by Wayne Selfridge

     In most cases they'll fly vertically like a rocket until they clear cover before taking off in horizontal flight.   "What the heck is a woodcock?" the uninitiated will ask when I describe an upland hunt for partridge made even more successful by bagging a few timberdoodles in the process.   Then when I describe this ridiculous looking bird with a lopsided body configuration, bulging eyes on top of its head, pencil beak with a flexible tip, and barely enough meat to hold in a clutched fist, they wonder why the species gets any hunting attention at all.

     The answer to the woodcock's status as a premier upland bird, that is officially in the migratory bird status, rests in the shooting sport that it offers.

     Unlike partridge or pheasant, which are large targets that often are seen before the flush as they try to run away or dodge for ground cover; woodcock stay tight, depending on blending in to their surroundings, then flushing close when the proximity of danger is imminent.   They are not inclined to sprint making themselves vulnerable to ground sluicers, or perching in trees like a proverbial sitting duck.   Their camouflage is perfect, their patience admirable and their compact size makes them hard to hit.

     As if all that isn't enough to make an accomplished wing shooter shudder, they also fly an erratic flight pattern of an evading stealth fighter.   Then, even if one is marksman enough to down one of these lofty birds, their mottled earth-tone-colored plumage makes them near invisible and hard to locate on the leaf-strewn woodland floor.

     These migratory birds, which do not require migratory stamps to hunt despite their designation, have a few bad habits that can benefit the shotgunner.   First, they are nocturnal migrators, feeding and resting during the day when we're afield.   Secondly, a partridge may fly out of sight when jumped, woodcock instead will fly a short distance, maybe 25 yards before alighting for a possible follow-up second chance.   Finally, don't expect this secretive bird to bust through brush in its hasty getaway.   In most cases they'll fly vertically like a rocket until they clear cover before taking off in horizontal flight.   It's at this momentary suspended transition when they are most susceptible to a patient hunter's shot.

     As for habitat, I look for pure young stands of birch and poplar interspersed with small clearings and not-to-dense undergrowth.   For whatever reason, when I find these second-growth dry woodland pockets on high terrain bordered by open fields this sporty gamebird is more abundant.   The second or third week of October, depending on the frost conditions that may freeze the ground and prevent them from probing for their favorite meal of worms, is prime hunting time in Aroostook County.   If the flights are in I'll concentrate on woodcock, returning to partridge when the migration wanes. 

     Unfortunately, woodcock populations have been steadily declining over the years.   Several states continue long-term studies that indicate two factors in their plummeting numbers.   With the clear-cut logging practices no longer popular, stands of their  favorite birch/poplar habitat that usually grows from these cleaned areas no longer exist.   Instead, mixed growth is present, not favorable to this environmentally sensitive bird.   As a result, woodcock are confined to smaller forest parcels where they are more vulnerable to predation.

     Biologists in the southern wintering states, and researchers in the nesting states such as Maine, now recognize these reasons for this gamebird's decline.   I hope balanced land-use changes that allow for additional pockets of timberdoodle habitat will return  this wing sport to where it once was. 

~Wayne Selfridge is a seasoned outdoorsman who has hunted and fished throughout the world as a military veteran. He works in law enforcement and also serves as the Sporting Journal's Northern Sales Manager. He is also a member of the Friends of Aroostook National Wildlife Refuge.

© 2000 Northwoods Sporting Journal