Woodcock Hunting

[djloder]

Anyone go after the mighty timberdoodles?

I have been doing pretty good hitting spots for few hours here and there.

Here is a pic with my French Britt.

[Ruffshooter]

You bet, and with the same dog. I have 3 FB and one GSP. What Kennel is yours from?

[djloder]

Jovi is from letoile du nord kennels.

He's still really young and these brids hold great for him it just a blast to shoot over him.

Where are your pup's from.

[Buford Boone]

I found out last weekend that my Britt points them very well. I shot only one as I didn't know what they taste like.

I cooked it Sat. night, on the grill with a couple of Chukars.

I don't plan to shoot any more woodcock.

Someone described the taste as a blend of liver and worms. Without admitting that I know what worms taste like, I'd say he pretty much nailed it.

It will still be a thrill to see her point them and get the flush.

I think they are neat little birds. I just don't like the way they taste.

[gonehuntin']

Buford, you overcooked them. Cook them rare and it's a whole different bird.

Last weekend I was camped out in grouse country. I had gotten a woodcock when I got in late friday afternoon. I sat there in my folding chair, grilled the woodcock ( plus, obviously, a hamburger) poured a drink, and enjoyed the sound of a pack of coyote running in the swamp. A slice of heaven.

Next time, try this: Breast the woodcock. Put a rub of some kind on both sides of the breast. Grill in a few drops of garlic olive oil and take off when still rare. Usually about two to three minutes per side on a grill that's about 350 degrees.

Now in the woods, listenining to the coyote and geese, that's livin' large.

Incidentally, there are more woodcock this year than I've seen in years. Keeps the grouse hunting from getting too boring.

[Ruffshooter]

Try this with your wood cock. Similar to GH. And right on you over cooked them.

Fillet the breast,
Pound it out.
Put your favorite rub and a little garlic powder.
slice up a halepeneo.
Lay the halepeno on one of the fillets.
Roll the fillet and wrap with a piece of your favorite bacon. (I like Peppered bacon)
Cook in a fry pan (do not let the woodcock touch the pan) till the bacon is done.

May seem like a lot of work but well worth it. It is my favorite game dish. (More like an Houresdeurveerererre.)

My dogs are from Plum Creek kennels and Patoula Power Kennels. Power dogs have a lot of the Keraloun, My Plum creek dog has a mix of many of the kennels from France. ( I do not have the pedigrees with me). I can't seem to remember as many times as I have read them and looked into some of the Kennels.

You have a nice looking dog there.
How much does he weigh?
What is his range like?
Does he like to swim?
Does he like to retrieve?
Thanks,
Rick

[djloder]

My dogs are from Plum Creek kennels and Patoula Power Kennels. Power dogs have a lot of the Keraloun, My Plum creek dog has a mix of many of the kennels from France. ( I do not have the pedigrees with me). I can't seem to remember as many times as I have read them and looked into some of the Kennels.

You have a nice looking dog there.
How much does he weigh?
What is his range like?
Does he like to swim?
Does he like to retrieve?

I have seen a few dogs from plum creek and they look and hunt really well.

My pup is a big FB at 42 lbs. His range depends on what we are hunting in the woods he'll stay close between 25 and 50 yards most on the time, in the crp he'll been anywhere from 50-100 yards but mostly matters on the cover thickness or if he is with a bigger ranging dog he'll run with them. So far he is a swimming fool and retrieves from the water, but in the field he still likes to play with it still. He did retrieve me one of those woodcocks on Saturday from 50 yards but that because he knew the other FB was going to take it from him. Ill be FF him after the hunting season.

Lets see some pics of your pups.

[Ruffshooter]

Buster has the duck, Stella in the field (she is fatter now, oops) Little "C" is in the Avatar.

[Buford Boone]

Thanks for the tips. I may have to give it another try.

Those are some fine looking Brits. Mine is a smaller female, about 32 lbs. Her father was a special dog, though without papers. Her mother was papered. My brother owned both.

