Woodcock behavior under a gun dog

March is the beginning of spring. Every hunter's heart begins to beat faster at this time. After a long winter break, the forest “wakes up” and the long-awaited woodcock hunting season begins.

In Russia, woodcock hunting has been known for a very long time; interest in it has always been very great. And for many hunters this bird is the best and most desired trophy.

Woodcock hunting is accessible to any hunter. It is considered the most exciting and interesting type of hunting for upland game. Both hunting for woodcock in the spring on traction, and hunting in the fall on “drains” are both popular. Below we will talk about other, no less effective and interesting options.

Woodcock: description, habits

Woodcock is a small (about 35 cm in length and weighing 400 grams) forest bird. More often it is simply called wood sandpiper. In late autumn, the woodcock bird leaves its native land and flies south. And in early spring it returns to where it was born, if the natural landscape of these places does not change during wintering.

The wood sandpiper lives in mixed deciduous forests. This bird prefers forests with small bushes, ravines, and copses. Very often it can be found near overgrown clearings and clearings.

The woodcock bird is very well adapted for living in forests. It masterfully camouflages itself thanks to its coloring: black, gray and brown spots on a brown background. The abdomen has a grayish-cream tint with dark stripes. The natural coloration of the wood sandpiper hides it well among bushes and last year's foliage.

This bird, desired by every hunter, does not like dark spruce forests. It lives in damp places where there is a lot of varied food. The diet consists mainly of larvae, slugs, various insects and earthworms, which it preys on with its long and sensitive beak.

When describing the wood sandpiper, you need to pay attention to the fact that it is quite difficult to distinguish a female from a male. However, the ability to distinguish them from each other is very important for the hunter, since shooting female woodcock, especially when hunting in the spring on draft, is strictly prohibited.

If you destroy a female wood sandpiper in the spring, the entire brood will die, since the males do not care for the offspring.

An experienced hunter will always distinguish a female from a male by the characteristic sounds they make and some habits:

• the female makes only “tsking” sounds. She is mainly on the ground, hiding in dense bushes. If a female and a male fly together, the female always flies in front;
• at a long distance, the male also makes “tscking” sounds; when approaching the pull, he begins to “grunt.” The male flies over the edge of the forest, flying around open areas.

The wood sandpiper prefers to hide during the day in dense bushes or ferns. Very often, its favorite habitat is a place overgrown with young trees, where there are many overgrown clearings, clearings and forest paths. Having waited until dusk, the woodcock runs out of cover and looks for food.

Hunting in Tatarstan

At the end of September, one of the most interesting hunts with a gun dog begins - on woodcock rashes. Autumn woodcock is perhaps the most tempting trophy for leggings and spaniels. Our story is about how to competently hunt on the outskirts. Already in the first days of September, local woodcocks, both old ones who have finished molting, and young ones, stronger and almost indistinguishable in size from adults, get out of the forest thicket into more sparse areas of the forest. There the woodcock spends the daylight hours, and every evening, after sunset, it flies out of the forest to feed at night in open places: forest roads, pastures and hayfields. In dry weather, woodcocks often fly to drying meadows, muddy banks of forest lakes, accumulate near the road track and again fly out to pastures, feeding on the larvae of dung flies that live in cow dung.

Wood waders do not like to stay in the forest at night - it is both dangerous and hungry. As special studies have shown, woodcocks marked with radio transmitters mainly died from predators in the forest during the daytime. In pastures and other open areas, significantly fewer of them die at night. In addition, the food supply here is richer: on soil manured by cows there are 5-10 times more worms per unit area than in the forest. And before making a long journey to wintering grounds, the woodcock needs to eat almost 300 g of food per day!

During active preparation for migration, woodcocks form clusters, which Russian hunters have long called RASHES. If you find three or more birds nearby, then you can already talk about a rash. It happens both during the day, in the forest, and at night, in the pasture, and these are not the same individuals, and the composition of the groups changes all the time, mainly due to passing guests. The hunter, of course, is interested in daytime rashes.

WHERE TO LOOK FOR RASHES?

Woodcock is lazy by nature and does not like to fly far. His main motto in the fall is: eat more, save energy and hide safely from danger. If possible, he will settle close to night feeding areas: in a copse at the edge of a pasture or along a damp road in an overgrown clearing. Some birds do not fly out at all, but go out on foot at dawn from the nearby forest to an open place.

