# Woodcock



## tom turkey 2x2

Anyone find a Woodstock today?  did not see Woodcock today but did see my first robins !


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## mlandrum

Had a wedding today, me and Drake will be in the woods Thursday??


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## coveyrise

I have seen 2 in Thomas county in the last few days. Doves came in also with the robins.


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## GLS

Opening day of woodcock season in Georgia.  The birds aren’t in quite yet, but conditions for their arrival are optimum as our woods had a 4” rain over the last 72 hours softening the woods floor for ease of doodling for worms.  One bird, one shot and it was Floyd’s No. 4 Deluxe AyA 28 ga.   Both Abby and Willa, my Britt Com MuttPak, had it pinned down and I had to go into the thick just about on my hands and knees to flush it for Floyd.  I could see Willa with Abby backing but all I heard was it getting up and Floyd’s shot.   Ya' know, a good friend will do that for you.  Top gun is my recently acquired Darne R10 20.



While in the woods I spotted a small lion’s mane mushroom and showed it to Floyd.  On the way out, Floyd spotted this one from 75 yards out as we drove out the woods.  It weighed 3 lbs. and was the size of a cantaloupe. These are excellent on the table.  At least I didn't go home empty handed.


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## mlandrum

Fantastic Gil. I can't wait till Thursday. I'll keep everybody posted?


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## Uptonongood

I last hunted timber doodles in 1977 when I was at Auburn.  What a fun bird they are to hunt.  Glad to see someone hunting them with classic doubles, especially a 28ga.


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## jakebuddy

Mlandrum
What kind of dog is that?


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## Melvin4730

It’s an English Cocker. I have two myself.


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## mlandrum

jakebuddy said:


> Mlandrum
> What kind of dog is that?


He`said an English Cocker and a great flusher?


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## Killinstuff

Please don't beat on poor ol woodcock to much down there.  The limit on them should be two across the country.  Enjoy the dog work, eat a few cooked correctly.  But please, don't just go a killing them if you're not into eating them.  You're not some kind of super sportsman cause you kill a limit of woodcock.  They are easy for the dogs and easy to shoot.  Leave a few and enjoy the encounter.


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## trad bow

According to USFW 2016 estimates Georgia hunters harvested around 500 woodcock. Michigan hunters harvested over seventy thousand woodcock. That amount was higher than the eastern migration states combined. Michigan woodcock winter in Louisiana and Mississippi mostly. Maybe the limits should be re-evaluated per each migration route. The eastern route definitely doesn't have the amount of birds in the central migration route.


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## GLS

Thank you for the bird count comparing Georgia to Michigan.  It doesn't sound like Georgians are beating up on the woodcock.
I don't think we have to go too far out on a limb to suggest that very few folks hunt woodcock in Georgia.  I've been hunting most of my life in SE Georgia and I can count on two fingers the number of folks I know who hunt for them on purpose with dogs within 50 miles of me and I am one of the two.  The other guy I hunt with.  I will continue to hunt and shoot them within the limit established by the folks that do such things. They may be easier for some to shoot at and hit, but I believe they are worth the effort and challenging.  I don't travel all over the country in pursuit of feathers and fur; I make my hunting and fishing part of my life where I live and do the best at it I can.   There is something to be said of maximizing the enjoyment of home woods and waters.  Every opportunity I get to collect a legal limit, I will.  As much as I enjoy hunting them, cooking and eating  them is a bonus.  They do not go to waste. Gil


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## mlandrum

Well ole Preacher is eating fresh sea trout tonight? The reason being that Drake and I walked 5 miles today he got birdie one time And we are both pooped tonight? Did not see any scat but most of the swamps are full of downed trees from Irma


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## Mexican Squealer

Killinstuff said:


> Please don't beat on poor ol woodcock to much down there.  The limit on them should be two across the country.  Enjoy the dog work, eat a few cooked correctly.  But please, don't just go a killing them if you're not into eating them.  You're not some kind of super sportsman cause you kill a limit of woodcock.  They are easy for the dogs and easy to shoot.  Leave a few and enjoy the encounter.



Aye yiii yiii. You yanks govern your own and don't worry bout us....


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## Nicodemus

I got up two on the way in to the deerstand yesterday afternoon. First ones I`ve seen this year.


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## LRDIII

I tried today at Fort Stewart on section C-18 near the Canoochie river and A-2. Did not see anything except a pair of red-headed woodpeckers that was when I was leaving.


