Gun Dog Forum

I live in central Alabama. Deer hunted a new area this season and I have seen and heard more woodcock this year than ever before. I am seeing and hearing them right before dark. I took my Boykin a few times and never flushed them (where I see and hear them late afternoon). We did find one in a flat wet area adjacent to a tall pine area. This wet spot was choked with small half dollar sized trees ( I have only found one area like this and will search for others). My question is, migration aside, what areas should I be looking for to hunt next year? Are the spots you find them late in the afternoon where they hang all day? Asking because there are not many woodcock hunters around me or they are just real quiet about it. I took a cool video walking out from deer hunting this past weekend of a few birds flying and "peenting" I'll post if I can figure it out.
Thanks

It may be different up here in Minnesota, but I find timberdoodles in low areas. Usually they are alder choked bottoms or wet aspen coverts (really small aspen). What I've noticed is that I can find them all morning long in those areas from an hour after sun-up to about noon then they're gone. I think they like to roost in more open areas, field edges and what not, but while they feed in the morning, low land with alder and aspen are the ticket here. Also, up here it really varies based on the migration. Some days you find none and the next day on the same cover can be overwhelming.

In fact, I had one hunt that must've happened the day after they moved in because my dog went on point every 10 yards it seemed. It was the only time I've ever been frustrated that she was finding birds.

I can't answer for your particular area, as I live on the migration path for these birds.

However, I suggest you look for damp wooded areas where worms will thrive. Timberdoodles feed on worms and probe the ground for them with their beaks...so the ground has to be somewhat soft. Alongside streambeds and such in the woods would be a good place to look. They are also called woodcock or timberdoodle for a reason and they do tend to hang in "thicker" cover.

My tell is the multiple splats of white that the birds leave. Once you have seen it, you will know what to look for.

Good luck on your scouting trips.

RayG

Soft wet ground in timber where they can feed on worms is where we run into them. Which is most often around a drainage e.g. creek, river, inlet areas of ponds and lakes, timber edges around bogs and marshes.

I’m wondering if these are the same birds we’ve seen around here usually late in the season Jan feb but not in thick areas but rather in cut soybean fields that are wet usually have frozen and thawed a few times. Brown colored bird with a long beak over an inch long. When they flush they make a screeching kinda noise and tend to fly in circles. Usually here in wide open cut grain fields... I’ll try to find a pic of one.


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Ok here is a pic of what I’m referring to. Growing up I heard old hunters call them “jack snipe” but then I got older and was taken “snipe” hunting and to be honest I’ve been a little confused ever since. If you’ve ever been taken “snipe huntin” you know what I mean. [IMG]//uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201904 ... f8f155.jpg[/IMG]


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Photo is a Wilson's Snipe which is a different bird than a Woodcock. Woodcock is about double in size over the snipe. Both require moist soils where they can probe their long beaks into the soft ground for food.

"Woodcock habitat does not require simply young forest."
Land has to be damp too.

"Young forest adjacent to suitable singing fields are needed and we need lots of singing fields, because male woodcock are territorial."
quote by Welsh

So look for wet, young forests with lots of fields around.

Woodcock hunt in ON : start around 6:45

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0bBqoK_q5M

Sharon, thanks for posting that excellent episode of Angler and Hunter TV. Great work by dogs, handlers and gunners, and so nice to see three generations all out together. Very interesting show.

I live in east NC and also have a Boykin. In the mornings I notice woodcock seem to be in slightly more open areas; pine savannah and some old growth forest. Always in/near swamps though. In the afternoons I always find them in much more densely wooded areas, the kinda places that make getting shots at birds difficult.

Hopefully you have found out details you need to have for Doodle hunting.

I would love to find woodcock in cover like that. I don't. I seem to find them where it's so thick you have to be faster than Matt Dillon to get a shot. But, the basic premise is the same: Damp ground and cover so they can probe for worms. I do still find them when there's snow on the ground but our short season is usually closed by then.

They have made a tremendous comeback. If I go back 20 years or so, they were declining at 1 1/2% per year. During those years I never shot one, choosing to just flush them and not shoot or shoot in the air. One thing to remember about migrating woodcock: If you have a dog that isn't broke or well obedience trained, woodcock can ruin them in one day. If you run into migrator's, they are sometimes so tired they don't flutter more than 10-20 feet on the flush and a dog that breaks will catch them.

I love woodcock. One of my favorite birds.