So, the main thing when searching for hunting places is to find night feeding, and then during the day with the dog to explore the surrounding forests and copses. Night feeding sites are determined during the day based on the characteristic features of the feeding biotopes. Ideally, this should be a fairly large pasture (woodcocks avoid small clearings in the forest) with low green grass plucked by cows (no higher than 10-15 cm). Figuratively speaking, on such a “field” one could play football, with the only difference being that rare bumps are still necessary. The main plant species in such a pasture are dandelion and clover. Tall grass, overgrown grass, strong tussocks, overgrown with grasses—these are no longer typical places for woodcock to feed at night. However, if among such a meadow there are flat areas with fairly large green “spots” of short grass, the woodcock will visit them.

At the feeding sites themselves, woodcocks leave traces of their presence: large white (with a dark center) spots of droppings, and the “pokes” of the beak are clearly visible on the cow pats. Sometimes there are also fallen feathers, because not all woodcocks have completely finished molting.

To make sure that woodcocks fly to the open place you have discovered, you need to stand at the “autumn draft” at the edge of the forest at the border with the pasture at dawn. It is better to do this on clear evenings, when woodcocks flying out of the forest are clearly visible against the darkening sky. It should be remembered that immediately after leaving the forest, the woodcock descends and walks rather low over a clear area, like a snipe, so it is not easy to see it. But you will see the flight itself. A real hunter will never shoot at such woodcocks. In many European countries, hunting during evening woodcock migrations is prohibited. But this is a matter of hunting ethics, and only legwalkers and spanielists will understand me.

You may ask why I talk in such detail about the night feeding areas of woodcocks. The fact is that it is around these places that you should look for birds during the day with your dog. Of course, there are exceptions. If there are a lot of woodcocks, but there are few feeding places, then the birds can fly out to feed at night even 5-7 km away. In areas with highly developed livestock farming and an abundance of dairy farms, there are always significantly more woodcocks than in areas where livestock farming is not developed. If the number of livestock decreases, pastures become overgrown with grass, and the number of autumn woodcock also decreases.

The places of daytime rashes themselves are usually copses, floodplain and brook alder forests, aspen groves, oak and linden groves with an undergrowth of hazel, bird cherry, euonymus, buckthorn and rowan. Pay attention to the grass cover. It should not be tall and thick. Woodcock has nothing to do in the grass. There must be open soil under the forest, covered with a layer of fallen leaves, where the woodcock can move freely, successfully hide from enemies, and feed.

HUNT TIMES

No, we will not talk about the official ones (as a rule, hunting for autumn woodcock opens around September 10, along with hunting for hazel grouse), but about the optimal timing of hunting on the outskirts. Long-term observations show that in most regions of European Russia, snowfall begins on September 20-25 and ends on October 15-20, although individual groups of birds are found before the snow. The “peak” of migration from year to year falls from September 27 to October 10, the busiest week being the first week of October. Surprisingly, from year to year, regardless of the weather, these dates are practically the same. It is even more strange that they differ little by region, coinciding almost day to day in Yaroslavl, Vologda, Moscow, Voronezh and Saratov. In the Arkhangelsk region, according to the observations of Peter Zverev, the “peak” of the flight is only a week earlier than the Moscow region.

The only explanation for what is happening is the phenomenon of rapid migratory movements of wood waders during flights to wintering areas. It has been noted that a woodcock can fly up to 600 km in one night. In other words, local woodcocks stay in their native places “until the last,” after which they quickly fly off to their wintering places. The beginning of outbreaks can be judged by the appearance of woodcocks in previously uncharacteristic places: in forest islands in fields and meadows, roadside bushes, bushy slopes of railway tracks. Feel free to plan your field trip for the beginning of October - you won’t be disappointed! Unfortunately, our woodcock hunting season in Russia is very short: as soon as you get the hang of it, the rashes fly off and the cold sets in.

HUNTING TIME

Don't rush out to look for rashes at dawn. This hunt is just one of those where you can afford to sleep in the morning. And that's why. Having been well fed at night, woodcocks, as soon as dawn breaks, break away from open places and fly off into the forest to rest. Before landing in the forest, the woodcock looks for a suitable place and, having found it, immediately sits down and burrows tightly, without leaving a trace. This is a way of protection from predators. Then he sleeps. Around 9-10 o'clock the sandpiper wakes up, puts its plumage in order and begins to look for food again, poking around in the fallen leaves and, naturally, leaving a mark. All day long he combines feeding with rest. Feeds much less intensively during the day than at night.

