Duck...well more like woodcock....season 2016-17

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Danibeth
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Joined: February 25th, 2014, 9:58 pm

Duck...well more like woodcock....season 2016-17

Post by Danibeth »

Well, this past duck season was a really odd one. The hurricanes in September and October wreaked havoc upon some of our better areas for duck season and became devoid of ducks as a result this season, so THANK YOU Hermine and Matthew. Steve and I did have a couple of really good woodduck hunts early on but wood ducks being woodducks, they did a disappearing act pretty quickly. The ducks waited until the last week to put in an appearance, so there wasn't much point loading up the boat and all the gear associated with hunting the Gulf. Add in the fact that Steve has gone to the dark side and got a pointy dog instead of a duck dog. All of that combined to make me less than enthused about going to see if I can find ducks that might have been hiding out away from the crowds. BUT since I had a little luck last year and the conditions seemed right for a decent woodcock season in FL, I was quite happy to sleep in and head out chasing timberdoodles with my black dog, Steve and his new little rocket, B. Drake has turned into one helluva upland dog and has become an excellent Doodle Dog. We had high hopes for getting B onto quail and woodcock to let her begin figuring out hunting in FL.

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We hunted areas that are managed for quail and in managing those areas for quail, they're also pretty good wood cock spots. Plus there is the added bonus of wood ducks from time to time, and as we found on occasion some snipe.

I did get my and Drakes first limit of FL woodcock this year. And after that, it was like we were finding woodcock everywhere. That boy loves him some woodcock.

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B, as we already knew from MT, has some wheels under her. We would let her out of the truck to burn off a little steam while we loaded our packs and Drake did the c'mon c'mon c'mon c'mon c'mon you guys take FOOOOOOOOOOREVER dance. One of those days was on a field where B could run straight line for several hundred yards before hitting the woods. In the time it took us to put our packs on, grab our guns and lock the truck she had managed to run over a mile and a half and was still a blur. We started walking the field and she took off straight line away from us and Steve asked me how fast I thought she was going. Turns out that little rocket was running a steady 28 mph! That little lady can run. With all of her silky fur, she also is a burr magnet so snack breaks were often spent checking her over and removing burrs.

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Drake was never shy about making sure that he too got his rub down and deburring.

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One weekend, we parked and began walking some fields but then began wandering our way through from pond to pond in the woods, looking for another field edge to walk. We wandered and found woodcock and wandered some more and found more wood cock and wandered some more and I found a deer carcass with a nice 8 pt rack and then eventually we ended up on the edge of another field. At first we had no clue where we had ended up. We couldn't decide where exactly the truck was and knew with all the wandering and meandering that we did, we had probably meandered through the middle of a swamp that we weren't sure we'd be able to pick our way back the same way. We came upon a couple of guys driving the management area and when we stopped and asked them where we were they just kinda laughed a little and told us. They asked us where we were parked and when we told them, they almost yelled HOLY CRAP! That's all the way on the other side of the management area! How did y'all end up here?!?! It was a long walk back that day but quite the adventure.

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Lunch back at the truck was a very welcome break.

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Most weekends, B clocked in around 50-55 miles run for the weekend. I'm not sure how far Steve, Drake and I walked but it wasn't that much. Regardless, Drake was still a tired boy each afternoon and we normally had had at least opportunities to shoot woodcock, woodduck and snipe.

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We searched all season for the elusive quail. We did finally find a covey on the last weekend and B had several nice points on them. Too bad we weren't able to get a picture but wild quail in FL don't hold, especially when they've been pressured hard.

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I never figured when I first stumbled across my first woodcock, about 8 years ago while I was in the spring turkey woods and I had to chase it and jump it several times before I figured out what the heck that weird bird was, I never figured that I'd be happy skipping duck hunting in favor of chasing those little fellers but I have fallen in love with woodcock. FL may not get the numbers that other states get but when the conditions are right up north, we can have days where we might see a dozen flushes while out in the woods. The trick is making the most of those flushes.

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When the season ended, it was a sad day but it was such a good season that it gives me something to look forward to and hope that this year we will again get that perfect set of conditions and the woodcock will find their way to florida again in good numbers.

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So it was a strange duck season for me. But a very good woodcock season...

Dani
silverking
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Re: Duck...well more like woodcock....season 2016-17

Post by silverking »

Excellent post, Danibeth. Love your detailed descriptions and the photos are great too.

Love the dog aspect of bird hunting, but I guess Zane my Rottie and I will have to be content with chasing fishes.
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Salty Gator
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Re: Duck...well more like woodcock....season 2016-17

Post by Salty Gator »

Thanks for posting. I've still never flushed a woodcock but my cockers were bred for it ( where the name cocker comes from). We will probably have a better opportunity next year, got some new land to hunt. Is B a Llewelyn setter? I guy I've been working dogs with has 6. Neat dogs
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Danibeth
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Re: Duck...well more like woodcock....season 2016-17

Post by Danibeth »

Thanks guys.

David, maybe we can catch up next season and see about finding some woodcock. It'd be fun to watch your cockers discover them, and we can always have Drake along to help show em how it's done :-D I bet that once they get a nose full of the little buggers, there won't be any woodcock safe in the woods.

B is a Berg Brothers Setter from up in Minnesota and I do not believe there is any Llewelyn in her bloodline. Here's a shot from when she was about five months old (last August). She is a very stylish young lady. She's grown to be taller than Drake by about 2 inches but she only weighs in around 44 lbs.

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Blue spinner
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Re: Duck...well more like woodcock....season 2016-17

Post by Blue spinner »

thanks for the post
that is a good looking dog
i always loved chasing birds from south Georgia to
washington st when i was growing up I was the dog for many years and it did not matter if it was in the middle of winter
if they shot a duck i had to go get it in the water
so i have had Britten's for the past 38 years i still have one left she is
12 years old
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Salty Gator
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Re: Duck...well more like woodcock....season 2016-17

Post by Salty Gator »

Thanks Dannibeth. Let's get after em next year
Catholic girl pray for me, you’re my only hope for heaven
DixieReb
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Re: Duck...well more like woodcock....season 2016-17

Post by DixieReb »

Thanks for the good read. I wish quail hunting was as good now as when I remember it growing up. Not near as many birds out there now.
Yours in the South
redbelly7
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Re: Duck...well more like woodcock....season 2016-17

Post by redbelly7 »

When growing up, I could ride around and see multiple coveys of quail in an afternoon. Had pointers from high school, finding several coveys per day) age to about 35 years old, when you could hunt all day and find maybe one covey. Between predators, other animals eating their food and farming practices, the quail are almost extinct. I wish my kids could have enjoyed wild bird flushing as it is much more exciting than pen raised birds. Nice looking dogs. I have English Cockers and put birds out for them to flush each year, so they can enjoy some hunts.
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