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.
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.
Drake was never shy about making sure that he too got his rub down and deburring.
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.
Lunch back at the truck was a very welcome break.
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.
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.
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.
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.
So it was a strange duck season for me. But a very good woodcock season...
Dani
I bet that once they get a nose full of the little buggers, there won't be any woodcock safe in the woods. 