WOODCOCK are here!!! Sarnia

I bought 7 chukar to work Gunner on yesterday. He did great on his finds, held point on 2 of them(not WHOA trained yet). Did a set of 3 and then 4 on the next set. He retrieved the 4 birds I shot great, the one gave him trouble cause it was still alive. It flailed in his mouth and got loose and started running,lol, there was no way he was letting it get away, so he pinned it and was about 10' from me figured good enough cause he was trying to make it stop moving... After we were done our session I figured I'd run him a bit more into some other parts of the property. All of a sudden he starts getting birdy (I figured maybe one of the chukar made its way over) all of a sudden up comes a woodcock, he broke to chase it and up came another one. Had a hard time getting gun loaded because I was so excited seeing the woodcock(and unexpected), but managed to get a shot off on the second flush.Gun fire to my dogs makes him turbo charged he loves it!!! After he was done thinking he could catch it I called him in...praised him and cast him off again, not even 5 minutes later up go 2 more(not same ones) By far this was the best day out afield this year! Wish everyone good luck on finding these crafty little buggers.

Cheers Ian

Yup, once you see robins, you can pretty well count on the woodcock coming in. That's awesome Ian.
Just as a suggestion Ian: You are going to have a more difficult time getting your dog steady if you shoot at birds he isn't yet steady on, especially if you kill them. "Whoa" is an obedience command and has it's place however keeping a dog reliably steady on point especially on wild birds, doesn't come from saying "Whoa" especially in early season (dense cover) when you can't see him anyway.
You may be perfectly happy with how he is right now and that is awesome but having killed birds over him is going to make your aspirations of steady-ing him up more work now. The woodcock will help teach him this too but you want to have him learn this at home/in training as well, to get the reliability.
If you make the investment up front, MANY more birds-in-the-bag will follow.
I'm just thinking of your dog Ian. He wanted me to tell you this. ;)
All the best and thanks for sharing the woodcock news!

Thanks Ugo, I will take what you have written into account next time out. So if I understand you right.....your saying when he's on point try and get in and flush the bird but if he bumps it do not take a shot? Just wanted to clarify I didn't shoot at the woody just wanted to associate the gun fire to birds...... Being a newbie to bird dogs and upland hunting, I think I get a little too excited.....so much going on and so much to watch for....

Hoggie, if you didn't get excited, I would feel bad for you! I think it is AWESOME that you are so passionate about what you are experiencing with your dog. When you lose this, you might try taking up golf. :)
Oh no...I wasn't insinuating you shot "at" the woodcock. I just think that even firing the gun can excite a dog to the point where he assumes that "So, this is how we play this game. I find them, root them out, then a gun goes off and I get to rip around after them! I LOVE this game!"
Ask more of your dog before you discharge your gun.....much more, and NEVER lose that passion Hoggie.

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Originally Posted by Ugo

Hoggie, if you didn't get excited, I would feel bad for you! I think it is AWESOME that you are so passionate about what you are experiencing with your dog. When you lose this, you might try taking up golf. :)
Oh no...I wasn't insinuating you shot "at" the woodcock. I just think that even firing the gun can excite a dog to the point where he assumes that "So, this is how we play this game. I find them, root them out, then a gun goes off and I get to rip around after them! I LOVE this game!"
Ask more of your dog before you discharge your gun.....much more, and NEVER lose that passion Hoggie.

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Great advice thanks a bunch Ugo, maybe we'll get out some time together.
Cheers Ian

Anytime Ian! I'd like that. Also, it's easier for me to show you stuff than try to explain it with text. I have failed miserably using the last method (text) of communication.
All the best Ian.

LOL, right on Ugo....me too. I'm not a theoretical learner by any means.

Went to one of my favourite spots to day and didn't see a bird. The aspen are more mature there now so maybe.... Will try spot #2 to morrow.

Heading out tomorrow pm for turkey scout. Hopefully the dog will find a few:)

I'm thinking of going for a bit of a hike Thursday with the dog. See if we can't put something up. Wouldn't mind finding a shed or 2 either...

I read all the exciting news about the Woodcock and I thought they must have a different hunting season than here . We can only hunt in the fall but there was so much excitement that I ask about it . It is the fall . I guess it is like Christmas for kids .Woodcock hunters start
getting excited 6 months ahead.

We enjoy giving our bird dogs some real wild birds to work on in the Spring. Can't do it long , as woodcock breeding starts in April, so we get pretty reved up for a few weeks.:)

Welcome to the forum.

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Originally Posted by Wood Witch

I read all the exciting news about the Woodcock and I thought they must have a different hunting season than here . We can only hunt in the fall but there was so much excitement that I ask about it . It is the fall . I guess it is like Christmas for kids .Woodcock hunters start
getting excited 6 months ahead.

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Sure sign of spring is when the woodcock so up not them pesky robins.

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Originally Posted by Cass

I'm thinking of going for a bit of a hike Thursday with the dog. See if we can't put something up. Wouldn't mind finding a shed or 2 either...

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Right on Cass. I've been hoping to find some sheds too, not that I'm training him to but if they're out there why not keep an eye open...

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Originally Posted by hoggie5692

Right on Cass. I've been hoping to find some sheds too, not that I'm training him to but if they're out there why not keep an eye open...

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Exactly. I never thought about training my guy to find them because I didn't want to distract him but he finds both fur and feather so I guess it probably wouldn't take anything away from his training, he'd just bring it to me and move on.

Just wanted to comment that this thread is a great example of how we can share information in a constructive, curteous manner. Congrats posters.

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Originally Posted by Cass

Exactly. I never thought about training my guy to find them because I didn't want to distract him but he finds both fur and feather so I guess it probably wouldn't take anything away from his training, he'd just bring it to me and move on.

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That's exactly how I see it too.

No luck yesterday. Try another spot tomorrow:)

Just got back from being out to day to a favourite spot. Saw 7 woodcock take flight over a 2 hour period. Dog managed to point one. They were very skittish.

Last day for me as I don't like to bother the birds after April 4th.