesterday when my son and I worked though it. Must be flight birds come in overnight. Why can't you go this morning? Well, the 'Doc' (my former teacher) is here with two friends from down South; OK if I send them over? You bet!" He turned to us and said, "better get over there, Lans says they're in there like fleas!" We high-tailed it about a half-hour north to a large dairy farm with several loafing and grazing pastures. As Frank points out, the earth was moist and soft, churned up by hundreds of hooves every day. As I recall we didn't even use Tom's wonderful GSP 'Belle', simply walked the plots slowly. It was the only time I can truly claim to have been into a flight of woodcock. We put a self-imposed limit on ourselves to take only 2 birds each against the legal limit of 3. To this day I don't remember how many we shot, but I do remember we flushed somewhere in the neighborhood of dozen to 15 birds. This was about an hour northwest of Dover, NH.

Well Kevin, I’ll bet you didn’t know you were smack in the middle of “Spiller Country”. He lived right there in East Rochester. He wrote often of “those little russett fellers.”




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[10 bore]

Originally Posted by Kevin McCormack

In October 1969 a former ag biometrics teacher of mine at the U of MD who had moved back up to NH invited me and another hunting buddy up for a week of grouse and woodcock hunting. While we were in the local feed store getting our licenses,the phone rang and the owner picked it up. "Yeah, when? Well, there was nothing there yesterday when my son and I worked though it. Must be flight birds come in overnight. Why can't you go this morning? Well, the 'Doc' (my former teacher) is here with two friends from down South; OK if I send them over? You bet!" He turned to us and said, "better get over there, Lans says they're in there like fleas!" We high-tailed it about a half-hour north to a large dairy farm with several loafing and grazing pastures. As Frank points out, the earth was moist and soft, churned up by hundreds of hooves every day. As I recall we didn't even use Tom's wonderful GSP 'Belle', simply walked the plots slowly. It was the only time I can truly claim to have been into a flight of woodcock. We put a self-imposed limit on ourselves to take only 2 birds each against the legal limit of 3. To this day I don't remember how many we shot, but I do remember we flushed somewhere in the neighborhood of dozen to 15 birds. This was about an hour northwest of Dover, NH.

kevin, i am from dover, NH and live 4 miles from dover, do you remember the town you hunted and what store you picked up your licence at? in 69 there were a lot of farms here. i bet you wouldnt believe what it looks like now around here. we used to hunt grouse the same way by just walking them up no dog. i havent seen a grouse around here in 5 or 6 years and that was 1. scott

[Steve Hodges]

An hour north west of Dover might put you in my neck of the woods, the Lakes Region.

[Kevin McCormack]

Originally Posted by scott kittredge

kevin, i am from dover, NH and live 4 miles from dover, do you remember the town you hunted and what store you picked up your licence at? in 69 there were a lot of farms here. i bet you wouldnt believe what it looks like now around here. we used to hunt grouse the same way by just walking them up no dog. i havent seen a grouse around here in 5 or 6 years and that was 1. scott

As I recall the feed store we bought our licenses at was in Rochester and the dairy farm we hunted was either in Lebanon or Farmington. I returned to NH to hunt with my former teacher 2 more times, once in Pittsburg NH in the late 1990s then back in Ossipee in 2002. He died in 2007 and I have not returned to that part of the country since then to hunt.

[10 bore]

Originally Posted by Kevin McCormack

As I recall the feed store we bought our licenses at was in Rochester and the dairy farm we hunted was either in Lebanon or Farmington. I returned to NH to hunt with my former teacher 2 more times, once in Pittsburg NH in the late 1990s then back in Ossipee in 2002. He died in 2007 and I have not returned to that part of the country since then to hunt.

Kevin, there is a Farmington and Lebanon would be in maine just over the state line in Rochester. Its all gone now houses,highways, stores and lots of people. scott