The Woodcock..A Curious & Interesting Bird

While a boy many times I unexpectedly came upon a woodcock while roaming the woods and along the borders of rivers and streams.

The woodcock is a most interesting and curious bird, and when I would flush one from under the willows near some favorite feeding place or resort of the bird, in a few days I would happen around to the same locality again to see if the bird was still frequenting his old haunt.

Almost invariably the bird would be flushed from nearly the same spot. Sometimes it would not be far from human habitation. In later years I spent considerable time hunting woodcock and became well acquainted with their many peculiarities and strange habits.

The peculiar whistle of the woodcock's wings as he flushes is a little different than that of any other game bird, and once heard is never forgotten. Sometimes a woodcock will be flushed in the fall from an orchard or from the side of a hill in the timber where there was not much underbrush, but probably a little creek not far distant.

The woodcock feeds largely at night and often the hunter will see one flit by like a shadow on his way to some feeding place. His flight at such times is very silent and almost ghostly.

Old Jack, my star duck dog, was the best dog for woodcock hunting I have ever seen. If there were any birds in the locality, he would soon find them, no matter how warm the weather or how dense the cover.

Boat Duck Blind E-Z Up

Back to Duck Hunting Page

Top of Woodcock Page