So, it is easier for a dog to find a woodcock in the forest after 9 am. You can hunt with a pointer or spaniel all day until the evening. Humid, cloudy, quiet days, when there is fog in the forest and heavy drops fall from the trees, are especially good for this. The air is filled with the smells of fallen leaves, sounds are heard clearly and far away. This is real woodcock weather! You step softly on a multi-colored leafy carpet, the pointer quickly picks up the exciting smells, and here it is - the first stand! With a special sound of its wings, characteristic only of a woodcock, a wood sandpiper takes off like a candle and, after a successful shot from the hunter, falls into the bushes. And the dog continues to stand - and then another forest beauty walked, this time low, shielded by the saving tree trunk.

If there are a lot of woodcocks and you really find a good clearing, they do not fly far and sometimes land 50-80 m from the take-off point. Fleeing from a dog and a hunter, they use many tricks: they quickly run away, fly over, avoid danger and fly up behind the shooter or are shielded by a tree.

CARTRIDGES FOR WOODCONG

The success of wildland hunting largely depends on the gun and ammunition. For this hunt, it is highly desirable to have cylindrical drill barrels. In France, woodcock hunters use special guns made of lightweight metal and with shortened barrels. I myself held in my hands a 12-gauge Baby Breton shotgun weighing only 2.1 kg and a barrel length of 60 cm. A toy! It flies up to the shoulder and lands on the target. By the way, with such a mass, lead shot shells weighing 30-32 g are still used.

In the forest, the distance always seems large, but we shoot at woodcocks, as a rule, always no further than 20 m. Practice has shown that in our country, especially when the leaves from the trees have not yet completely flown off, you usually shoot on the rash from under the dog from about 10 - 15 meters, and sometimes closer. Here you need special cartridges with a wad of dispersant-dispersant. This is especially important for our ordinary shotguns with “poluchok-choke” barrels. produces such cartridges - “Taiga-dispersant”. But dispersant wads themselves are also available for sale, and then you can load the cartridges for woodcock yourself. In my opinion, for a 12-gauge the best option is: a folder sleeve, a Zhevelo capsule, 2.0 g Sokol gunpowder, a dispersant wad and 30 g of N© 9 or N© 8 shot. As a rule, it is not possible to make a second shot, but here too I recommend a dispersant with a “seven”. By the way, you shouldn’t chase large fraction numbers. From under the dog and “nine” it works great.

I would like to offer hunters a method of making “Superdispersant” for short-distance shooting, which I borrowed from the French. It differs from the dispersant only in that two layers of shot are used: after installing the wad, a layer of 15 g of shot N©7 is poured, and the same mass of shot N©9 is poured on top. The spread is excellent! Many hunters divide the shot sheaf into 3-4 parts using cardboard spacers. However, such a “layer cake” is more suitable for shooting snipe in a swamp than woodcock in the forest, since the shot sheaf does not so much dissipate as it stretches in length.

HOW TO SHOOT?

It is very difficult to shoot on woodcock dumps, especially if the gun shoots tightly and there are no special “scatter” cartridges. In a dense forest, in the twigs that these birds love so much, it is generally problematic to hit a flying woodcock. Sometimes it is difficult to freely raise the gun without getting caught on a branch. But the most annoying thing is that in these places in 90% of cases you don’t see the result of the shot, and only a dog can clarify the situation.

My advice is to have pity on the woodcock in such thickets, do not shoot if it is inconvenient, and let him go with God. After all, how many mortally wounded birds that have not been found fall 100 meters or further, where you and your dog would not even look! Console yourself with the fact that unshot woodcocks never fly far and there is a high probability of finding the bird again by directing the cop's search in the direction in which the woodcock disappeared.

For successful shooting, try to adhere to the following rules:

— if the dog smells a woodcock, try to choose a place convenient for shooting;

- do not climb into the support, try to hunt in sparse forests and copses;

- shoot at woodcock only in a clearing, carefully make sure that there are no tree trunks or thick branches on the way to the shot;

- the best shooting is offhand, but depending on the terrain, shooting with a leash is also very effective.

