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It's got to be tough for those in WI that like woodcock. Season is closed, but they are still around. My seter pointed three more today. At least I was able to bag a grouse.gonehuntin' wrote:Our season closed monday.![]()
I'll have to live through your posts and pics now.
I love to hunt woodcock, far better than grouse. For me, once they're gone, the woodlands are an emptier place.Grange wrote:It's got to be tough for those in WI that like woodcock. Season is closed, but they are still around. My seter pointed three more today. At least I was able to bag a grouse.gonehuntin' wrote:Our season closed monday.![]()
I'll have to live through your posts and pics now.
LOL.....We're gonna smoke 'em....they are everywhere!northern cajun wrote:Opens in 6 days!!!!!!
hi-tailyn wrote:Do they mainly stay in river bottom areas?
Would creek areas with heavy or thin woods be better?
Do they hang around flood plain of areas lakes? Even though most lakes around N. TX are 3-6' below average levels.
mrcreole wrote:hi-tailyn wrote:Do they mainly stay in river bottom areas?
Would creek areas with heavy or thin woods be better?
Do they hang around flood plain of areas lakes? Even though most lakes around N. TX are 3-6' below average levels.
You can't go wrong in the river bottoms. I don't know how much of the migration passes your way but you aren't very far west of us. My guess is that you can get into them. Along creek edges should be good too. The ground has got to be soft or loamy where they can probe for worms.....
mrcreole wrote:LOL.....We're gonna smoke 'em....they are everywhere!northern cajun wrote:Opens in 6 days!!!!!!
SpringerDude wrote:mrcreole wrote:hi-tailyn wrote:Do they mainly stay in river bottom areas?
Would creek areas with heavy or thin woods be better?
Do they hang around flood plain of areas lakes? Even though most lakes around N. TX are 3-6' below average levels.
You can't go wrong in the river bottoms. I don't know how much of the migration passes your way but you aren't very far west of us. My guess is that you can get into them. Along creek edges should be good too. The ground has got to be soft or loamy where they can probe for worms.....
That's a great place to start looking for woodcock but we don't always find them in the creek bottoms. Woodcock feed primarily at night. So they don't have to be in "feeding areas" during the day. The pictures I have posted were taken in areas where I killed the last bird of the pic. Most are well away from water and in the nastiest thickest cover available. However, where you hunt woodcock at the end of their migration both North and South are different from where you find them in the middle while migrating. Once you figure out where to find them in your local areas, then you will start recognizing other good cover that might hold birds.
Then obviously my helpful suggestion was not needed by you. Glad you have them that close and know all the great places. So, what states do you hunt them between New York and Louisiana?northern cajun wrote:SpringerDude wrote:
That's a great place to start looking for woodcock but we don't always find them in the creek bottoms. Woodcock feed primarily at night. So they don't have to be in "feeding areas" during the day. The pictures I have posted were taken in areas where I killed the last bird of the pic. Most are well away from water and in the nastiest thickest cover available. However, where you hunt woodcock at the end of their migration both North and South are different from where you find them in the middle while migrating. Once you figure out where to find them in your local areas, then you will start recognizing other good cover that might hold birds.
I think I have that figured out Springer I hunt them from New York down to the Gulf of Mexico.
My problem is picking out the best spot since they are all FULL of birds![]()
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I guess out my backdoor about 150 yards will be the first covert I hit this year.
Neil wrote:Checked my journals, I have hunted wc in SD, KS, MO TX, LA, MS, TN, WI, MI, ME, MN, WV, PA, SC, FL, and AL. Plus two trips to Canada. Other than flight birds resting or those seeking a sunny south hillside, all the birds were found in spongy areas near a river/creek, the same place you would dig for earthworms, it is where they eat.
I moved more birds one week in LA, than a season in all other areas.
Now most times I was primarily hunting other birds; grouse, pheasant, quail, and took a detour for the wc, but still have had the experience of thousand of flushes. They cannot eat on a rocky hillside.
Think about it they have a 3" bill and eat earthworms. If you find one away from water, there are another 6 having a meal lower down.