Bud hunts with Setters and Pointers and it is not rare to have Woodcock hold. I hunt with English Cockers and they are flushers. So you have to learn to read the Dog’s body language of when they are on scent and how hot it is and get ready.
Even when they hold for a point, often all you get is to hear the flush. Sometimes with the flushers, you just see the Dog bore in and then hear the flush. In both cases, sometimes the Bird makes an error and shows itself for a shot.
In that first pic, one of his Setters took a moving Grouse for over 100 yards. Locking up and then moving on. The Grouse finally flushed at the end of the cut and escaped. Also the first time we were in that cover, the Woodcock were home....probably flushed 40 plus in perhaps 1.5 hours. The next year there were few in the same cover.
Last edited by battue; 05/13/20.
