South Louisiana Woodcock (Photos!)

[shanebevel@gmail.com]

Well, after getting an open invitation for five years I finally took my friend Felipe up on a woodcock hunt in South Louisiana. Brownie and I loaded up and made the 11 hour drive down on Friday, hunted Saturday and Sunday and then made the drive home today.

It was really an unbelievable trip. Saturday we had a bit of bad weather and some really heavy cover, but Sunday was just more fun that a man should be allowed to have. It took Brownie (my ES) to catch onto what exactly Felipe's GSPs were so excited about, but he finished the day really strong with two rock solid points and held the birds till we got there to flush. If only our marksmanship had been better. I have heard all the jokes about the difficulty of shooting woodcock.... but good gosh... I did some really horrible shooting! HA! Good thing I am a bit better with the camera.

The land down there is beautiful and after the winter we have had in Tulsa is was good to see at least a little bit of green in the woods. We hunted some WMAs and also the Catherine sugar cane plantation (Felipe's wife is a stockholder and direct descendent of the original owners)

I learned a ton on the trip thanks to Felipe and his crackerjack dogs Gypsy and Roscoe. Although I expected the trip to be a one time deal, I will be putting it on my calendar every year for the forseeable future, as well as seeking out some possible places locally to find woodcock next year.

Enough of my jabbering... how about a few photos.












OK, this last one hurt me... it was the first point I had ever seen on a woodcock and Roscoe nailed him. Had I known that Roscoe can hold these birds seemingly for hours I would have taken more time and really made a nice photo... live and learn I suppose... but the question is... can you see him? in the bottom right? I've never seen a bird stick like these little things... that is unless it had a metal band on it's leg.

[Sharon]

Beautiful pics. thanks.

[shanebevel@gmail.com]

Thanks Sharon, I give it the old college try. So far it has kept the bills paid (10 years and counting)

[djloder]

Very nice pic's, I would like to go down to LA to hunt some more woodcock. They really hold great for the dogs.

How long is the season go on for? What is the temp's?

[shanebevel@gmail.com]

The season is only 40 days. It ends on Jan 31. And the temps weren't too bad. high 50s, but it was overcast and very wet. I really thought that Brownie might have some problems. He hasn't been on the ground in above freezing temps in a month or so, but he did just fine with the water and the clouds.

[tommyboy72]

Shane it reminds me of home. I am originally from southern Louisiana but have been living in Oklahoma and a few other places for quite sometime but it sure does make me miss it down there.

Tom

[PntrRookie]

Beautiful picts. That setter a chestnut tri? Similar to my avatar.

[Ditch__Parrot]

Very Nice

[shanebevel@gmail.com]

Hey Tom, we need to make a hunt happen... we seem to have a lot in common! I am not from Louisiana, but lived there for a long time before moving here.

PntrRookie: Yeah, he's a chesnut tri just like yours, although... that day he was about 12 shades of mud.

[BoJack]

Sounds like a great trip for sure, and it doesn't get any better then that.Great pics also.

[Neil]

Very nice photos.

On the last one, I wouldn't count on them holding with the dog that close, he must have hit it pretty hard to freeze it. But even if flushed by the dog, they usually just flip up and drop back down. I once chased the same late flight bird for an hour, 12 - 14 points, before I got a decent shot (I had missed 4 or 5 times), and then passed, decided he deserved to fly another day. He beat me, if not the dog.

Neil

[CimarronGSPs]

One word, AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[shanebevel@gmail.com]

Thanks for the kind words guys. And Neil... I would have thought the same thing, but so many of the 20 or so points we had that weekend were pretty close to that range and some held nearly 5 minutes for us to battle through the underbrush, get to them, shoot some pictures, flush, shoot and.... well.... mostly miss.

[fase3]

Being a south La. boy you should not have had the pic of that particular smokestack in the background. I know where you where!. Just kidding as we have had more than our share of Woodcock here in my area of Pointe Coupee Parish this year. Glad you had a good time down here. Did you get enough to eat? LOL.

[tommyboy72]

That's what I miss most about home is the food. I need to make a trip back down to St. Tammany Parish. I haven't been home in years.

[shanebevel@gmail.com]

Well, I hate to make you boys homesick... I really do... but we did just fine in the food department.

See here for the culinary highlight of the trip: http://www.shanebevel.com/blog/index.html