Even after a sure miss, if in doubt, you need to go in the direction where the bird flew and look for a possible wounded bird. Don't leave without making sure your shot doesn't hit the target.

based on materials from www.gun.ru

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Hunting in the spring

Hunting for woodcock in the spring begins at the end of March, when the bird arrives from its winter quarters. After a week the cravings begin. This word refers to the current (bird behavior during the mating season) of the wood sandpiper. In other words, craving is breeding season.

The hunting period for wood sandpipers in the spring is the same as for waterfowl - 10 days. It is prohibited to hunt during the “dropout” in the spring.

Woodcock hunting in the spring is very exciting and effective. In addition, being in the spring forest, the hunter can observe the awakening of nature, listen to the fascinating sounds of nature, and feel the fresh forest air.

Types of loot

Hunting for woodcock, the photo of which is proof that it is a typical sandpiper, is considered one of the most interesting and exciting pastimes. This inconspicuous bird with gray-brown plumage, dark stripes and a long beak has become an object of sporting prey due to its fairly large numbers and very interesting habits. In order for woodcock hunting - in spring or autumn - to be successful, a person will need to show considerable ingenuity.

There are many types of shooting this bird. Each of them is interesting in its own way, but the most common is woodcock hunting on draft.

In addition to this method, there is also shooting with the help of a pointing dog, as well as with a decoy, in drops, on mud, etc.

Hunting with decoy

Hunting woodcock with a decoy is another interesting option. It involves using a special tool - a decoy. With this device, the hunter reproduces the sound of males fighting for a female. The male wood sandpiper, in a fit of excitement, strives to join the fight and heads straight for the hunter.

Most often, hunting woodcock in this way is most successful when these birds are moving. For greater efficiency, it is important for a hunter to follow some rules:

• you need to have an ear for music so that the sound is correct (attracts the bird, not scares it);
• The woodcock can suddenly change its flight path, and will sharply head away from the hunter. Good reaction required;
• the hunter must have good accuracy, since a wounded bird can continue to fly (and it will be very difficult to find a wounded bird in the forest).

Seasons

The wood sandpiper can be hunted throughout the year, before the onset of winter cold.

Woodcock hunting begins in the spring. The season opens in March and lasts 10 days. Traction (the period of searching for partners) in these birds begins approximately 7-10 days after they arrive from wintering. Hunting during the feeding period is most successful, as birds lose caution while searching for a partner. During this period, woodcock hunting with decoy performs well.

Hunting in summer is somewhat more difficult, since the bird prefers to stay in cover during the daytime. During this period, you will need great skill to get the desired trophy.

The most successful time is the end of August. At this time, adult individuals finish molting; birds often appear in open places and near water bodies, which gives the hunter the opportunity to waylay a woodcock in open areas.

In autumn, the so-called “rash” of birds is observed. Woodcock gather in small flocks and often appear in unusual places. Hunters manage to waylay game in reeds, on river banks, in copses and shallow ravines. Quite often during this period, woodcock appears near human habitation, preferring the countryside.

Note! In the spring, woodcock hunting on the “drainage” is prohibited, unlike in the autumn.

In order for woodcock hunting to be successful, it is necessary to take into account all the subtleties of the bird’s behavior at different times of the year.

The traditions of hunting this bird are different in different geographical latitudes. In Russia, the opening of the season is woodcock hunting in the spring. It is also held in the autumn season. The spring woodcock hunt lasts from fourteen to twenty-three days. Interesting fact: unlike our country, in France, for example, shooting wood sandpipers is allowed from September to March.

Since the main periods of breeding and feeding of woodcock chicks in different regions of the vast Russian territory differ, there is no shortage of birds. This wood sandpiper is of little interest to poachers. It is not of particular value in culinary circles, so it is rather interesting as an object for sport shooting.

Hunting in summer

Woodcock hunting in summer is very exciting and varied. Although the spring hunting on draft has already ended, before the start of the autumn season of “draining” of birds, you can hunt them with dogs, on the water, in the “mud”.

With dogs

To hunt woodcock with a dog, breeds such as pointing dogs and spaniels are mainly used. A hunter and a dog inspect the places where woodcocks hide: the edges of small forests, ravines, bushes, shrubs. Alarmed and frightened birds take off, the hunter shoots on the fly. Wounded and killed birds must be found.