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## GLS

The only reason there aren't six depicted is because I didn't hold up my end.  Floyd dropped them all with his Ithaca SKB 20.  We found some birds.  Pop and Sadie at the helm.


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## trad bow

Looks like a great hunt with a friend. You'll get them next time. 
Jeff


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## Water Swat

Mexican Squealer said:


> Aye yiii yiii. You yanks govern your own and don't worry bout us....



I agree 100%


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## mlandrum

Gil, I'm jealous ??


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## tucker80

Had one fly by the duck blind yesterday.


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## smoothie

I'm gonna give em a go tomorrow after the wood ducks


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## Coach K

*Woodcock's Most Wanted Enemy*

I love hunting woodcock, especially when they give you so many chances for photo ops!!


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## mattech

I had 6 of em all around me the other evening right at dark


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## NCHillbilly

How do woodcock taste? I've seen them all my life, but never killed or eaten one. I've never known anybody around here who hunted them. 

They actually live year-round here in the mountains. You see more in the winter, but they're here all year. I watched one a couple years ago for over an hour as it caught worms, pretty interesting thing to see.


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## GLS

I think they are delicious, but if cooked well-done, you might as well eat cafeteria calves liver jerky on a stick.  I cook on high heat (500F) until rare to medium rare juicy.  I pluck and gut, coat with olive oil.  I salt and pepper after cooking.  They taste similar to dove and snipe, but much bigger.  Slightly different in taste.
I made a vertical rack from a coat hanger for cooking dove, snipe and woodcock at high indirect heat on my grill, lid down, with the meat shielded from direct heat by the iron flat pan.  The woodcock is smothered in chanterelles, a meal you can’t legally buy anywhere.  Here’s what Steve Bodio says on his blog about the method I use:
“Also notice the color of the cut flesh. Like all good Woodcock (and snipe) cooks, he 
sort of passes them through a very hot oven. I get tired of hearing how dark- fleshed birds "taste like liver"- good LIVER doesn't taste like liver when it is cooked rare, turned over quickly in hot bacon fat and butter. My disgusted French- born gourmand friend Guy de la Valdene, after he read an American recipe for woodcock that involved two cans of cream of mushroom soup and an hour and a half in the oven, wrote (in Making Game in 1990): "As this recipe negates the whole reason for killing the birds in the first place, why not take it a step further and poach the Woodcock overnight in equal parts of catsup, pabulum, and Pepto- Bismol."


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## PopPop

I used to love to hunt them in East Central Alabama, I have not seen any in years. I always enjoyed watching them fly over the pastures at dusk, from a deer stand. Don't see them anymore.


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## mlandrum

Strike 2 for Drake and ole Preacher? All we got was WET?


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## smoothie

How did you preserve your chanterelles Gil?


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## GLS

Clean under running tap water to remove grit with a small soft bristle tooth brush and thumb, let air dry briefly for an hour or so on a towel, cut up, saute in olive oil and butter for a few minutes, freeze meal sized (3-4 oz.) portions in vacuum bags and freeze.  Thaw and heat bag in stove top hot water and serve.  Summer's bounty served throughout the winter.


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## NCHillbilly

GLS said:


> I think they are delicious, but if cooked well-done, you might as well eat cafeteria calves liver jerky on a stick.  I cook on high heat (500F) until rare to medium rare juicy.  I pluck and gut, coat with olive oil.  I salt and pepper after cooking.  They taste similar to dove and snipe, but much bigger.  Slightly different in taste.
> I made a vertical rack from a coat hanger for cooking dove, snipe and woodcock at high indirect heat on my grill, lid down, with the meat shielded from direct heat by the iron flat pan.  The woodcock is smothered in chanterelles, a meal you can’t legally buy anywhere.  Here’s what Steve Bodio says on his blog about the method I use:
> “Also notice the color of the cut flesh. Like all good Woodcock (and snipe) cooks, he
> sort of passes them through a very hot oven. I get tired of hearing how dark- fleshed birds "taste like liver"- good LIVER doesn't taste like liver when it is cooked rare, turned over quickly in hot bacon fat and butter. My disgusted French- born gourmand friend Guy de la Valdene, after he read an American recipe for woodcock that involved two cans of cream of mushroom soup and an hour and a half in the oven, wrote (in Making Game in 1990): "As this recipe negates the whole reason for killing the birds in the first place, why not take it a step further and poach the Woodcock overnight in equal parts of catsup, pabulum, and Pepto- Bismol."



That looks great, thanks for the info!


