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What do you guys think about the whole woodcock season in manitoba?
WOODCOCK
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Could be doable, haven't seen that many but i haven't really looked for them... see the odd one up here every now and again... to be honest i don't even really know what kind of habitat they like... Are they native here? Obviously there must be a decent population of them for a season to be introduced...
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I don't believe they are native but they like very think bush area, but will all of the bush area I have walked during deer hunting and for chickens, I have never even seen one, I think they should of waited a few more years to make the population increase even more.
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Seen quite a few of them in my area (south east) the last couple of years. They love to sit on the quad trails in my neighbor's bush, and fly up at the last possible second. Got a close-up trail cam video of one last week , if i didn't live in the stix and had a decent internet connection I would up-load it. :x Dial up SUCKS!
Woodcock are a migratory bird and subject to Federal laws and seasons. Great fun to hunt and excellent to train pointing dogs. The like thick river/creek bottoms, lowland with thick alder. They also need access to wet ground to feed. They dig worms out of soft ground with their long beaks. Very similar to a snipe but bigger. The thing is they are here today and gone tomorrow though, you need to hit the migration and that can last a week or 3 depending on weather. If the ground is frozen the can't feed.
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I'm pretty sure I came across one today while walking a cut line in my deer hunting area (public Interlake). My lab flushed it out and it took off away from us. I noted the odd orange plumage on it and suspect it was one.
Found a secluded meadow with a lot of good potential for whitetails later on too so its a bonus!
Found a secluded meadow with a lot of good potential for whitetails later on too so its a bonus!
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The dont like thick bush IMO. They prefer wet conditions where the soil is very saturated so they can dig there beaks in there and get worms and insects and such. Some of the best woodcock hunting i have had was in a grassy field with about 1 or 2 inches of water in the grass. Be ready they are super fast!
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As mentioned in another thread (thanks to Riggs' suggestion that it was a woodcock) I am 99% sure I shot one right near Hadashville on Monday.
We were hunting for grouse, and spotted what we thought was a grouse about 40 yards down a trail. It was hopping about in the leaves and dirt of the trail when I shot it. Didn't realize it wasn't a grouse until I got to within about 5 yards. Wish I had a camera with me to show you guys/confirm but it must have been a woodcock with the colouring and long narrow beak...
Anyways, it was dry as heck in the area! Only about 1 km from the river though (what is the river that flows by Hadashville?) so I guess they could be anywhere. First time I've ever seen anything like that around Hadashville, normally it's always just a 50/50 mix of ruffed and spruce grouse.
We were hunting for grouse, and spotted what we thought was a grouse about 40 yards down a trail. It was hopping about in the leaves and dirt of the trail when I shot it. Didn't realize it wasn't a grouse until I got to within about 5 yards. Wish I had a camera with me to show you guys/confirm but it must have been a woodcock with the colouring and long narrow beak...
Anyways, it was dry as heck in the area! Only about 1 km from the river though (what is the river that flows by Hadashville?) so I guess they could be anywhere. First time I've ever seen anything like that around Hadashville, normally it's always just a 50/50 mix of ruffed and spruce grouse.
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Unfortunately no pictures.
It definitely had the long narrow beak of a woodcock. Up close it had black spots all over it's otherwise brown feathers (not "2-tone" like I would describe grouse colouring) and underneath it's wings it had colouring. You could only really see the colouring when it's wings were open a bit, and I believe it was mostly blue with some orange... could be wrong on the colours from looking at so many google images trying to figure out what it was!
Anyways, unless grouse sometimes have long narrow beaks I don't think it could possibly have been one. Not sure what else it could have been around Hadashville?
It definitely had the long narrow beak of a woodcock. Up close it had black spots all over it's otherwise brown feathers (not "2-tone" like I would describe grouse colouring) and underneath it's wings it had colouring. You could only really see the colouring when it's wings were open a bit, and I believe it was mostly blue with some orange... could be wrong on the colours from looking at so many google images trying to figure out what it was!
Anyways, unless grouse sometimes have long narrow beaks I don't think it could possibly have been one. Not sure what else it could have been around Hadashville?
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JetsOrBust said:
PS -does anyone have a good way to tell apart ruffed/spruce grouse? Even holding them in my hands I can't tell the difference until I rip em apart and see the colour of the meat.
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Ruffed grouse will usually come in two color phases, grey or brown with the tail fan being quite large with a black, grey,brown or copper band accross the feathers. They will also have the ruffs around the neck.
Male spruce grouse are very dark, almost black, with a red band above the eye. The females are more molten brown and smaller. They are usually the ones that some mistake as a ruffed grouse. The tail feathers are not as large of a fan as a ruff and are black with a beige band across the feathers. hope this helps.
Male spruce grouse are very dark, almost black, with a red band above the eye. The females are more molten brown and smaller. They are usually the ones that some mistake as a ruffed grouse. The tail feathers are not as large of a fan as a ruff and are black with a beige band across the feathers. hope this helps.
We have seen quite a few out in our deer hunting area this year. Saw tons about 3 years ago in muzzle season, probably 20-30 in one field.
conditions in that spot that year were pretty wet, very willowy. they were getting up in front of me constantly.
hope i can knock a couple down this year. they are fast flying quick turning creatures though.
conditions in that spot that year were pretty wet, very willowy. they were getting up in front of me constantly.
hope i can knock a couple down this year. they are fast flying quick turning creatures though.
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Still afew hanging around in Southern Ontario, alot have migrated since the heavy frosts we've had over the last couple weeks.
After reading seeing and reading this, I might just try and put afew down tonight.
After reading seeing and reading this, I might just try and put afew down tonight.
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Shot one just east of wpg yesterday. Sort of in a marshy area, it walked right between us hiding in the long grass and our duck decoys in the water about 20ft away. Didn't seem to care that we were there, "what is that?" "is that a woodcock" "yea i think it is" "wanna shoot it" "are you sure it's a woodcock" "yea shoot it"
Had to wait until it moved out of the line so i didn't shoot my decoys.
Had to wait until it moved out of the line so i didn't shoot my decoys.
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