bell 3,505 Posted December 16, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 16, 2015 Lol.......it's a new one on me a woodcock in a tree Neil, well done. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
fat man 4,740 Posted December 28, 2015 Report Share Posted December 28, 2015 Had a good couple of hours on the woodcock recently only prob was i was alone and although the springers flushed about 10 i came away with 4,had my shooting buddy been with me we would have had a good morn.There seems to be plenty about this year even though we have had no frosts as yet,nothing only f***ing rain but plenty of snipe to be seen aswell.The area around me is ideal woodcock ground with birch woods and plenty of bog and scrub land. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
greenshank1 406 Posted December 31, 2015 Report Share Posted December 31, 2015 There's very few about with us as its been so mild. The Scottih Gamekeeper Association ,SGA are asking all their members show restraint on how many they shoot this year and shoot later once migrant birds have arrived as the latest surveys by game conservancy wildlife trust have shown numbers have significantly dropped in recent years , from 2003 to 2013 -numbers have dropped by around 29%. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
fat man 4,740 Posted January 2, 2016 Report Share Posted January 2, 2016 Had a good couple of hours on the woodcock recently only prob was i was alone and although the springers flushed about 10 i came away with 4,had my shooting buddy been with me we would have had a good morn.There seems to be plenty about this year even though we have had no frosts as yet,nothing only f***ing rain but plenty of snipe to be seen aswell.The area around me is ideal woodcock ground with birch woods and plenty of bog and scrub land. Out at the w-cock again this morn,started off great with both myself and my shooting buddy having 1 apiece in the 1st 20min but then the weather took a big change and the heavens opened.We carrier on for about another half hour and put out another couple of birds but could not get a shot off as we were in heavy cover.We were soaked to the bone at this stage so decided to call it a day,plenty of woodcock about and we really had only started on the ground we were on,hopefully tomorrow the weather will be kinder. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bell 3,505 Posted January 2, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 2, 2016 Still nice to be out after them FM....I'm away to the west coast of Scotland in a couple if weeks for a few days chasing them, always do ok with a few snipe and teal thrown in the mix. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
neil cooney 10,415 Posted January 3, 2016 Report Share Posted January 3, 2016 (edited) Covered a lot of good ground yesterday for a few pheasants and put up maybe one Woodcock, didn't get a great I.D., but haven't seen many lately so they've definitely moved in land. Pigeons are in in their 1000s though and two friends had the first few Wigeon of the year during the week. That sounds real nice Bell, good luck. Edited January 3, 2016 by neil cooney Quote Link to post Share on other sites
fat man 4,740 Posted January 6, 2016 Report Share Posted January 6, 2016 Had a great afternoon on Sunday,only out for about 11/2 hour and came home with 2 cock pheasants,1 woodcock,and 1 mallard drake,ground i was shooting was mostly bog land with little birch plantations scattered about.I would say the pheasants were pushed into it earlier that morn as its not pheasant country,flushed a few woodcock but only 1 presented a shot,the drake was an exceptional size,big green head on him. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
fireman 10,774 Posted January 10, 2016 Report Share Posted January 10, 2016 (edited) Was out on a beating line on an estate in suffolk yesterday and saw 35 woodcock throughout the day,all were from 5 woodland drives as were the 4 foxes seen ,but those got me in the door and out over checking holes as soon as the weathers rough enough to drop them in . Edited January 10, 2016 by fireman 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bell 3,505 Posted January 10, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2016 Good numbers Fireman, any shot ? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
fireman 10,774 Posted January 11, 2016 Report Share Posted January 11, 2016 Good numbers Fireman, any shot ? 4 were mate ,i've stopped shouting them forward as i felt real bad when i did last year and it got shot as the poor thing had flown miles to be there and looked so fragile in amoungst the other game .I know i was there to flush game but these guns should keep their eyes open more on what's flying over head than trying to show off to the totty stood by their side(was very nice totty though )and 12 flew over guns in front of me that if i'd called them they may well have got a bead on them ... 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
fat man 4,740 Posted January 16, 2016 Report Share Posted January 16, 2016 We had a brilliant day on the woodcock today.1st we went to a local estate to see out local fox hounds meet and after having a look at them and a bit of a chat with a few people the hounds headed off and we headed of for our own destination which is mainly bogland dotted with small birch strips of woodland maybe 50yds wide and they run about 3-4 hundred yds in lenght and ideal for holding woodcock.The 1st strip we flushed 9 birds from it accounting for 4 and 1 teal from a small drain.The 2nd strip was much the same with plenty of woodcock and we shot another 3 in this and as we made our way back around to the 3rd we noticed that someone were in before us as we could here a dog whistle and then my mate seen a dog on the outside of the cover.We then moved over in the opposite direction to another wood that is about 150 yds wide and maybe 200 yds long but very tight cover in this so the springers had to really work hard in this place which they did and although they flushed about another 5-6 birds shooting was difficult with them in deep cover but we did manage another 2 plus on our way back out my mate shot a nice mallard drake that got up off another drain so all in all a good days sport was had,only a couple of weeks left so hope to get out as much as possible,long time until next september again. 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Waz 4,212 Posted January 18, 2016 Report Share Posted January 18, 2016 Saw my first of the season yesterday. Hope I can get time for a wander today. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jude 83 Posted January 23, 2016 Report Share Posted January 23, 2016 where I am in central Scotland, the place I have permission has been good for woodcock this season mainly made up of gorse, bracken ect but they have suddenly disappeared, went from seeing up to double figures in a day to absolutely nothing. the only reason I can think of has been because of the frost, snow ect thinking they would have probably moved nearer the shore. was out again today and yet again never seen a single one and the frost has been away a good few days. anybody else found this? cheers, jude Quote Link to post Share on other sites
fireman 10,774 Posted January 23, 2016 Report Share Posted January 23, 2016 Was out on the suffolk shoot today and clicked 64 woodcock on the clicker and 28 ended up in the game larder,15 were put away yesterday on the family's walk up day on the same place.. Plenty still about down this way 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
willum 89 Posted January 23, 2016 Report Share Posted January 23, 2016 Been out on a shoot suffolk way last few weeks beating and a few days shooting nice habbit great big woods with some good wet areas and marshland but not seen any great numbers 3 today couple last week but been out with the night vision and thermal spotter on another estate nearer the suffolk coast and seen more that way at night than during the day funny little birds always leave them be not my cuppa tea shooting them 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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