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## GLS

Another fast but good way to cook is to filet meat off the breast, disjoint the thighs and legs intact from the backbone and saute quickly in olive oil/butter, salt and pepper.  Not much meat is lost, if any, and it is delicious as long as not cooked past medium rare.  I do the same with dove every now and then.  Gil


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## GLS

After finding them Sunday, we went Monday about 20 miles away to another good spot and didn't find a single one.  I don't think they are down here in numbers yet.  We need bad weather up north to get them moved in good.  Gil


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## mlandrum

Drake and I agree?


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## mguthrie

It's been colder than normal up north (Midwest and northeast) they should be getting here anytime


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## mlandrum

Merry Christmas from me and Drake


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## GLS

I had an enjoyable armed walk with shots fired yesterday in the woodcock woods.  Symbolic of our success, are two chicken eggs as I couldn't find a goose egg.  Or the two of us laid eggs.  Owning a Harris Tweed hat didn't make me shoot like one of the tweeded set.
I had the company of a friend who can shoot lights out but who would rather my dogs keep quiet about the misses. As he told me "woodcock are not hard to hit, but are easy to miss."  In the morning, we found 5 birds and 8 flushes some unattended by us. Once again, the MuttPak did their job quite well and I only lost one pair of glasses fighting for my life through briars and rivercane. Gil


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## trad bow

These stories of the hunt and this cold weather sure makes me want to be out there. Hopefully next season I'll be out there too. 
Jeff


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## GLS

Help is on the way:
https://weather.com/maps/tendayforecast


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## mlandrum

Tomorrow  in rain and more rain but Drake and I will try it Friday, still waiting on our first visitor from the north


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## Throwback

about 20 years ago I was standing beside a swamp in lamar county right at sundown. The woodcock POURED into that place like they were returning to the mothership. really cool to watch. some flew right over my head.

really want to hunt them some day.


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## GLS

Today in the rivercane. 5 birds, 10 flushes, 4 collected.  The fourth fell out of Floyd's vest when he shucked layers.  Jeff's Uggie 20 and My 16 Brun-Latrige.  Floyd's gun was shy, but his glove signifies the missing wc.


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## mlandrum

Our first today. it took 3 miles?


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## mlandrum

Yesterday Drake flushed a herd of wild hogs and he brought this one out and #8's nailed him- Bar B Q for the Georgia game Monday?


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## Throwback

mlandrum said:


> Yesterday Drake flushed a herd of wild hogs and he brought this one out and #8's nailed him- Bar B Q for the Georgia game Monday��



The look on his face 

"That was a BIG one-my buddies ain't gonna believe this"


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## mlandrum

That' because he ATE 2 - 20 Guage # 8's


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## GLS

Mike, that's good they are showing up down south.  Is the wound on Drake's left front leg the same one he had last year?  Gil


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## mlandrum

Yes Gil,  Nothing seems to work, we`very tried steroids  salves. Turpentine. Ointments. And IT WILL NOT GO AWAY? EVEN put a collar  but in three days hee chewed it off


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## GLS

We found 4-5 birds with a half dozen flushes.  Sometimes it's hard to tell if it is a previously flushed bird or a new one.  Ben did good with his 28 ga. Moracchi O/U.  Birds were in some difficult spots.  Abby and Willa led the way.


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## antharper

Looks like y’all are having a great time and nice eating size pig  , I’ve hunted most everything that can be hunted since I was old enough to shoot a gun and have a question for u woodcock hunters, is a snipe and a woodcock the same bird !


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## mlandrum

NO, a snipe is the size of a dove And flies like a boomerang if you stand still And love puddles of water in a field or any other open space. google their pictures and you can easily see the difference. A wood cock is bigger and loves any place  they can sink their beak in and suck up a worm. When flushed they make different sounds on the flush?


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## GLS

Here's a Wilson snipe or "snipe".  It's the smallest game bird, about 2/3rds size of a dove with  both dressed out.  Very sporty and great to eat.  They flock up in groups and are in open wet fields with standing water.  Gil


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## antharper

Thanks guys , I was just wondering because I have a place I deer hunt that has a big lake , maybe 20 acres , with fairly thick grass around it and I can walk around it and literally flush a few dozen of what I call snipe , could they be woodcock ?  I don’t think they are any bigger than a dove and flush like a quail ! Troup co.


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## GLS

Those are snipe.  You won't find woodcock in that habitat nor will you flush that many in a small place in Georgia.  Gil


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## GLS

Pop and Sadie.  Or is it Sadie and Pop? The nose knows.  



