George,
If you were lucky and timed it right, you could find a woodcock or two along the Missouri or Big Sioux Rivers. I found a couple on the Winnebago Reservation back in the 1990s and a buddy ran across one east of Yankton, SD a decade ago. It was the only time I saw any in Nebraska and I hunted the eastern part an awful lot for close to 20 years. You would have to hope for some steady winds from the east and northeast for a few days in late October or early November for the best chance at them and even then odds would be slim.
Better odds would be to head east for the Mississippi but even then it could be spotty. I've seen woodcock while duck hunting near Clinton but that was hit or miss. I think the birds move a little further east for migration plus do not linger but there should be decent numbers in the northeast part of Iowa.
ROMAC's picture of woodcock habitat is classic in MN and WI where I hunt providing the soil is just a little bit moist to spongy. The drier side is good for raising woodcock broods and is where we look for chicks if the is a singing ground close. Plus, it is also good brood cover for ruffed grouse. That makes it good grouse cover early in the season too. Battue's picture of woodcock cover is more in line of grouse cover here. 30+ years ago I hunted much the same cover in NJ. I bagged 2 woodcock and a grouse in 2 days hunting. The hunt ended the second day when I shot the grouse. My host was upset I shot one of "his" grouse even though that is what the purpose of the trip was.
Battue's picture of woodcock cover is very good ruffed grouse cover in northern MN and WI. The grouse cover shot would be marked for clearcutting in the very near future if not being left for other purposes at the old family homestead. In the central hardwood area where I live, that would be typical cover though getting a little long in the tooth. The woods behind my house looks like that and it should have been logged when I moved in 25 years ago. There are grouse back there but the numbers dwindle every year. In the Mississippi River bluffs that would be a grouse hunter's dream. It just goes to show how many different cover types ruffed grouse can utilize and how they vary from region to region.
I agree on barrel length too, I don't recall ever catching the end of any barrel on brush or branches but I have scars from getting rapped across the knuckles. In 1987 I bought my dream grouse gun, a 16 ga Browning Citori Upland Special with 24" barrels. It carries well but it is my sentimental favorite and not the one I carry when I want to kill birds. For the latter it has been some O/U with 30" barrels or a semiauto with 28" barrel. Balance is better than with the shorter barrels and the extra length lets me move prickly ash and buckthorn further out of the way with the barrels making it less likely to get scratched unnecessarily. That stuff can tear up clothes and skin something fierce.
