Gunning for long bills

[MariamOOD]

https://oodmag.com/gunning-for-long-bills/

If you like wing shooting, it’s worth the effort to find some woodcock. Hunt for them this fall with these tips on location, retrieving, and more.

[anglodrkns]

Thats a a great little article

[finsfurfeathers]

yes it is though the shooting isn't what makes the woodcock hunt great is working them with a good gun dog that makes it awesome. Article could of focused on that more.

[Fenelon]

Surprised there’s no mention of the crisis that the species is in! We lost 50% of the population that existed in 1968. The annual population decline has accelerated from an average of -.85% per year to now almost 2.5% per year for the last decade. Some people I know already question whether it’s ethically sound to hunt whats left. We’ll be down to one quarter of the former 1968 population in another decade. I wonder at what point the hunt will be shut down due to conservation concerns. I’m glad I got to hunt them 45 years ago !

[trimmer21]

Surprised there’s no mention of the crisis that the species is in! We lost 50% of the population that existed in 1968. The annual population decline has accelerated from an average of -.85% per year to now almost 2.5% per year for the last decade. Some people I know already question whether it’s ethically sound to hunt whats left. We’ll be down to one quarter of the former 1968 population in another decade. I wonder at what point the hunt will be shut down due to conservation concerns. I’m glad I got to hunt them 45 years ago !

That's definitely not good news. Where did you find the data? I understood the only reason we could hunt them was because of the population rebound.

[finsfurfeathers]

Its not all doom and gloom. Hunting for them is as good as ever.

[Fenelon]

Its not all doom and gloom. Hunting for them is as good as ever.

I assure you that hunting for Woodcock is most definitely “not good “as ever. You must be shorter in the tooth than me, and never had the privilege to hunt Woodcock back when the population was more than double what it is now. It was incredible. You didn't
need a dog to easily shoot a limit. In good habitat you would be flushing two to four birds in 150 yards of walking. Even better if you had a dog. No need for a pointing breed. The family Lab was all I ever used. When I was twelve my buddy had an Irish Setter that was dumb as a garden shovel but it had pure pointing instinct. We never trained him but that dog was good. We used to roar laughing as kids because he would lock up before he even got into the swamp. He’d keep doing it when you were trying to leave the bush before dark. Fall migration was so big you had a couple of months of good hunting. We also had healthy Ruffed Grouse populations back then and you could usually get shooting at at least a dozen birds in a two hour hunt in good habitat. Find any stand with middle aged poplar or shrub willow, with a conifer understory, and the ground was solid white paint during migrations. We ’d sit out in lawnchairs in spring at dark when we were kids and you would see and hear non-stop peenting and displays.
Sadly the sky was full of bats as well. There is no good news for the status of the remaining continental population. It will only continue to decline. My bet is that the current loss of 2.5% per year will dramatically increase with time. We will see the effects of climate warming and the loss of more habitat as we pour more concrete for the world population that will double again in 30 years! I’ll be long gone by then, but I’m pretty sure the “young” readers on this forum will see the extirpation of the species in their time.

[finsfurfeathers]

I assure you that hunting for Woodcock is most definitely “not good “as ever. You must be shorter in the tooth than me, and never had the privilege to hunt Woodcock back when the population was more than double what it is now. It was incredible. You didn't
need a dog to easily shoot a limit. In good habitat you would be flushing two to four birds in 150 yards of walking. Even better if you had a dog. No need for a pointing breed. The family Lab was all I ever used. When I was twelve my buddy had an Irish Setter that was dumb as a garden shovel but it had pure pointing instinct. We never trained him but that dog was good. We used to roar laughing as kids because he would lock up before he even got into the swamp. He’d keep doing it when you were trying to leave the bush before dark. Fall migration was so big you had a couple of months of good hunting. We also had healthy Ruffed Grouse populations back then and you could usually get shooting at at least a dozen birds in a two hour hunt in good habitat. Find any stand with middle aged poplar or shrub willow, with a conifer understory, and the ground was solid white paint during migrations. We ’d sit out in lawnchairs in spring at dark when we were kids and you would see and hear non-stop peenting and displays.
Sadly the sky was full of bats as well. There is no good news for the status of the remaining continental population. It will only continue to decline. My bet is that the current loss of 2.5% per year will dramatically increase with time. We will see the effects of climate warming and the loss of more habitat as we pour more concrete for the world population that will double again in 30 years! I’ll be long gone by then, but I’m pretty sure the “young” readers on this forum will see the extirpation of the species in their time.

Kind of feel bad you hunted in the glory days and have become so demoralized. Fortunately for me came on in on the tails of the next generation. Still have a 2 month window of good hunting. A dozen point day is the norm. On the up side hunter competition is near zero and pretty much have the birds to myself.

[trimmer21]

Kind of feel bad you hunted in the glory days and have become so demoralized. Fortunately for me came on in on the tails of the next generation. Still have a 2 month window of good hunting. A dozen point day is the norm. On the up side hunter competition is near zero and pretty much have the birds to myself.

20ga IC with #7 shot?

[finsfurfeathers]

20ga IC with #7 shot?

yup 20g with 71/2 upfront and #6 as backup though toying with the idea of going 28 g over/under