You couldn’t ask for a better premonition of things to come this morning.  Just before turning off the pavement on to the property, we saw a woodcock standing on the fog line, head bobbing back and forth.  Little did we know he was the early warning system.  We only found one bird, but lots of splash.  This cold weather has them on the run.  Gil


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## mlandrum

Gil, me and Drake will know if they headed our way tomorrow afternoon


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## mlandrum

Nope TOO COLD today maybe Thursday


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## Beagle Stace

Preacher don't let a little cold and snow keep you in. Let Drake do his thing.


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## mlandrum

Stacy he did great in the ice and snow today


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## GLS

Mike, the snow dog cometh!  Good to see you had success.
More from the sunny south:  I had another work "snow" day yesterday so what's a fella to do?  I met up with a buddy for an afternoon woods walk under conditions that gave me concern about finding birds.  I had to four wheel it through the snow from my house to the main highway to the hunt site.   Surprisingly we found 6 birds; unsurprisingly they were in tough spots to shoot, but Abby and Willa found them.  It was sporty shooting. 20 ga. Darne R-10. Gil


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## Beagle Stace

Glad to see you guys are finding some birds. was wondering if they would move further south. Snow probably confused them for sure.


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## mlandrum

GLS said:


> Mike, the snow dog cometh!  Good to see you had success.
> More from the sunny south:  I had another work "snow" day yesterday so what's a fella to do?  I met up with a buddy for an afternoon woods walk under conditions that gave me concern about finding birds.  I had to four wheel it through the snow from my house to the main highway to the hunt site.   Surprisingly we found 6 birds; unsurprisingly they were in tough spots to shoot, but Abby and Willa found them.  It was sporty shooting. 20 ga. Darne R-10. Gil


Great Job Gil-- Yes it quite a different situation


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## GLS

Finding birds in new areas. Four birds found today by Pop and Sadie; shots fired at 3 and one bagged. Floyd's Woodcock Wand of Woe, 20 ga. Ithaca SKB, 25" barrels, IC/M. Gil


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## GLS

Floyd and Jeff on the edge of the rivercane waiting for Abby’s and Willa’s bells to stop ringing.  Cool for down here in the high 20’s at 10 a.m. when we started. 



We found a few birds.  Snow and palmettos??  Not something we see around here usually.  The only thing that might be just as rare are other woodcock hunters.  The Ithaca SKB 20 of Floyd’s, my MF Ideal 302 16 ga., and Jeff’s Uggie all have in common factory 25” (+/-) barrels.


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## trad bow

Looks like y’all are having a grand season. 
Jeff


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## GLS

We aren't finding the concentrations like we found over the past two years.  Gil


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## trad bow

I can’t say how good it’s been as I have had a spinal fusion in the month of December for each of the past three years. I have been watching a couple of woodcock in the edge of the yard which is encouraging. 
Jeff


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## mlandrum

Office and College today, More hearing aids in Dublin tomorrow, Wednesday Office and Hospital Visits --- BUT--Look out Thursday cause Me and Drake will be after the Doodles ??


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## GLS

trad bow said:


> I can’t say how good it’s been as I have had a spinal fusion in the month of December for each of the past three years. I have been watching a couple of woodcock in the edge of the yard which is encouraging.
> Jeff


Ouch!  Hope that's the last fusion.  Cool seeing the wc's in your yard.  Gil


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## mlandrum

Though  wet today, me and Drake  snuck out to see if we could flush one......... WELL


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## GLS

Mike, beautiful bird.  Hope to hit the woods this weekend hard as well.  After the weekend, work is about to seriously encroach on the season for me.  Willa is on injured reserve until midweek.  She developed a high fever overnight after hunting Sunday and developed pustules on her belly.  It's baffled the vet and we await lab results.  She's on antibiotics and the pustules cleared up and the fever resolved at the vet Monday.  There's a range of possibilities.  I did notice fire ant beds along the woods road where we hunted, but right now, no way to tell what happened.  Biopsies were taken and stitches are in place keeping her out of the woods this weekend.  Abby will do fine by her lonesome in rotation with Floyd's Britts.  Gil


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## mlandrum

Hate to hear that Gil, hope it's nothing to worry about, keep us posted?


