Ontario woodcock reports 2014

[krawler]

Weekend being fri-sat, no hunting sunday.

[welsh]

Four flushed this morning, two in the bag. Another bonus pheasant.

Disappointing numbers on the woodcock. They really are spotty south of 401.

[huntervinni]

Four flushed this morning, two in the bag. Another bonus pheasant. Disappointing numbers on the woodcock. They really are spotty south of 401.

Where you able to determine if the ones you bagged were males or females?

[welsh]

Well, bill length was roughly equal to a Canadian $20, which is slightly wider than a US $1, so they look like females.

[sidelock]

I've never seen so many

Sounds like an isolated experience judging by the majority of the comments posted in this thirteen page long thread. I've been out a few times and have never seen so few, granted I don't hunt during deer week.

[finsfurfeathers]

Sounds like an isolated experience judging by the majority of the comments posted in this thirteen page long thread. I've been out a few times and have never seen so few, granted I don't hunt during deer week.

Its the curse or blessing of hunting woodcock. Big numbers often result in a big push in the migration resulting in a shorter season. With a long fall we are having its a unpressured migration resulting in fewer birds per outing yet a longer season. The best day for numbers I can remember was told too me by my father. Was a thanksgiving weekend and at the end of the hunt they had a 4 man limit of woodcock. Heck the cops even showed up because they got reports that it was like the forth of july. The following weekend not a bird to be found season over. This year pretty much every outing produced a few birds and I'm sure If you went out you would still find birds around.

[welsh]

This year, I have found less than half the number of birds I found last season, and by this point last year my season was essentially over. The difference was than in the last week of October last year we were having double digit numbers ... check last year's woodcock discussions here and you will find people flushing 20, 30, even 40 birds in a morning. The following week I recorded my last woodcock of the season, just two birds in a day. Some years you're still seeing birds in December.

[Lor79]

Was out yesterday north of Barrie and didn't put up any. Defintely not a great year for me, probably the lowest numbers I've seen in about 12 years or so. As stated by others, end of October last year was great, 30-40 flushes in one day ... they all migrated at the same time. Funny enough, walking into my building at work today, (Mississauga), I saw a dead one on the floor that must have hit the building!

[joe16]

Did you eat it lol?

Some people are recording a lot of plushies still and I am wondering if they just have not moved locations but still in the area and hence why you did not see any where near the numbers you did last year?

[sidelock]

This year, I have found less than half the number of birds I found last season, and by this point last year my season was essentially over. The difference was than in the last week of October last year we were having double digit numbers ... check last year's woodcock discussions here and you will find people flushing 20, 30, even 40 birds in a morning. The following week I recorded my last woodcock of the season, just two birds in a day. Some years you're still seeing birds in December.

I concur with the low numbers this year.