Her mother was brought into the family simply because they wanted pups from the father. I got pick of the litter. Chick picked me when she licked my face.

Life certainly is much better with a good dog sharing it.

[gonehuntin']

That recipe of ruffshooter's is dynamite. Works great on duck breast as well. Many people also add cream cheese between the fold. It melts into the meat as you grill it. You'll never turn up your nose at woodcock or duck again.

[Ruffshooter]

GH, you are right, the first time I had it was with cream cheese. That was good too.
Rick

[grousewoods]

A few photos of the Britts! Parker the black and white from Plum Creek tri color pup Elie from Mark

[Ruffshooter]

Is that pup from Mark Dinsmore?
Great looking bunch.
Rick

[djloder]

If thats the pup form Dinsmore, I think that was one I was going to steal but he wouldnt turn around along enough for me , I also liked Echo but I cant handle another pup right now.

I love seeing all these EB.

[grousewoods]

Yes he's from Mark and he has been fun. We were going to go to western Mn Phez hunting but with all the reports and the weather not looking good we took the dogs to the game farm yesterday with some other guys. After the first Phez was on the ground one of the dogs dropped it at my feet and Elie quicky picked it up and off he went that little guy carried the bird 50yards before stopping, threw the thick grass that was four feet over is head,I could not belive he would be abel to carry it that far much less 5 feet. He did the same thing later but didn't get that far.He's four months old now. At one point I thought he was honoring a point because he was behind the other dogs and came up on them on point and he stoped as soon as he seen them, It was good for me but I'm sure he hasn't figured it out yet but a good sign anyway. I will try and take more photo's as time goes on.

[djloder]

Living in northern Minnesota all my life I usally move alot of woodcock. This year I'm not seeing many locals. I think the migration has blowin past us this year.Hopefully we can put a few in front of her nose.

You did get some early frost this year they must have flown a little more south this year. Went out on Saturday and found some more birds this weekend hope they stay for the last weekend.

Good luck with your pup, from your other tread it looks like she is doing good.

[dugger13]

The woodcocks are still in northern wisconsin. i moved 9 again last night in 2 hours. I am way up north too.

[dawgmama]

We ran into a lot of woodcock this year in northeastern Wi. I have a new Setter that I adopted from the Humane Society, and the woodcock were perfect for bringing out her 'point'. She bumped the first few, but we'd just call her back and set her up where it flushed from, and boom! she started pointing. We got our limit a few times over her. She is a joyful little hunter, quarters great, searches hard, and even enjoys retrieves the stinky little buggers! Yippee!

Funny, we found a lot of woodcock on Friday and Saturday Oct. 30th and 31st, but on Sun. Nov. 1, we found only 1! Halloween night was calm, cool, and a nearly full moon, so the woodcock must have decided to head south. That's ok, the season closed on Nov. 2nd anyway.

We love to eat woodcock. Give 'em another try Buford, they really are yummy! We breast 'em out, and flip flop 'em in melted butter with seasoned salt in it, and grill 'em, indirect heat for about 2-3min. face up on the grill, flip 'em, and about another 1.5 min. Let sit on a plate tented with foil for about 5 min. and enjoy!

Gonehuntn' sounds like a peaceful interval in a beautiful place. Cheers to you for taking the time to enjoy! Are you finding many grouse? We've hunted every weekend since the opener, and we think the grouse are really down in our area. Early season, we flushed some, never saw 'em. Now that the leaves are down, we find maybe 3-5 in a day of hunting. We aren't 'road-hunters' either. I wear a pedometer, and we average 6-7 miles a day, and the only paths are the deer or bear paths, so we are in the right cover. Every one keeps saying "Grouse are up this year" but I think the only hunting they do is when they are reading Wisconsin Outdoor News on the toliet! We usually do well on grouse, that is our Christmas dinner every year, but this year... well, I guess I'm eating hot dogs!