Gun Dog Forum

is there woodcock in iowa i know we have a season for them never seen one tho

Yes

ok so how and where would i go about getting some shots off at them

You generally find them in wetter areas where they can easily probe the soil for the earthworms that make up 90% of their diet. I seldom see them very far (miles) from water, or in real open areas. They don't have a problem being fairly near houses and towns, and may hang out in the scrub brush and thin tree lines just along a bayou or canal.
I'm a bit East of Iowa, and don't know that area very well, but if you are willing to drive a bit, the Atchafalaya flood plane, including Indian Bayou and Sherburne WMAs, is said to be some of the best woodcock hunting in the entire country. A lot of the Nat'l banding of woodcock actually occurs @ Sherburne WMA. We even have some guides from the great white North who come down here to guide for woodcock during the migration.
Do keep in mind that our season doesn't open till Dec. and the limit is only 3. You'd do best to find them with a dog, as they are very well camo'd (you generally only spot them by noticing their eye) and they will darn near let you step on them before they flush. Without the dog to find them, you may pass within a few feet of them and never know it. There are at least two other more experienced La Woodcock hunters on here who may add a lot more. Good luck.

*please disregard a bunch of what I just wrote regarding Louisiana. I mistook the IA for an LA, and there's a town called Iowa, La forty miles west of me. Sorry.

Best chance would be when some flights come thru.
The RGS website posts some ongoing flight info......FWTW.
Read up on woodcock flights and preferred cover.
Hunt that woodcock cover....a dog helps.
Woodcock will also be where you find them.

They are a, somewhat, difficult bird to determine population figures.
The end of any funnel is a tad concentrated.
Treat them respectfully and gently....the little bogsuckers are a special bird.

I've been hunting eastern Iowa for about 20yrs never seen one. Of course when I was younger I may not have known one if I had.

Seem one last year hunting in SE Iowa. Didn't know what it was so I didn't shoot it. The guy I was with told me it was a wood cock and that we couldnt shoot it. Only time I've seen one.

I saw one in Illinois last year me and the dogs just stared at it like it was an alien hahaha