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## GLS

Vet just called to tell me the cultures indicated staph infection and it was the type which responds to the antibiotics she is on.  Vet (and I) glad no indication of an auto immune disorder which would have been worse news. Until staples come out from biopsies she will be riding the bench.  gil


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## fullstrut

Shot my first ever this week in my yard. They have been around my house for several weeks. Just came inside from getting firewood and stopped to listen and watch them display right over my head. Pretty cool bird for sure


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## mlandrum

fullstrut, we do have cameras for such moments


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## mlandrum

OK Gil here are my last two kills----Age them


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## fullstrut

Bring yourself and dogs and yall hunt at free. Just saying. Would love to watch and learn.


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## fullstrut

mlandrum, send private message and I will send pics. I have the birds.


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## GLS

Top bird, male; bottom bird, female. Gil


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## mlandrum

Gil, after two miles of walking swamps today Drake flushed this Female way up in a drain ditch


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## mlandrum

This is his retrievehttps://youtu.be/GTlIduIJ_3s


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## GLS

We are having a tough time in an old standby of an area.  Not finding many birds.  Emily Dickinson said that "hope is the thing with feathers."  Here's hoping that tomorrow will bring us things with brown feathers.  One bird today.  Sadie and Pop with Floyd:


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## mlandrum

Great Job Fellers!!  All the places I,m killing birds are NEW places???  No birds where I got them last year


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## GLS

A fine day in the rivercane with Floyd, Ben and Billy escorted by Abby, Pop and Sadie.  Willa rode the bench due to having to safeguard stitches.  She’ll be up and at’em soon.  We had 15-20 flushes and bagged six.  Good day with friends and dogs.

One flat worn out dog, Abby.  Note the rivercane camo pattern on Floyd's dog box.



Pop surveying the tailgate, Floyd, Abby, Sadie in the right box, Billy and Ben.



Top to bottom, Billy's 20 gauge Superposed Midas Grade (equivalent); Ben's 28 ga. Marocchi; My 16 ga. MF Ideal 302 Clunkerette. Floyd's Ithaca SKB 20 ga. was camera shy.


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## mlandrum

Great Job guys


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## coveyrise

So now we know. You hide in the river cane camo  dog box and shoot the incoming.


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## GLS

David, the dog box is a huge decoy.  Doodles can't resist rivercane.  The secret is out.  Gil


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## GLS

Hunted  today briefly with worn-out dogs.  The land bordered a swamp and the birds were on the hill adjacent to the swamp’s edge “nooning” in straight as an arrow sweet gum saplings of about an inch and a half diameter.  I tried taking a photo, but it must not have happened.  We found at least a dozen birds in about an hour’s time, but of note, four got up from one spot and three from another.  We often have pairs get up but never more than that previously.  We ended up with 5 but gave the landowner one before we finished.





Abby, Sadie and Pop—all three in need of a rest after Pop and Sadie hunted three days in a row and Abby, two.


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## trad bow

Looks like another great hunt. Thanks for the pics. 
Jeff


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## mlandrum

You boys are Killin me, I'm gona try and sneek off Tomorrow afternoon


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## Jacob Segars

How do you think a lab would do on woodcock ? I live in front of a Creek & some bottomland and would like to give it a try if tangible. Thanks.

P.S always wanted a English cocker. On the dog breed checklist lol.


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## mlandrum

Jacob, I know a lot of Fellows that use Labs on snipe and woodcock but the key is training the Lab to NOT range  more than 15 yards from you or they'll flush the bird out of gun range. Drake never goes out gun range. I do not get in the entanglements  I stay where when I send him in the thicknesses I have a shot, seem to work for me


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## mlandrum

Drake and I had a great afternoon hunt today Drake flushed--- 1 White Tail Deer,  1 Snipe and 2- Woodcocks I managed to zero in on one of the Woodcock---- Great Job Drake!!!!


