Bird is too cool....

This is my favorite bird dog Pebbles on point while hunting Woodcock, whenever you flush them they make a startling sound and you jump out of your boots, EVERY TIME lol

They move like that to get worms to come to the surface.

KB

Used to have some on the ditch I trapped as a kid. Whistlers!
Place I deer hunted, early bow they'd be on edge of property, see the "whitewash".
Have stepped over woodcock and qual while sneaking back to my stand in bow.

Yeah, so much the the "sneak".
Haven't dropped my bow yet but dang!

Do the Stroll…..

^^^ LMAO

Should have called it the woodcock

We had a lab that would only pick up a dead woodcock by the beak, when retrieving. Evidently, she hated the taste of them too!

Funky dance... should be called black bird

Have these on my property…scare the piss out of you when you nearly step on one in the morning walking in. I can’t imagine trying to hit one with a shotgun.

DD posted that WC vid in the meme thread a day or three ago. Funky bird, have had them blow up at my feet in front of my face. A wtf experience, lol.

Had a mix of these and ruffed grouse in western Wisconsin where I grew up. Was told early on the way to tell them apart was that woodcock whistled on the rise and grouse didn't. Found that to be true but didn't really matter as they both startled me so bad I never got a decent shot off the whole first season I hunted them!

One of my favorite game to eat.

Woodcock are an absolute blast to hunt and shoot, but you need a bird dog, because that way you are prepared. Without a dog, when you scare them out from under your Feet it takes too much time to recover from the heart attack to aim through the trees lol.

They live in tight cover, they fly really fast and are hard to hit unless you are a good shot. I sure miss them days!

KB

I've been seeing them every evening for the past week or so, flying by the back porch. Found one dead in the yard last year, I think he hit a powerline.

Amazes me they’re migratory, for some reason. Don’t seem suited to distance flying, I guess. I feel like when I flush them underfoot, if I miss, but watch carefully. Over half the time I can see where they go down again.

Funny little helicopter crash landings.

They’re good birds to work young dogs with. They hold tight and you can often work one bird several times. But I have had dogs that didn’t like to retrieve them. They must taste like schit!! laffin’

Little bastards scare the schit outta ya flushing straight up for 4 or 5 ft 2 or 3 ft in front of ya out ruffed grouse hunting.

Flush em up here occasionally on FTCKY going in places in the dark.

Still scare the schitt out of ya out of the blue.


🥴🥴😬😃🏴‍☠️🏴‍☠️🏴‍☠️🏴‍☠️😃😬🥴🥴

Arrrgh....

Hello Mr Harry, I trust you are having a beautiful day! Yes they are very similar to Robins in their migratory patterns, where I hunted them in Quebec, as soon as ground froze and the worms were not available they were gone. They only live in the east, never saw one out west.

Do you hunt them over bird dogs like we did?

KB

I flushed one in my alfalfa field the first week of November while on my way out to change targets.

Let's see ...
My mom graduated in 62.
Dear old dad( sarcastic) in 60...


SMH....

🥴🥴🥴🏴‍☠️🏴‍☠️🏴‍☠️🥴🥴🥴


Arrrrrrgh.....

Taste like schitt??!

Ya’ll like dove down there, No?

Yes - have and do work with dogs. Lewellyn setters. Shorthairs. Brittany’s. Even Springers work if they’re good at working close.

I don’t currently have a bird dog, so if not hunting with my buds and theirs, I’ll go after them without. It’s always a by-product of grouse hunting, but I have a special liking for Woodcock specifically, and seem to have a knack for finding them.

I’m a Cock Whisperer. Lol

Do you have any pictures of your dogs hunting?

Love hunting grouse and woodcock over a great bird dog. We bred and had our own line of English Setters, so much fun!

KB

I’ve cooked a few. Never was a big fan of the taste. Kinda muddy tasting to me, maybe I just don’t know how to cook em. Little bastards eat bog worms for a living down here!

Try cooking them like dove breast. Slice of jalapeño and wrap in bacon. Don’t cook the fugg out them. I think it tastes like dove on crack. Maybe more ‘livery’ but I’m down with that.

We shot hundreds of them, I never did acquired a taste for them. Tried them every way possible.

The best was roasted with the skin on and that was a lot of work delicately plucking them. My father had eclectic taste and would take the intestines out and leave everything else in the bird and mashed up the innards and made sort of a Pâté and ate it on toast.

KB

I don’t think I’ve posted a pic on this forum yet? Rene’s gonna jump all over me about that. Pics or didn’t happen and all. Nossir, I do not. Most of the upland birding I do with friends is with their dogs. They would.

No Sweat Mr Harry, I just think that bird dogs on point pictures are beautiful, which is why I asked :o)

DAYMN, I think I’d rather eat the ass out of a menstruating skunk!

Damn, that’s bold.

But I just might try it.

Like the pate and offal meats.

EXACTLY that's what I told my father, he responded "Shut the F up and poor me another 3 finger high Scotch" My father was an animal hahahaha

KB

I agree

Quebecois??

Nope Scottish, Norwegian, but I was born and raised in frog land, where we hunted woodcock, but I escaped in 1987. I live out west and hunt moose, elk and deer. I leave the innards for the yotes, not into gut Pâté lol

KB

While I completely disagree, I have always remembered Ren 50’s description of Ruffed Grouse “tastes like a wet dog smells.”

Colorful imagery.

I can miss a pheasant from being f**Ed when they get up and ther way easier to hit. I've never seen a woodcock but have seen ruffed grouse. Hats off to you guys that are proficient in hunting them. The humor is always appreciated!!

