Anyone with experience? Seem to have a bumper crop migration in Brazos Co this year. What is best time to hunt in open oak woods ? Thought I might give it a shot with Lab and Brittany.

The best time is whenever you can go. They like low, wet places, usually with plenty of brush around. When you flush one, don't wait for it to get into open space. Shoot through the brush, etc., because they will be gone in a few seconds. They don't flush easily. If your dog points, sometimes you have to get in front of the dog and kick around before they will fly. Lots of fun. Good luck.

If you think your a decent quail shot be prepared to be Humbled!!

They are much easier to hunt when feeding in pastures. Late winter, we have found them in wet pastures with lots of rice nut sedge. It seems to provide the cover/ habitat they like to forage in.

The funkiest bird in all the land!!
Love that shuffle.
PEEEENT!

Hunted them for years in Jasper County, where I worked. They love moist briar patches where they can poke that long bill in the ground for worms. Yes, just blast through all the brush and thickets. I hunted with Brittany Spaniels and always put a bell on them and when you quit hearing the bell dog is on point. Also the don't fly very far when flushed and don't run much. The thing about woodcock is if you have a good warm weather spell they will disappear as they often will move further north until next front arrives. Great sport.

Mas89 said:

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They are much easier to hunt when feeding in pastures. Late winter, we have found them in wet pastures with lots of rice nut sedge. It seems to provide the cover/ habitat they like to forage in.

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In the pastures, are you sure they're woodcock and not snipe?

Woodcock:



Snipe:

Timberdoodles!

Sadly, I've had very little chances at snipe or woodcock but the few times I have hunted either one have been a blast.

If hunt the edge of the pasture and wood/scrub areas mid morning, they typically feed at night in the pastures and then spend the day in the "woods".

SW Louisiana is where I got mine. Extremely challenging, but a blast!

Snipe and Woodcock are an under-hunted resource here. Sure, we don't have as many as other places, but you can get them here. I have hunted woodcock in both the Brazos and Navasot bottoms. best place to look for them is in the thicker, early successional woodlands, but you can find them in the more open woodlands. the pic above from Louisiana is great habitat. Re-growth areas that were cleared like 10 years ago, but have regrown are ideal. You can also scout for them by watching right at dark (after sunset) and you will see them bombing in to the timber at very last light.

For snipe, after a good rain, wet cattle pastures can hold a bunch. A lot of fun too, and the season goes into Feb.

Go get'em, boys. Both are quite sporty game birds.

Thought this was going to be a Butch Cassidy post.

I used to walk them up in thinned pine plantations as well. One of the hardest birds to hit out there . But loads of fun. National forests in east Texas are a fg rest public land spot that is vastly underused

does anyone have a dog I could rent?

I think we've shot both over the years but I didn't realize that snipe looks so much like the woodcock. Will post some pics here if we have any luck next time. Have several friends that make a day of bird hunting with dogs after the duck hunt. Several timber tracts adjoin old rice fields/ pasture.

We used to have, I guess, snipe show up here in Cooke county in late fall, winter. Haven't seen any in several years.

Amazing camouflage. I dang near stepped on this woodcock up in Ohio.