On the water (in “drops”)

Hunting for woodcock in “drops” is very effective if the summer turns out to be rainy. When it rains, large drops form on branches and leaves. Falling raindrops frighten forest birds very much. In addition, in wet and humid weather, a wet woodcock flies low and very slowly. Therefore, shooting in rainy, cloudy weather does not present any difficulties. Usually such a hunt is very successful.

On the "dirt"

In mid-summer, woodcocks fly to places where cattle graze: meadows, broken forest paths, puddles. Here wood waders, plunging their beaks into the mud, look for food.

Finding places where woodcocks feed is easy. After them, obvious traces remain in the dirt (droppings):

• crosses from legs;
• beak holes;
• own white litter.

The hunter needs to arrive at the bird feeding site early (before the sun sets) in order to have time to camouflage himself. Arriving birds are shot on the fly, remembering where they fall. It is better not to leave the shelter after each shot, so as not to frighten other birds.

Hunting through the mud

At the end of summer, strong young animals and old woodcocks, after molting, make regular flights in the evenings to cattle grazing areas and to country dirt roads where there is a lot of dirt. In these places, plunging their long beaks into damp soil and mud, birds look for food for themselves. These habits of woodcocks are used when hunting in the mud.

It is very easy to find bird feeding areas in the mud: the sandpiper leaves here numerous traces of its legs and clearly visible holes left by its beak. You should arrive at the found woodcock feeding area before sunset. The hunter must hide and shoot at birds in flight, but you can also shoot at sitting waders.

In the hot summer, woodcocks visit cattle grazing areas. They look for food in droppings, which is why this type of hunting is called “dirt” hunting.

Due to the hot weather, characteristic traces of the presence of a small bird remain in the droppings - holes from a long beak, traces of paws, white spots of droppings.

Having discovered the favorite place of these birds, the hunter should come before sunset and find a good hiding place. Shooting is carried out on the fly, until the bird lands and has time to hide in the grass or bushes. This kind of hunting requires excellent accuracy. It is important that the hunter does not leave his shelter for some time, so as not to frighten away new flying birds.

Hunting in autumn

Hunting for woodcock in the fall is very interesting and no less effective. In autumn, birds move closer to rivers with reeds, ravines and bushes. It is not uncommon for waders to be found in places inhabited by people: in gardens and vegetable gardens.

As a rule, woodcocks are hunted in the fall during the birds' "emptying" period. “Rush” means a large concentration of waders near ravines, forest edges, and in thickets near streams. This happens in September before the woodcocks migrate to wintering.

Hunting for wood sandpipers in autumn is usually very successful. The birds are already well prepared for the autumn migration to the south (fattened over the summer). It becomes difficult for them to fly, and they do it very reluctantly and slowly. More often than not, woodcocks simply run out from behind cover, and the hunter can only shoot accurately.

Spring cravings

In autumn, migrating woodcock is hunted on the outcrops. This type of hunting is especially successful with a good pointer, which will help the hunter find and lift fat birds into the air. Any breed of setter or pointer is suitable for autumn woodcock hunting.

For a calm, elderly hunter, continental pointers are more suitable; they are inferior in speed to pointers and setters, but are more resilient and incredibly diligent when examining forest thickets, where migrating woodcock often hides.

In addition, it is good to hunt woodcock with a spaniel, which does not make a spectacular stance, but is very passionate and hardy. Thanks to its small stature, the spaniel can penetrate the most impenetrable thickets.

On autumn rashes they begin to hunt at dawn, however, this can be done throughout the day. Having arrived at the hunting site, hunters immediately send their dogs to search for game. The dumps are most often located on the edges of open forests, on old clearings overgrown with bushes, near winter crops, on livestock pastures, in aspen and birch forests, on the slopes of ravines and along the banks of forest streams and rivers.

The heavy autumn woodcock rises very lazily into the air, and the hunter can get close to the birds, but it is still not easy to shoot a woodcock. These birds are very fast and maneuverable in flight - they can fly freely in dense thickets, skillfully maneuvering between branches.

When hunting woodcock in the fall, they usually shoot offhand, without careful aiming, which requires a lot of experience from the hunter. Finding a rash located in a relatively open area is quite difficult. But if you succeeded, then you can shoot with a leash, using lead aiming.

We invite you to read: Badger hunting with traps: secrets and advice from professionals

Hunting in the autumn season

In the second half of the first day of autumn, woodcocks have an autumn craving. Birds fly to the same places as in the spring. Beginning at sunset, the autumn craving ends in the dark.

