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Saw my first woodcock the other afternoon on the deer stand, for this year. He/she/it was is some of the thickest chit i've ever seen. Are they good table far? May have to slide through and see if i can't flush a few more. Are they migrators? Don't really know much about them, i do know however that little sucker hit 100 in less than a second. Would be fun trying to shot at that thing as he flushed.

they remind me of a snipe, just a hole lot larger. I've eaten a few snipe and can say they weren't bad.

saw my first one this year too that sucker looked like a flying softball

woodcock are excellant table fare. yes they are migratory and are seasonal at best here in the north part of the state. yes they love the thick stuff and if thick enough they tend to fly straight up and then excellerate. take the moment to let them excellerate to pull the trigger.{or may i say-just before they turn on the burner} dark meat like a dove but maybe a little milder in taste. lot of fun to try and score a hit.

judge jb

by the way, they tend to hang around for several days if the weather permits. {kinda like a durned old duck}

judge jb

Excellent table fare and good to eat too.

I agree ,good to eat,hard to get to without a dog.Because they love the thick stuff,they tend to flush up an then set down not too far away,but when you hit one,he is hard to find.

I don't see how they could be hunted without a dog. Lord knows how many you've walked by in the woods and never knew one was there.

I hunted them dogless for years- can be done, but not recommended...my lab loves to go after them- it is much easier that way.

Tom, cravin yourself some woodcock huh?
Wow, never woulda guessed that You should meet up with MSDawg870 then

Tom, woodcock hunting is my favorite game, but I don't get to do it much, anymore. They are good eating! The legs are the tastiest part (even though they don't have a lot of meat on them.

There's a trick to getting a good shot at a woodcock in thick cover - takes 3 people and a good dog. When the dog goes on point, 2 guns need to find a shooting lane about 15yds on each side of the dog and stand there. Then the 3rd gun walks-in to flush (usually from behind, but to one side of the dog, so he can see you). The flusher tries to key on a shooting lane, too......but usually ends-up just going into the 'thick' and getting hung-up as the bird flushes. One of the 3 guns should get a shot, but not a real long look at the bird.

They'll break at about 8 feet off the ground then level-off and do their aerobatic act.......tough to get on target once they've levelled-off and gotten in the clear......takes a quick-handling gun with a wide-open choke. No need for a 3-shot capability, 'cause you'll be lucky to get one off. You want it to count.

Best game there is, when you can find a good flight of'em.

I've been seeing a lot of woodcock while rabbit hunting the past few weeks. I've been wanting to dust some of them, but knew the season wasn't open. I wasn't sure how they tasted either. I always figured they were similar to a quail in taste. Guess I was wrong. Still think I might try to knock a few out of the population when it opens up. Will let them beagles jump them up for me though.

I haven't seen a woodcock in years. Back in the day when we had birds (quail) dad and I would always kill 1 or 2 a trip. Outstanding table fare. Highly migratory.

Pond

you never know what you might see in the field when you get off ya butt

I saw a woodcock out on John Starr last year, the damn thing took flight right in front of me and I about soiled myself in all the excitement.

Boogerden Boy wrote:Tom, cravin yourself some woodcock huh?
Wow, never woulda guessed that You should meet up with MSDawg870 then

Brooke tell you something she shouldn't have???

MSDawg870 wrote:Brooke tell you something she shouldn't have???