woodcock

ferrete

out today (this morning) rough shootig and never encountered as many woodcock there are everywhere and im telling you tey are hugh i cant believe the size of them this year. anyon else notice this even the snipe are hugh

cavan shooter

The usual haunts I have for woodcock are not producing this year, but other spots I have found are fairly productive, with the weather I have found them close to running water or higher up the valleys away fromf rozen ground

homerhop

Put up a few the other day with the pup, they seemed in good condition.
Was just talking to the friend about it and he was saying the same that his dog put up a few and they seem plentyful enough

ferrete

it is uphill with running water i am getting them also

pejay

In my area in East Meath we have never seen so many woodcock we are putting them up in 2s and 3s in some places.
They are making a good shooting day great and with the odd snipe, bunny, pigeon they give a great mixed bag

ferrete

we have the same they are everywhere with the odd snipe and pigeon and duck also but rabbits are getting scarse

deeksofdoom

We shot five there on Friday, they were along a stream running through green fields. Tried a spot there on Monday which always produced a good amount of woodcock, but I’ld say it had been well walked at the weekend only met one and didn’t get any shot.

Not going to bother with the pheasants any more this year as they are too scarce in our area, there will be plenty good shooting on snipe and woodcock.

deerhunter1

ferrete wrote: »

it is uphill with running water i am getting them also

Is the water running uphill;):D

Birdnuts

Good numbers in these parts too:)

terminator2

cork doesnt have the only "BLACKWATER":D

Spunk84

woodcock and snipe are everywhere up here in Kildare:D good year for them

terminator2

+1 sp84 woodcock all over the place,..........dog will be good to go the weekend

MarkD.

Do woodcock usually hang around in the same general area, or once their disturbed will they move on for ages and maybe not return?

EPointer=Birdss

MarkD. wrote: »

Seen loads out and about last Sunday morning. Missed all round me so I did, not happy. QUOTE]


Still endeavouring on the woodcock I see!
Wont do your confidence any good. Those lads are fast! Bit of pigeon shooting might do you good also...

Dupont

got 1 on friday and rise another. uncle got 1 on sunday rise another 3. done a couple bogs for snipe but only 1 got up and he was safe enough:D:D:D

Spunk84

terminator2 wrote: »

+1 sp84 woodcock all over the place,..........dog will be good to go the weekend

+2 Term2 Pup is ready and willing for a run as well:cool:

MarkD.

EPointer=Birdss wrote: »

MarkD. wrote: »

Seen loads out and about last Sunday morning. Missed all round me so I did, not happy. QUOTE]


Still endeavouring on the woodcock I see!
Wont do your confidence any good. Those lads are fast! Bit of pigeon shooting might do you good also...

Think I'll take up your advice.. Going out with a Frech group next week so Im trying to get the feel of landing a few before then.

Im too hard on myself, chillax theres plenty of time left is what I should be saying :rolleyes:

jap gt

MarkD. wrote: »

EPointer=Birdss wrote: »

Think I'll take up your advice.. Going out with a Frech group next week so Im trying to get the feel of landing a few before then.

Im too hard on myself, chillax theres plenty of time left is what I should be saying :rolleyes:

are the french group shooting round kanturk

MarkD.

jap gt wrote: »

MarkD. wrote: »

are the french group shooting round kanturk

They are ya.

Octopus

A lot of the posts here are from the east coast. East Meath, Kildare, Wicklow.
I'm seeing the same myself in North Dublin, probably a lot of the scottish/english population have come across with the bad weather they've had.
Would usually flush 2/3 on a weekend probably seen about 15 between sat afternoon and sunday. Only shot two but only fired at two.
Asleep for some (heavy new year session), some flushed in two's even a group of three and two flew straight at me. I literally could have put my hand out and touched them. watched one blink at me as he flew past about three foot away.

Shot two nice cocks as well and they certainly didn't starve in the bad weather.

mallards

The woodcock disappeared during the heavy snow in my part of Tyrone and are only now starting to filter back.

Mallards

ferrete

well with us they are everywhere and they are hugh ths year and the dog loves working them

Bamanlou

woodcock are in the usual numbers here in the southeast larger adult birds as opposed to the smaller juveniles which come in earlier in the season i shot 5 out of 11 i met on friday (most ive shot in one outing)
havent been meeting many since, flushed them in the usual spots in sallys by streams and edges of the wood . off for teal now as they are very plentiful around here this year.:D

LostCovey

MarkD. wrote: »

EPointer=Birdss wrote: »

Going out with a Frech group next week so Im trying to get the feel of landing a few before then.

Im too hard on myself, chillax theres plenty of time left is what I should be saying :rolleyes:

Are they experienced shots? Some of these tourist shooters are excellent shooters, and you can learn a lot from them, but others are just weekend boys from cities.

LC

jap gt

MarkD wrote:

They are ya.

hope its not the same group that were around 2-3 years ago, ye would be lucky to get the dog home, they would shoot anything that moves.. are they paying for the days shooting?? if so i would watch them very carefully

MarkD.

LostCovey wrote: »

MarkD. wrote: »

Are they experienced shots? Some of these tourist shooters are excellent shooters, and you can learn a lot from them, but others are just weekend boys from cities.

LC

jap gt wrote: »

hope its not the same group that were around 2-3 years ago, ye would be lucky to get the dog home, they would shoot anything that moves.. are they paying for the days shooting?? if so i would watch them very carefully

These are French fellas from the country, live for game birds so Im told. Dont know if they are good shots, but the landowner who invited them over for the week said they are experienced shooters and was amazed to fing out they use 16 gauge shotguns and will be bringing them with them next week.

ferrete

well seeing there are so many woodcock everywhere so can you tell me why the snipe numbers are lower than usual??

ferrete

got 6 woodcock this morning in about two hours but have to say got none yesterday. how the rest of you getting on?

bibio

Was out today and we flused about a dozen woodcok, only got one though. We had five pheasants though. Anonther one of our gang went out to a different area and flushed about ten and got two woodcock, and two pheasants also.
Snipe do seem a little more scarce, we flushed about four during thr course of the day.

JackSnipe

I got one today, meet 5, but snipe seem scarce!
Great setter work on the woodcock I shot, well impressed with the bitch.

Octopus

Shot two snipe today

ferrete

i see very little snipe about compared to ususal

Bamanlou

flushed 4 woodcock today in 3 and a half hour walk ,very poor .usually would meet 20 or more in this area roughly the same with snipe

just wondering if any of you have seen many woodcock running through the cover or sitting on the ground ,its not great for woodcock here nothing like kerry ,last season i saw 1 sitting on the ground and 3 running ,this season saw 2 running. only one man i shoot with has ever seen one running

ferrete

ive seen an odd 1 run if winged when shot

Dupont

was chating to a man from kilkenny today and he says the place is full of them????????

ferrete

wouldnt mind getting a shot there

tikkamark

I was out from 2 till half 4 yesterday evening and seen 9 that got up my side and god knows how many got up the far side of the hedges a lot of them were flying very slow and tired looking as they got up and as im not mad keen on the taste of the woodcock i let them off without firing.Usually i would never see that amount in such a short space of time round me.