a day of firsts.

EastTyrone

Well, today has been a first in a lifetime for me. It was my first day of christmas holidays after my first term in my first year of university. I have a springer spaniel that is 18 months old and I have trained him myself, he is an absolute hallion of a dog who destroys all cover in his path. I said to myself this morning that I will take the dog on a big long run today to tighten him up a quare bit of shooting over christmas as he was starting to slip due to a lack of work on my behalf due to uni work.

We set of this morning down through a couple of fields of rushes with the dog flushing a handful of snipe but he was covvering ground well and working in a nice wee distance which to me was the main thing as I had no gun with me and all i was interested in was keeping the dog under control and trying to find some woodcock for sunday.

Following the rushy fields we came across plenty of whin bushes and hedgerows which the dog just buried himself in - I have been working him in these bushes snce i got him and no woodcock have evver come out of them and I began to get worried if it was either the dog was useless or i was unfortunate not to have any woodcock on me ground. After hunting 3 or 4 fields of these hedgerows we came to the road with out a woodcock in sight :mad:

I then crossed the road onto another bit of ground I have never hunted with the dog and I came across a big batch of bracken and thorn bushes. I sent the pup into them giving him all the usual "good boy" "get on in there" chanting. And whilst watching the tops of bushes shaking i observed a brown object come racing out of the same patch at high speed. I near wet meself with excitement, both at the thought of finding my first woodcock, but also the dogs first flush of one :D.

I worked my way over a bit of heather following this as the snow began to fall i was determined to find more birds and after a number of snipe rises i began to notice the dogs energy levels where beginning to lower.However the dog did not realise this himself and was keen to keep on going I decided to head home with the snow beginning to get heavier. As we were walking home down a stone lane with whins on either side i heard a wild fluttering at the bottom of the ditch on my left hand side. I looked down and there was a woodcock trying to make an escape but his path was being blocked by sheep wire fencing which his wings were catching in, I could see ever detail on the bird, from the different colouring in his feathers, his feet and big long beak. I was that excited I did not know what to do, take a video try and catch him myself or send the dog in for him, I hastely said "fetch up" to the pup who at this stage was just bewildered at the moves of the bird but jumped into the ditch at my command. He pounced on the bird but the bird jumped away from him, all in this time trying to escape me, the dog, and the ditch. The bird was moving that frantically the pup didn't know what to do. I called the dog back in a bid for me to jump in and get the bird that as the dog came out and me about the jump in the woodcock got out through the fence :eek::mad::mad:. I set there in disarray at what could have been a once in a lifetime oppurtunity - something that very little hunters could say they have done- caught a woodcock with their bare hands. I sat and looked at where the woodcock had been sitting and I noticed the white dung from the bird - it had been obvious that the bird had been sitting there for a long time.

As I walked home with the pup at my heel, i reflected on what could have been, but also i walked home with a spring in my step at the though of finally coming across some woodcock - something that I have dreamt about for years :D

Tawny Owl

Good on you and well done in training the Dog yourself by your words it sounds as if he turned out just fine and you can tell you enjoyed the day with the dog. It's nice just to go out with just the Dog and no Gun again well done and keep the Dog working dont let him get stale.

Cheers.
Tawny Owl

deeksofdoom

Nice write up, but next time bring the gun, just because you meet a woodcock in a place doesn't mean you will meet them in the same place the next day. Once disturbed they won't hang about.

Woodcock shooting is the best shooting, keep listening out for the flapping of there wings as they break cover, i just love woodcock shooting.

EastTyrone

thanks ads, it was lovely to get out with the dog for over an hour and a half, ussually now with work and other commitments a quick 15 minutes or half an hour before dark is the best I can get and it was a pleasure to be out on a brisk morning with the pup and he thoroughly enjoyed it 2 for as soon as he seen me with the gear on me he was near jumping the height of me and when he came out of the bushes after flushing the bird he didnt even wanna come near me at all just wanted to get back into bushes. When I seen that woodcock fly away my eyes were actually in tears, that would have been something to say that you caught a woodcock with your own hands, I've heard of dogs lifting a pheasant from the ground and taking them back alive but a woodcok would have had even more thrill to it, but sure theres always the one who got away!

deeksofdoom

Its actually easier to catch a woodcock than you would think when they come in first they are usually exhausted.

kemen

good on ya!! i was often told that woodcock are quite prone to sticking around in the same general area!! is this true??
About catching the bird, i had a similar experience last year during the extreme cold spell out checking stock came upon 2 woodcock on the edge of a gravel pass! i could see them from 15 yards away and walked up to within 2 feet away!! must say it was thrilling experence to be that close!

patdahat

it's proven that some woodcock come back to the same place year after year, birds that were caught and tagged, have been caught in some cases only yards from where they were tagged the year before and even 2 years previous, and as for catching them a calm night with a fishing net and a good lamp it's no bother no matter what time of the season.

EPointer=Birdss

kemen wrote: »

good on ya!! i was often told that woodcock are quite prone to sticking around in the same general area!! is this true??
QUOTE]

I often find I can nearly guess on a ditch where i'll meet woodcock. It's something I've noticed that every year certain ditches hold woodcock & even when I've met & shot one that I meet them again the following week. Must be the right combination of cover, feeding or something...