I did know they feed at night, (as well as during the day), so I guess I misspoke in saying "roost" as a general term for where birds go at dusk.

I have hunted woodcock a little with good sucess with a couple of people who had good dogs.

they're still flocking to the foodplots a little before dark. My FIL went up to one of my stands yesterday evening and shot a quick limit.

I don't see many flocking in until after legal shooting hours.

those suckers are everywere this time of year...never realy think about shooting them... looks like a field lark with a snipe beak lol

Moved one bird on the Davy Crockett NF in 2.5hrs of hunting. May have done better but flagged off by a deer hunter. Was able to drive around and scout some promising areas. Hunting again Monday/Tuesday, probably split between TX and LA.

Going tomorrow and Sunday Hoping to do some good again but wont have connectivity until Sunday evening. Hoping for an optimistic report .......limits x 2.
B Good all

Took my young GSP. She is only very lightly trained but pointed and flushed (it's kinda all one motion with her) two woodcock this afternoon. Too thick for any hope but I busted air at one just so she could get the idea of what we were doing. She's a natural hunter and worked the woods like a champ. Really fun to watch and all in all a great day. Hoping to actually get a couple tomorrow. If we do I will be ecstatic. Will mount one with a photo of her on point below it.

Hope I didn't jinx myself.

Used to see them up around here, but haven't in many years. I have shot one in my life.

Good luck to everyone. It's ducks and snipe this weekend for me (and grandkids), then work all week ... then back to woodcock for the final week of the season.

Well dang my dog flushed 5 before I finally hit one! Never been so excited about a durn bird in my life.

Sure has been picture perfect weather these past two days. Really nice to be out.

Here's the bird. Very pretty.

That is pretty dang cool.

Ok. Missed Saturday morning but hunted Saturday afternoon and this morning. Had some help and we got 8 total. Missed a lot! Tikka pointed a bunch of birds. What a fun time and great to get some more birds in front of a young bird dog. By George, i think shes got it!

Ok, 1 more w Jon and Tikka......Im the older Dude. 49 but i still got it.

Here's my Jenny looking kinda disappointed that I could only hit one.

NP, you killing yours in Navarro or Nac cty?

Big congrats on those birds.... very jealous here !!!

AB my place is in Houston county between Crockett and Lufkin near a little community called Nogalus Prairie.

I have had my place 7 years now and would occasionally flush a bird here and there in Dec/Jan. I got my GSP just for the purpose of hunting them and this was her first time. So a very special and fun couple of days for both of us.

NP. Like that shotgun and Jenny. I used my Benelli SBE2 12 gauge last hunt and tried my old Browning BPS this weekend. 20 gauge, straight stock and 21" barrel. I did better w the quicker, shorter 20. Like carrying a pellet gun and a pretty quick stabber.


I saw a hunting show one time where people hunting in the NEast were using shotguns w the chokes cut off (legal length) to like 19"s w no choke left in the barrel. They take this WC hunting thing really serious. Anyway, all the hunters had custom cut off shotguns. Also i joined the Ruffed Grouse Society as they provide migration maps on woodcocks. You can report activity in the area you hunt. I wont though. Be interesting to know what shotguns people in this post r using????

Ok, finally........Tikka at the end of a hunting weekend.



Nuff said.

I grew up in Nacgdoches and the quail were just about gone by the mid-80s. Alot of the men still had dogs and I heard many tales of hunting over them. But was just never my thing.

But this experience and posts like Sniper John's with Dash have me thinking about a new avocation as I get closer to my retirement years.

Jenny is not trained other than in the very basics but her instinct is to find birds and she does it well. She stays close to me so even though she hold her points for about 3-5 seconds and then flushes the birds I am nearly always in shooting range when the birds flush. Woodcock hold very tight.

When she was about 7 months old and running around our 10 acres here in Navarro county she locked up on a point and then flushed what I believe to be the last remaining quail in the county. They just have it in them.

I can't imagine how cool it would be to train and hunt over "professional" dogs. I can easily see how it gets in one's blood. I was as happy when that woodcock fell as when my last big buck fell. Maybe more since we had probably walked 10 miles over those two days.

Thanks MBK. That is a 28 gauge Ruger Red Label O/U. I used #9 shot. Like Tikka,Jenny slept like a rock both at the farm and when she got home too.

Tikka is beautiful.

All over that. Proudest of the time and the dog. Think my first year of woodcock hunting (5 days) has me hooked.
With the quail situation the way it is, i bet more people start hunting them.
Looked up Texas wc hunting and sounds like, historically, a big year is 3,000 to 5,000 bird harvest.

Here's my "Nite Nite" pic. At the farmhouse.

I love white GSP's. mine was ticked/roan I guess. Ok, now I have 1 regret. Why didn't I get a pic of Tikka on point?

Maybe I will go back this year? Maybe not. Guess I erred on the side of repetition w a 15 month old dog. Want her to remember it.

MBK here's Jenny on a sort of "fake" point. She's really just smelling where some hogs had been out in the pasture. Thus her tail is not out. She didn't like the hog smell and would stay even closer to me for a while if she smelled them in the woods.

I was too busy trying to shoot a dang bird to take one of her on a real point. Maybe next time.