In autumn, the thrust of wood waders is much weaker than in spring, and woodcocks fly faster. Because of this feature, hunting woodcock in the fall is more difficult than in the spring.

Basic rules and features

Perhaps the most desirable type of shooting wood sandpiper is hunting for woodcock on draft. We will talk about the peculiarities of catching this bird in the spring, since in the fall the draft is not always there and is highly dependent on the weather.

Spring hunting is an unforgettable and spectacular event. Such a hunt will bring great pleasure and numerous trophies if the hunter follows the basic rules.

Rules, preparation and choice of weapons

Shooting a woodcock while pulling usually occurs in the area of ​​thirty to forty steps. Therefore, in such hunting, not very large shot is used. The ideal size would be shot No. 7 or 8, which is 2.5-2.25 mm in diameter. But for situations when you need to make a longer shot, you need to have cartridges with shot No. 6 with a diameter of 2.75 mm.

No special accuracy is required from the weapon when firing. A gun to be used for hunting must have:

• sufficient sharpness;
• constancy of the battle.

Such requirements for weapons are justified, otherwise during the hunt there will be a lot of wounded animals and the senseless loss of a shot bird.

It is better to use a double-barreled shotgun. If you miss, you can correct yourself by shooting from the second barrel, and it is easier to aim with such a gun than with a single-barreled gun. When hunting while hunting, it is better to use smokeless powder. It will give clearer sharpness at the moment of the shot, and will allow you to see where the woodcock fell.

There are also special requirements for equipment:

1. It's quite cool on a spring evening. In addition, damp soil and unmelted snow increase the feeling of coolness. The places where woodcock hunting usually takes place are very humid: in lowlands, forest ravines, swampy bushes, streams. Therefore, you need to choose clothes that are warm, but do not restrict the hunter’s movements. The material of a hunter's outerwear should help with camouflage, preferably brown or khaki. The ideal shoes for such hunting are high rubber or leather waders.
2. It is better to carry cartridges on a special belt.
3. To collect a shot bird, you need a net or a light hunting backpack.
4. You need to take the following things: a compass with an illuminated dial, a knife (preferably a folding one), a flashlight, matches, spare cartridges, a cleaning rod, an axe, and a small supply of food.
5. It’s good if a loyal and smart dog helps you look for fallen birds. It is important to remember that hunting with dogs is prohibited in the spring.

Selecting a location

How to choose the right place to hunt? This is a very important stage in preparation for woodcock hunting. The effectiveness of the hunt itself directly depends on how seriously the hunter takes the choice of location.

Experienced hunters recommend:

1. You should stop at clearings covered with small forests and bushes. It is very good if there are “bare” clearings inside the small forest.
2. It is great if the forest in the clearings is of different ages, since woodcocks drag along the edge of the young forest (earlier clearing).
3. Forest edges can be chosen if they are overgrown with small forests.
4. A very successful choice would be a forest swampy clearing, surrounded by dense bushes. It is important to remember that choosing a lonely forest clearing in a high, dense forest will most likely be unsuccessful.
5. If an overgrown clearing is surrounded by an older forest, then it is better to stand on the border of the clearing.
6. An excellent place - a chain of clearings that turn into each other. You need to stand in a narrow place in the crossing of clearings.
7. Also considered a convenient place are the bridges of small forests, which connect tracts of high forest with each other.
8. The ideal hunting place will be swampy small forests surrounded by tall trees.
9. If the place is too dry or heavily flooded, it is not suitable for woodcock hunting.
10. When hunting in the evening, it is best to stand close to a tall forest, then (at dusk) move to the center into an open area.

Weather influence

Weather has an important influence on any type of hunting. Woodcock hunting is no exception.

Some patterns have been noticed that influence the efficiency of shooting these birds:

• very weak draft is observed in clear frosty weather;
• not the best time for traction hunting - windy weather with precipitation;
• The best time to catch waders is when the weather is calm, wet and warm. Ideal if it is cloudy outside;
• It makes sense to hunt the wood sandpiper if the snow has already melted in the forest, otherwise catching the bird will be problematic (in the snow the sandpiper cannot find food for itself, and accordingly there will be no traction in snowy places).

Experienced hunters know that woodcock is most active during light rain in warm, cloudy weather. In such weather conditions, the chances of catching a sandpiper increase significantly.

What kind of cravings are there?

