woodcock

almost nobody hunts them to eat. Somebody will chime in saying they're not that bad but overall...they're not very good.

Not sure what you mean by whats it like to hunt them. You're bird hunting - its a blast. Odds are your dog wont pick them up either. Some do some dont..
 
if you think that Doves are hard to hit, try Timberdoodles, lol.
 
i have shot a lot of them. true, some dogs rather retrieve something else but them some of them don't like dove or snipe either. i find that they taste no different then snipe or dove for that matter and quite enjoy them. they are wonderful at holding for the dog though some of them have been known to run. they flush and fly slow but tend to zig when you thought they were going to zag. they seem to have a smell that makes them easy to find. if you ever get the classic notion that you want to be a bird hunter, you have to forget about pheasants and try woodcock and a few ruff thrown in or you are just plain not.

cheers
 
We get woodcock for about two weeks as they migrate to Louisiana. Dogs point them boggy corners, in fence rows, looking for quail. I even got into a flight one year, must have been 50 birds! As far as eating.....I shoot them and I eat them, but I like liver too! You can tell when all the recipes are festooned with onion, garlic, marinate. Great sporting bird, and endangered as well, habitat decline. Ironically, they are now sought out by old quail hunters in Louisiana, the predominate wintering grounds, to have a bird to hunt, since the quail are virtually gone! In the old days, they were left alone on the wintering grounds.
 
oldandnew said:
We get woodcock for about two weeks as they migrate to Louisiana. Dogs point them boggy corners, in fence rows, looking for quail. I even got into a flight one year, must have been 50 birds! As far as eating.....I shoot them and I eat them, but I like liver too! You can tell when all the recipes are festooned with onion, garlic, marinate. Great sporting bird, and endangered as well, habitat decline. Ironically, they are now sought out by old quail hunters in Louisiana, the predominate wintering grounds, to have a bird to hunt, since the quail are virtually gone! In the old days, they were left alone on the wintering grounds.
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interesting!! in colorado, they don't exist, however they are in kansas esp. the eastern part but don't hear much about them. i grew up in new england and we had both the flight birds and some locals

cheers
 
UplandHntr said:
almost nobody hunts them to eat. Somebody will chime in saying they're not that bad but overall...they're not very good.

Not sure what you mean by whats it like to hunt them. You're bird hunting - its a blast. Odds are your dog wont pick them up either. Some do some dont..
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They are just a blast to hunt!. I love how they usually jump straight up in the air about three feet then rocket zig zag away. I shot a real nice one opening day of pheasant season here in Wisconsin in 2013 and got it mounted - they are cool and beautiful birds.

Oh, and like Mike said, my golden wanted nothing to do with it!
 
mustistuff said:
interesting!! in colorado, they don't exist, however they are in kansas esp. the eastern part but don't hear much about them. i grew up in new england and we had both the flight birds and some locals

cheers
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I am talking about western counties in Missouri and SE Kansas. Some wildlife biologist said that some woodcock nest here! I have never seen a brood. The woodcock society has an interactive map which shows the migration up and down the flyway. There are quite a few reports from the Joplin area, there must be a few diehards down there!
 
Very easy for any dog to handle them and imo they can be a very easy target or somewhat of a challenge, depending on the cover but usually the difficulty of shooting them is way overstated.

I personally like the taste of them and would compare it with dove, or teal.Which is about as good as it gets.
 
We've hunted them in north west wisconsin in old clear cut with thick new growth, they fly like a bat in that stuff. We pick up a few when we're grouse hunting along creeks and swamps at our cabin, they are a lot easier to hit where they don't have to dodge trees.
Probably the most fun bird to hunt behind a good pointer.
Also found a load of #6 works better than 7.5 or 8's in our area as the 6's seem to plow threw the twigs better.
Not much meat there but with liberal bag limits on them in wis you can make a meal.
 
UplandHntr said:
almost nobody hunts them to eat. Somebody will chime in saying they're not that bad but overall...they're not very good.

Not sure what you mean by whats it like to hunt them. You're bird hunting - its a blast. Odds are your dog wont pick them up either. Some do some dont..
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Mike, have you tried placing them in salt water over night? That will give them a mild(er) taste.

Nick
 
UplandHntr said:
Them????? I got my first one last Fall and you know what happened to that one!:thumbsup:
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If you've never ate them give it a chance. A lot of what you read about woodcock (or ducks) not being good is complete bs if you like dark meat with flavor.

I'll take a meal of woodcock over a meal of ruffed grouse any day.
 
UplandHntr said:
Them????? I got my first one last Fall and you know what happened to that one!:thumbsup:
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LOL....got it. Yeah, I had my pooch at the shop (the day I mounted him). I put your woodcock breast meat on the griddle with some salt and pepper and gave it to my dog as a little snack. He seemed to approve and wanted more:D.

Give the salt water thing a try the next time you get one and see what you think:)
 
wisturkeyhunter said:
If you've never ate them give it a chance. A lot of what you read about woodcock (or ducks) not being good is complete bs if you like dark meat with flavor.

I'll take a meal of woodcock over a meal of ruffed grouse any day.
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I'll send you my timber doodle if you want to send me you ruffs! Lol:cheers:
 
Try wrapping the breast halves in bacon with a piece of onion and grill till medium rare. WC are a dark meat bird like duck, if you over cook it tastes like liver. When done properly it tastes remarkably good.
 
keith207 said:
Try wrapping the breast halves in bacon with a piece of onion and grill till medium rare. WC are a dark meat bird like duck, if you over cook it tastes like liver. When done properly it tastes remarkably good.
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if you wrap them in bacon and then onions how would you know what they taste like anyway. i think they do taste good, over cooking them does not get you to liver taste it gets you to shoe leather. lol

cheers
 
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