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First Woodcock Of The Season


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Unlucky Neil, just let the dog out tonight, came straight out of her kennel into a bramble patch not 20 foot away and out popped a Woodcock. Came past me that close I could have thrown my hat over it !

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Really pleased to get off the mark............    

Hello to all readers, unfortunately no sleep again and I am going back to my nocturnal ways like in former years.Sometimes it can be a strange experience when everyone else seems to be sleeping. Somet

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

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Our little shoot bagged the first woodcock of the season this weekend. Where we are it's very poor woodcock country, the most we've ever shot in a season is 3 I believe! LOL

 

Neil, I feel your pain regards lost woodcock. Last season I set out to shoot my first snipe, having never really bothered before and with seeing good numbers in the boggy rape fields it was the sort of challenge that keeps this sport fresh and exciting. I didn't think I'd need a dog so left my usual companion at home resting from the previous days beating. It was a beautiful sunny and cold winters day, within 100 yards of setting off the first snipe rose right to left at 30ish yards and it dropped to the first shot! I was so impressed with myself I decided to reload in case another should rise while on the way to collect my trophy....... FATAL MISTAKE, that momentary lapse in concentration on marking where that little bird dropped cost me! I spent probably three quarters of an hour looking for it to no avail. I was gutted and still haven't bagged my first. This season however, things are going to get serious. :D

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Ouch, loosing anything is never nice but your first !

It's an achievement in it's self to drop a snipe and the eating is the icing on the cake, hope you get a few this Winter.

Then you'll be looking for your first left and right. Something I've never done.

Last year I dropped a snipe, swung on a second and missed. Then 5 minutes later missed one, swung on a second and dropped it.

I reckon a 50% strike rate on snipe is good going, LOL.

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I've been getting braver with pheasant lately (done one in cider last week, beautiful) so I might do something different with my next Woodcock (when I get one) but I usually keep it simple as I think they're beautiful and don't need messing with.

I cooked one and a snipe last year with the guts in, never again, the guts popped inside and tainted the meat. I also remove the head.

An old timer I know who's big into eating game said to me once that eating woodcock and snipe with the guts in is an old method that goes back to a time before there was such a thing as pollution and any pollution that these birds are ingesting is lying in the guts.

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Last week walking the dogs is say I saw 2/3 every day I was out. All shoot able distances as the dogs were putting them up.

On sat I decided to take a wee daunder with the gun and of course I saw none.

Best way to see no woodcock is take the gun with you....??

A brace of pigeon had to do...??

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I've just finished a Woodcock for my dinner that I shot Sunday morning. Delicious and it's great to do such a beautiful bird justice.

He came out of a tree about 20 feet above my head as I was standing waiting for my shooting partner to get through a ditch.

To be honest I thought it was a hawk at first and it was gone about 70 yards before I copped that it was a Woodcock and dropped it.

Has anyone ever seen a Woodcock in a tree before ?

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Ha f***ing Ha Bell, but we don't have the Little Owl.

I thought someone would make a smart arsed remark and ask me what does Sparrowhawk taste like but I always know what I'm pointing my gun at, even though now and again (very rarely though) I have been known to miss, LOL.

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