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## GLS

We had great expectations today having left a pile of birds behind the last time we went.  Expectations developed into a real cluster fest.   It started out with a wild flush out of a thicket.  We figured it would be behind the thicket and we walked around with the dogs in front of us, my Abby and Willa.  While watching the dogs work, one exploded from the ground five feet from me.  I got off two quick misses.  We worked the back edge of the thicket and Abby went on point.  I couldn’t get in fast enough and the bird got up on its own.  Sayonara.  Next up was a huge rivercane patch.  In spots, the cane is 12-15 feet tall and as big around as a 12 gauge shell.  Cane is bad enough, but it was laced with cat claw briars.   We are lucky to see the dogs 5 yards away.   Dogs out in front.  “I heard one get up, Floyd.”  It landed five feet from us with a “thunk’.  Up and away behind a tree just and I shot the tree.  Gone.  The bird, not the tree.    Later, my Garmin signaled Willa on point, 50 yards out.  We struggled through the cane and Floyd saw her 4 yards away, locked down.  Floyd got the shot, and it got away fast without a ruffled feather.  Minutes later, Abby’s bell stopped.  Both of us got there quickly.  I could see the bird five feet from her nose.  Floyd was positioned behind her perfectly as he could see it as well.  I went it.  The bird got up fast and just as fast dove down 25 feet away.  I got off a shot just as it dove.  Swing and a miss.    The dogs got over in the area where we thought it landed, but it either flown farther than we thought or had run and it took off without us seeing it as we heard  it twitter away.  We eventually got on the far side of the monster cane patch.  Abby’s bell stopped and I got a signal that she was on point, 50 yards into the cane.  I got to within 15 feet from Abby and Willa charged in with me yelling “whoa, whoa!” and I then tripped and promptly face planted on the soft loam and the bird got up and away.  I wasn’t too happy with Willa.   According to Floyd, the worst part of it was he didn’t get to see me face plant.  We should have never let Murphy in the truck.


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## mlandrum

WELL TODAY i CLOSED MY SEASON , I made my goal 8 birds and got one bonus This morning I went back where yesterday afternoon we flushed 4 but only flushed one but I made a shot on target  and Drake made a perfect retrieve!! After lunch Drake and I hit a river drain ditch where we flushed one thursday, as we went into the drain Drake went BIRDDIE  he was only 10 yards from me, as I searched the thicket floor in front of me I saw the woodie not 3 yards from me so I just let Drake work the scent but low and behold he flushed one where he was and I shot but missed but the bird by me just sat tight as Drake worked toward me the woodie got up but flew outside the drain I shot a nice tree but as the bird hooked left I put a good lead on him and shot barrel two and I couldn't tell if I connected as I Moved Drake out on the edge I cut him lose to hunt DEAD and a few minutes here he came with his prize--What a Season


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## GLS

Great photo!


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## mlandrum

Hey Gill, the birds just got here this week!!!! and the seasons over


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## GLS

What a difference a day and a change of location makes. We hunted civilized, head high rivercane today.  Shots were easier than yesterday and we found some birds, or more precisely, Pop and Sadie found the birds.  Floyd and Jeff in the photos to give some scale of the cane we were in today.  Tomorrow is season’s end in Georgia with SC out end of the month.  Work beckons, however.



Cane not as dense as yesterday’s.  Here’s Pop out about 5 yards.


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## mlandrum

Great Work fellows and great pictures!!!  What do we do NOW till next season?????  Well I'm going to get Drake Ready for his AKC SENIOR Hunting Degree so here we goTwo years ago he got his AKC Junior Degree  and I wanted to let him have a year of just hunting , My wife said," I thought hunting season was over!!" boy after 49 years seems they would get the picture


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## GLS

Are you kidding?  Quail and snipe until end of February and turkeys in March.  Gil


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## trad bow

Yep turkey season. Hopefully I’ll be released by doctor to start driving by then.


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## meh608

I killed 8 this season. Shot a limit this past Saturday.


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## mlandrum

Way to go 608!!! Glad to have you aboard  Great picture---- Do you have a DOG you use if so let's see it


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## coachdoug87

Enjoyed the Woodcock season. So much of the public land in North Georgia would be worthless to bird hunters if it wasn't for Woodcock. Now my dogs
will be back hunting released quail and those hard to find grouse.


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## mlandrum

Coach me and Drake will be hitting partridge in north  Georgia in February and maybe another in March but now sitting at the computer with feet in a vibrator trying to soothe this neurophrothy  (spelling bad) but it's feeling mighty good


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## GLS

608 and Coach, good to see your posts.  What dogs y'all using?  Gil


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## coachdoug87

My son and I both have young German Shorthairs.  I also still
  Have my old setter.  The dogs are what we love most about
 The sport.  I would love to hunt down in your part of the state
Sometime.  I have enjoyed reading of your posts this year.


