Eastern Encounters
September-October 2007

What We Know About Woodcock
by Tom Huggler

ne day last October, a friend of mine flushed 57 woodcock in a single day while hunting in northern Michigan. Accompanying him was Zeke, his fine German shorthaired pointer, and another hunter. Fifty-seven woodcock is a lot of birds for two men and a dog to move. I’ve never flushed that many in one day, and I’ve been hunting woodcock for more than 40 years.

So what gives? Did my friend happen to get lucky and hit the mother lode that day? Of course, he did. No doubt these were flight birds stacked up when wind, temperature, and who knows what other forces came together to deal him a winning hand. Could this incident occur again? Probably. Will it happen again? Probably not. And that question begs the biggest one of all: Why not?

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