Aldeer.com Forums Alabama Deer Talk AL Wingshooters Any woodcock hunters in here??

I'd like to get my dog on some woodcock after deer season. I've pheasant and quail hunted most of my life, and flushed some woodcock rabbit hunting but never out right hunted them. My question is what kind of terrain do I need to be hunting? Can I scout for them in any way? Last but not least, I'd like to hunt them when it's fairly cold due to the fear of my dog getting snake bit. so, what are yall's opinions on the best temperatures to chase these dang birds?

I don't think you can hunt them during any other time than the fall/winter if you are concerned about snakes, but on a mild day like many we have had this year you would need to watch out.

Never hunted them. I've seen snipe/woodcock in swampy areas and along hardwood creek bottoms. I've seen snipe on occasion in shallow flooded fields. You never see them until they've seen you and they fly off and squawk right when they get up.

I used to just walk around and flush em and shoot. Walking up rabbits, quail, woodcock. I remember finding some in a year old cutover with a little creek running through it. It was a long time ago though.

Find a damp, flooded overgrown old field/pasture that holds moisture in the winter and they'll be there.

Low areas with a few inches of water. I have only walked them up and usually kill more snipe than woodcock. I had a lot of doing this when I was a boy. Snipe will circle and give you another shot.

Thanks for all the advice!

Mark where they land, they won't fly far.

Really wet lowland dense hardwood stands. If you can't swing a gun and you are struggling to walk, you're in about the right habitat. Back in the 80's used to kill them at Seven Mile Island in the thick woods, the snipe were on the mud flats.
One thing, Woodcock season will be closed when deer season ends. This year it runs December 16-January 29.

I've flushed a few woodcock, now and then, never hunted them, though. As has been mentioned, I always flushed them near water and in wooded areas...they also seem to wait until there's a tree between you and them before they flush.

Hunted tons of snipe...harvested peanut or soybean fields with a good sized area of shallow standing water, is where we always found them...pretty much the same places you see killdeer at, they're usually there together.

I hunt them here in Monroe and Escambia county. Here are a few pics of some of the habitat we hunt. We find them also when quail hunting. The pic of the snipe (which I also like to hunt) is for comparison, woodcock are much larger than snipe and you rarely see them in the same areas. Snipe like more open, low areas.

5 man limit with a couple of doves




Snipe


Dogs on Woodcock point




Quail and woodcock


Point!

Those are some great pics! I'm surprised there is a place in Monroe Co where you can find that many woodcock. We used to kill them pretty often quail hunting back in the 60s and 70s but it was always just one or two a trip. We had one quail dog that refused to point a woodcock, but most of them would.

plenty of places here to find them. We are basically on the end of the flyway here. I have a few places that ive shot them since the late 70s when i first started hunting. We dont have the numbers like LA, but there is enough to keep it interesting. Ive found the best hunting is the day of and two days after a front. I had a hunt around this time last year after a front in the River swamp, I had 19 points in 45 min.
That doesnt happen often, but thats world class Woodcock hunting.

Looks like I need to get out there. Thanks man

AFO123 thanks so much for the post and pics, I enjoyed that. Fine looking dogs as well.

Last year woodcock season lasted until feb 28th if I remember correctly. Why the reduction of season length this year??

I didn't know anything about woodcock until I read some of Steven Rinella's books the past week. Sound like they would be fun to hunt. I may have to try to figure that out sometime soon.

Good looking pup, nice pics from some good hunts

A friend from PA comes thru on his way to LA to hunt woodcocks, some times he stops if were seeing woodcocks. He keeps up with the season numbers of flushes. He uses an old wooden counter, pretty cool to keep up with such. He and his Brittanies have a blast.

cartervj that sounds like quite the time!

I always run up on then in low areas with river birtch and willows