The spring draft of woodcocks occurs in the morning and evening:

• morning cravings begin before dawn (in the dark).
• In the evening, waders begin to pull at dusk until sunset, and it ends in darkness.

Morning cravings are less popular among “seasoned hunters.” It is noticed that it has less activity than evening cravings.

There is a theory of wave propulsion. Its supporters believe that there are 3 waves of evening woodcock draft:

1. The start time of the first wave is before sunset, but it is the shortest.
2. The second begins at dusk. This is the most active and longest-lasting pull.
3. The last, third wave completes the evening cravings. Its expression is not very clear. Since shooting at dusk is problematic, there is a very high probability of missing and only injuring the woodcock.

Equipment

Hunting for woodcock in the spring is carried out using shot No. 7 or 8. Since this bird is not large, and it flies quite high, the main requirements for a weapon are sharpness and consistency. The shooter, of course, will need accuracy with the ability to determine the flight path of the game.

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If the wood sandpiper flies slowly and in a straight line, then the trigger can be pulled by taking aim at the tip of the beak. If the woodcocks fly far enough, you should not run across after them, since they, having made a fairly wide circle, will again go around the hunter in an arc.

Limited lighting can create additional difficulties. Therefore, a person must have not only good eyesight, but also an eye. And most importantly, he will need patience and perseverance. Some people use dogs to hunt woodcock for traction, but in this case their presence cannot be called decisive.

Hunting tactics

The hunter needs to find cover so as not to scare the birds. A place near tall bushes is ideal. It is better to stand facing west so that the silhouette of the woodcock is clearly visible and can be seen from afar.

The Wood Sandpiper is very secretive and easily spooked. He may become alert at the slightest rustle. If the bird gets scared, it may fly sharply to the side, then shooting it will be problematic.

Therefore, when catching woodcock, you must quietly, without fuss, carefully raise your weapon, take aim and fire a shot. If the rules are followed, the hunter will become the owner of numerous trophies in the form of woodcocks.

It is very important that after making a successful shot you must remember the place where the wood sandpiper fell. Due to the camouflage plumage of this bird, it is difficult to find in brown grass. The wounded bird (only a wounded sandpiper) will try to escape into the forest, and it will be impossible to find it there.

Experienced hunters say that if you even once take part in hunting during the spring woodcock movement, you will never forget such a wonderful hunt. And knowing the habits of the wood sandpiper, the characteristics and rules of hunting it at different times of the year, you will definitely get that desired trophy for any hunter - the beautiful and mysterious woodcock bird.

Hunting during flights

On evening feeding flights, woodcock are hunted in the first half of autumn, starting approximately from mid-September. Hunters take advantage of the fact that at this time local forest waders, and later migrating woodcocks, regularly fly in the evenings to feed. Places for such feeding, as a rule, are located near forests and woodcock roosting areas, winter fields and fallow fields. In addition, these birds often feed in livestock pastures where there is a lot of dirt and droppings.

Woodcocks most often fly silently to feed, rising low above clearings, thickets of bushes and open forests. At the same time, the birds fly quite quickly, without using constant routes and in a wide scattering. For this reason, such hunting is considered a very difficult task, because waders fly at a low altitude, appear unexpectedly from behind the trees, and the lighting at dusk is poor. In such a situation, a pointer or spaniel will be very useful for the hunter to collect shot game.

Bird shooting

Shooting at woodcock is carried out at a glance, almost intuitively, with minimal aiming. For this, it is advisable to use 12-gauge shotguns (more shot in the cartridge) with two-cylinder drills or a quarter-choke cylinder, producing a wide shot cloud. A double-barreled shotgun will be optimal, since you simply won’t have time to fire the third shot.

Woodcock shot

When hunting woodcock, it is recommended to use cartridges with a dispersant wad; it gives the widest possible spread of shot. In addition to it, you can shoot a containerless cartridge, separating the layers of shot with cardboard spacers. Most sources recommend equipping ammunition with shot No. 7 - No. 8, but, according to experienced hunters, this range is wider, from No. 9 to No. 6. A larger shot size will not provide a sufficient shot cloud, and a smaller one will only reduce its flight range .

Shooting lead

They shoot at a woodcock by simultaneously raising the barrel and making a smooth leash with the body. Its flight speed ranges from 10 to 17 meters per second. Therefore, the lead should be about 50–70 cm, which is approximately one and a half to two body lengths.