Grouse was thick up here when I was a kid don’t know what happened to them but wood cock still plentiful

Mr Harry, next time you shoot a Ruffed Grouse, try the breasts "Fondue Style" my favorite wild game diner, delicious!

Sounds fantastic

It really is Mr Harry, we use Peanut Oil, cut the breast meat into 1" cubes. As soon as the meat stops bubbling, take it out. You can have a variety of dipping sauces if you like.

Fantastic and it is the only way I eat Ruffed Grouse. The meat is so delicious, you do not want to mask or over cook it.

KB
Sent you a PM
Dan

I occasionally see them. Flush like a solo bobwhite quail. Hard to hit on the wing with a 30-30.

Brazed woodcock breasts, rare, with salt & pepper.

What's not to like?



Also, they always taste better if they are shot with a 16 gauge Fox.

Outstanding ROMAC, on both the Culinary display and the beautiful shotguns!

KB

In wet years, our low ground pastures had a lot of those little guys. You could just about pick them up. Late evenings they sound similar to crickets chirping. Neat critters!

Woodcock are similar in appearance to, and probably relative to, Snipe. I was told by my Grandpa that being an excellent shot at them, is where the term ‘Sniper’ came from; although it would be completely different than our current or ‘tactical’ term/definition of a sniper.

Which is interesting.

What’s everybody’s favorite load for them?

Personally, I like #8, high brass, 12 gauge 3”. I tend to get into them in the thickest of all possible [bleep], end up using my shotty like a machete just to get the first shot off (miss) and get them with the second through much obstacle.

They’re hard as [bleep] to find in the forest floor. And in my mind, that’s the best application of a dog in hunting them.

Improved choke

Learn , share and laugh at the campfire!! Thanks Mr. Harry

and their wings whistle when they flush

Definitely Related

Woodcock



Wilson Snipe

Mo Fo's steppin... Jigin and nigin

20 gauge, #9 Shot - 2 3/4" Shell - Mod.

KB

KB good pics look almost identical! I collect sxs shotguns and used to buy the Double Gun Journal. I enjoyed the articles on grouse and woodcock hunting. Does anyone hunt snipe now days?

Woodcock never startle me and I seldom shoot them anymore. Not much meat on them and they don't seem to be as challenging to shoot as grouse, so I let them fly.

You must be old like me.

I could not shoot a woodcock anymore because I fell in love with them. Same with bears, I guess its part of the getting old process?

Moose, deer and especially elk will never get a reprieve from me, they are going down, two delicious to pass on :o)

KB

Well if they’re anything like a snipe they’ve got to be hard to hit. Snipe are the most erratic flying bird I’ve ever shot at.

[/quote]
Well if they’re anything like a snipe they’ve got to be hard to hit. Snipe are the most erratic flying bird I’ve ever shot at.[/quote]


Not at all alike in my experience. The woodcock can be tricky in the woods but in open ground they aren’t much of a challenge. Snipe, on the other hand, will make a Baptist preacher lose his religion!

Lol!!

“Open Ground”

Where they stock pheasants and schitt, here, there’s usually open ground, and the only groid ‘hunters’ you ever seen. Plus eastern euros.

Fugggin schitt showz of the HIGHEST order

Woodcock In the Northeast would be as polar opposite to ‘open ice seal batting’ as it would be to Nebraska pheasant hunting/country.

There is nothing ‘open’ here.

Even our minds our closed. And generally better for it.

Shot one many years ago pheasant hunting. My lab retrieved it and spit it out at my feet. Lots of dogs I am told dont like the “taste”.

Same here. I can't remember the last time I saw a grouse. It's been years. I assumed it's the Fishers wiping them out.
Woodcock nest on my place every year.

Dang it.....

I think that's a the Hoodcock variaty.....

I like hunting woodcock so much I had a Browning 20 whittled up to honor the bird.

Beautiful shotgun and great pictures!!

Awesome!

Love it! The scrollwork/engraving is just wonderful and the quail head on the release lever is some kind of cool.

The only woodcock I've shot is mounted in one of my bird cases. It was the first season or two of my upland hunting, and we were after grouse and maybe pheasant released in a nearby WMA. I'd read of woodcock but was told that there were precious few locally and not to bother trying for them. We're out there stomping around and this crazy bird got up pretty much at my feet, scaring the crap out of me. As i watched it fly, I somehow knew it was a game bird and touched off a load at it as it went over some thick brush. Thought I'd missed it but battled through the thorns and whatnot just making sure I hadn't hit it. After a thorough search, I was heading out through a hole in the thorny brush on my hands and knees and right before exiting the brush, I put my hand on the thing. Hit it with the single golden pellet and the bird was in perfect condition. Great memory. I'm looking at the little guy right now.

Great thread. Thanks, OP and others who chimed in.

Wow, That browning sure is a beauty.....Nice!

Heard several birds doing sky dances while I was in the stand this past weekend.

Here it is with a few Timberdoodles. The pattern on the gun and the homebrew is from the first woodcock stamp.

Chukar are cooler

KillerBee, Peebles is beautiful! I had a shy that looked similar I called him Snoopy. Good looking bird cover, I’ve killed more dog hunting rabbits than bird dog, y’all must have a better population than we do.

Thanks Sharecropper, her sister was an excellent bird dog as well, her name was Bounty, she was pure white. Where I live now we do not have and woodcock but we do have a ton of Ruffies and Huns.