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## GLS

Coach, thanks.  You are preaching to the choir about woodcock.  Gil


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## mlandrum

Hey fellows, you think these boots will make ONE-MORE woodcock season???? By the way this is the great "Bow-Flex " tape  after one season


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## GLS

We've got one, ,maybe two more hunts scheduled for SC next week.
Last year, in one large tract in SC we took over 20 birds.  This year, two.  We hunted this morning and didn't see  a bird.  The area was bone dry this year compared with previous years.  If it wasn't for hunting in Georgia, our season would have been very poor.  As it was, we were down in the numbers this year compared with the previous two years.  Gil


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## mlandrum

Gil, being my only second year hunting woodies. I started out my first two hunts in the same places I hunted last year and did not flush a bird? So moved to different locations and that's when Me and Drake got successful so I'm already looking at new places for this next season


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## GLS

It pays to have plenty of spots so that you don't put too much pressure in any one  area.  One of our best spots got wrecked by Matthew which destroyed the canopy in one of our historically best bottoms for woodcock laying the oaks down making it not only hard to hunt, but the additional sunlight affected the rivercane which became too sparse to hold birds.  Birds will be moving north soon.  Gil


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## nrh0011

a fine thread, enjoyed all the posts. Did some briar busting today but no woodcock to be found.


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## mlandrum

*Asty*

Got the woodcock machine cleaned up this weekend, after a NASTY-SNOWY W/C season----Getting 5 miles better in gas mileage!!!!


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## GLS

Our main hunting areas are often miles from the nearest towns.  It's an unnecessary time killer to leave the woods and hunt someplace to eat while out in the sticks.  Over the years our midday woodcock hunting break included hastily gobbled down ham and cheese or peanut butter and jelly sandwiches made at the last minute, tossed into a grocery bag with a few oranges or bananas,  a truck load of water for us and the dogs, and a 35 year old Nissan stainless steel vacuum bottle topped off with black coffee.  This year was a little different.  The sandwiches and liquids were always there,  but with the cold weather we had this year, I thought a hot meal would be better.    I bought both a 24 and a 48 oz. wide mouth stainless steel Thermos bottles.  Depending on whether it was just Floyd and me or if we took extra folks,  the size of the bottle differed.  The day before I'd cook up either venison chili, lentils and salmon stew, fish and oyster stew or chicken stew.  I'd heat it up in the morning and load the bottles after preheating them with boiling hot water.  I asked Floyd what he liked the best.  He picked the fish stew made from a tripletail and a pint of Bluffton oysters topped off at lunch with grated cheese.  The fish stew ingredients are simple:  onion, garlic, bay leaf or two, celery stalk, chicken or fish stock, diced onion, a pound of diced potatoes, a pound or more of cubed fish, seasoned with fresh thyme, salt and pepper and cooked for several hours.  The chicken stew was my favorite.  A whole chicken slow cooked in a crock pot, stripped down of bones and skin, placed in a large pot with braised carrots, parsnips, onions and seasonings with all stewed together for a couple of hours in the broth ladled in from the crock pot.  The salmon and lentil stew was a variation of the fish stew, but without the potatoes or chicken stock.  Thick, flavorful, and hearty.    Whatever the meal, all agreed that it sure beat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for a midday energy boost.  Gil


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## evan m

GLS said:


> Our main hunting areas are often miles from the nearest towns.  It's an unnecessary time killer to leave the woods and hunt someplace to eat while out in the sticks.  Over the years our midday woodcock hunting break included hastily gobbled down ham and cheese or peanut butter and jelly sandwiches made at the last minute, tossed into a grocery bag with a few oranges or bananas,  a truck load of water for us and the dogs, and a 35 year old Nissan stainless steel vacuum bottle topped off with black coffee.  This year was a little different.  The sandwiches and liquids were always there,  but with the cold weather we had this year, I thought a hot meal would be better.    I bought both a 24 and a 48 oz. wide mouth stainless steel Thermos bottles.  Depending on whether it was just Floyd and me or if we took extra folks,  the size of the bottle differed.  The day before I'd cook up either venison chili, lentils and salmon stew, fish and oyster stew or chicken stew.  I'd heat it up in the morning and load the bottles after preheating them with boiling hot water.  I asked Floyd what he liked the best.  He picked the fish stew made from a tripletail and a pint of Bluffton oysters topped off at lunch with grated cheese.  The fish stew ingredients are simple:  onion, garlic, bay leaf or two, celery stalk, chicken or fish stock, diced onion, a pound of diced potatoes, a pound or more of cubed fish, seasoned with fresh thyme, salt and pepper and cooked for several hours.  The chicken stew was my favorite.  A whole chicken slow cooked in a crock pot, stripped down of bones and skin, placed in a large pot with braised carrots, parsnips, onions and seasonings with all stewed together for a couple of hours in the broth ladled in from the crock pot.  The salmon and lentil stew was a variation of the fish stew, but without the potatoes or chicken stock.  Thick, flavorful, and hearty.    Whatever the meal, all agreed that it sure beat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for a midday energy boost.  Gil





Gil, thanks for the recipes.  The soups sound great, I will give them a try!

