Woodcock Hunting Season

W

warzaw

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GunNutz
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Location
niagara region
There are not a of Timberdoodes and those that pursue them around nowdays compared to times past. My question for the few that love to chase the little guys , how did your past season go as to resident populations and flight bird numbers. Not looking for harvest numbers just your observations and thoughts as to popuation numbers and guns and ammo and dog breeds utiized in your hunts this year. :)
 
they used to be really popular around here. had a couple of distant uncles would come up from the Boston area to hunt them. I don't know of anyone who specifically targets them around here now. most of the places they hunted are no longer available due to houses being built on or too close to the areas.
I shot one a couple of years ago and wasn't that impressed with it. I just breasted it out and cooked it with a couple of grouse i got that day. breast the size of an egg hardly seemed worth the shot. still see a few around but never bother to shoot any.
 
Most of the guys I knew that were hard core are giving up hunting woodcock and grouse in southern Ontario. The areas that held woodcock temporarily on the north shores of Lake Erie during their migrations south are off limits because of industry and other factors such a farming practices and land use. Grouse are non existent.

It takes good legs and a German short hair to chase them birds and my old buddies have traded their Greb boots for slippers for that final push up the stairs to the pearly gates.

I think the population of woodcock has dropped significantly over the last 20 years as I see less birds on my farm each and every year. I miss seeing and hearing their mating flights in the spring.
 
I spent most of my life hunting woodcock, and while I agree the populations are down significantly, on a local level there is often a misjudgment of population levels over time, on any given tract of land. Woodcock like a specific soil type and texture for feeding on worms, and resting while on migration. These tracts often "grow out" as premium woodcock cover and the birds shift to other locations. If you are continually on the same grounds and find fewer birds as the years progress, you may have to find new ground that has characteristics similar to where you used to find them. My favorite hunting spot, that 30 years ago guaranteed 20-30 flushes, now nets ZERO flushes, but a kilometer away an old cut that was a slash field 30 years ago is now my new hot spot.
 
hoytcanon said:
I spent most of my life hunting woodcock, and while I agree the populations are down significantly, on a local level there is often a misjudgment of population levels over time, on any given tract of land. Woodcock like a specific soil type and texture for feeding on worms, and resting while on migration. These tracts often "grow out" as premium woodcock cover and the birds shift to other locations. If you are continually on the same grounds and find fewer birds as the years progress, you may have to find new ground that has characteristics similar to where you used to find them. My favorite hunting spot, that 30 years ago guaranteed 20-30 flushes, now nets ZERO flushes, but a kilometer away an old cut that was a slash field 30 years ago is now my new hot spot.
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I was enroled in a government survey for many years and it showed a slow decline in general populations but your analysis is also correct. Changes with habitate facters in for sure. These little birds need specific criteria to servive. My neighbour tiled drain his fields and cleared all connecting hedge rows . The next year all the ponds and wet spots dried up and the Wood Ducks and Wood #### are now gone. It changed my property also as we are connected.. Most woodlots around me also have townys with houses and No Tresspass signs on prime land.
 
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My woodcock mentor had a saying ‘poplar over story and red osier under story…preferable an area that cattle had access to and a certain soil type that he researched with soil maps all over Ontario. Countless vigils on bridges crossing small streams to see the birds flying in the last 20 minutes at dusk. It wasn’t work, it was love.

It took exactly one hunt to realize that a Rem 870 in 12g with a 30” full choke barrel was not suitable. Skeet chokes and smaller 20 and 28g soon followed. I think I shredded many pairs of jeans following springers and pointers in pursuit of the timberdoodles in my younger days. Good memories.
 
Mr Bill said:
My woodcock mentor had a saying ‘poplar over story and red osier under story…preferable an area that cattle had access to and a certain soil type that he researched with soil maps all over Ontario. Countless vigils on bridges crossing small streams to see the birds flying in the last 20 minutes at dusk. It wasn’t work, it was love.

It took exactly one hunt to realize that a Rem 870 in 12g with a 30” full choke barrel was not suitable. Skeet chokes and smaller 20 and 28g soon followed. I think I shredded many pairs of jeans following springers and pointers in pursuit of the timberdoodles in my younger days. Good memories.
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I shot a lot with an old Winny Ranger pump and a Wingmaster, both with 28" barrels... the WW had removable Chokes but the 870 was fixed Modified. Here is a 40 year old picture of my 3 month old Springer "Shellcase," a bunch of grouse and one lonely woodcock.

20170313_103336.jpg
 
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