Evan


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## mlandrum

My all time favorite is SMOKED VIENNA SAUSAGE (of course Drake had his can also ) and a pack of CHEESE CRACKERS and ( of course Drake had his pack also). I hunt alone , so it's simply stop by the market load up with ice and pepsie hit McDonalds for breakfast and off we go to the woods! Now I only hunt on one plot of WMA so the distance is not a problm( Don't waste your breath and ask me which one please ??) Hang in there boys!!!!


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## GLS

Evan, tilapia works fine in the fish stew.  (I don't use oysters or shrimp often in the stew.  When I do, I add them the last 10 minutes before serving.)  After sauteing onions and garlic in the pot  to translucence with olive oil, add the cubed fish and rest of ingredients and cover with water, bring to a boil and simmer for an hour or two.  On the salmon/lentil stew, use the dried pound bag of lentils.  The lentils don't need pre-soaking and are done in an hour.  I use about a pound of skinless cubed salmon and add water as needed. Mike, that's one spoiled dog with his own crackers and can of Vienna sausage, but aren't they all?  
 Gil


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## GLS

The SC woodcock season closes out tomorrow.  Our season closed out today.  We had waited until today as the temps were down from yesterday, but unfortunately, the cold front arrived windy which gave the dogs fits.  We hunted my Abby and Willa and Floyd's Pop and Sadie.  We normally don't hunt 4 dogs, but since it was the last day for us, we gave it to the dogs.  I can imagine the panic of the woodcock, twittering "The Britts are coming."  The wind gave the birds the advantage.  We hunted private property near Floyd's which is less than 10 miles from where I live.  We hunted here 15 days ago and found a dozen birds in a little over an hour.  Today we found 5 birds, all wild flushes without a single point.  We managed one bird.  The area is threaded by a Tupelo swamp and is well known in this area as it goes on for miles across many property lines.  Here's a photo of the swamp.  Note the swelled butts of the tree trunks.  The Tupelo "butt swell"  was prized by old time Louisiana duck decoy carvers as it could be carved green without checking.  It is also the wood preferred by Floyd for carving his bird carvings.  He prefers to let it dry before carving.  He harvests the wood from this swamp.  Not only is Tupelo a preferred wood for carving, the tree produces blossoms loaded with nectar which attracts honey bees.  Tupelo honey is the gold standard of which all other honeys are judged.  There was a reason Van Morrison's song, Tupelo Honey, contained the line "she's as sweet as Tupelo honey."  The landowner's hives (called "gums" by old timers locally) are under this live oak which is a rock throw from the swamp behind the photographer.  I only had one other in range opportunity besides this bird.  Those who shoot the Ideal will understand the befuddled panic in attempting to take the safety off these guns on an unexpected flush.  I had one such flush today.  Abby had found a bird a 100 yards out.  It must have flown before I could get within 50 yards of Abby judging from my Fenix 3. Assuming it was the same bird, I suspect it landed between us and I almost stepped on it.  The safety flummoxed me.  After decades of shooting a tang safety, the Ideal's "off safety" direction operates in the opposite direction of a top mounted safety.  Below is a photo of the habitat surrounding the swamp.  No rivercane, but plenty of saplings.  I imagine this looks like some of the habitat in the north.  Well, to book end the woodcock season, I can't think of anything more fitting than a photo of one of Floyd's woodcock carvings, carved not only from Tupelo, but as sweet looking as tupelo honey.


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## trad bow

Beautiful country. Same type areas I use to hunt when I was able. That is a beautiful carving done by Floyd. This has been a great thread. 
Jeff


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## mlandrum

Well, though my season ended weeks ago, I'm anticipating a great season this coming December I've really enjoyed the thread on WC's this year. I've cleaned my WC killer (Yildiz O/O .20) for this season. I will be shooting some partridge  in February and March with my .20 S/S Yildiz and of course with" Drake" doing the flushing!!! Today got all my tails pinned down to get them ready for the mount!!


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## GLS

A few more by Floyd:


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## trad bow

That is some amazing talent Floyd has. Look like real birds.


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## swamppirate

GLS said:


> A few more by Floyd:



Truly amazing....


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