Grouse & woodcock

[cbowen]

Flushed 4 grouse and 4 woodcock last weekend in NE Pa. Instead of carrying my 20 ga. Skeet & Upland i had my Canon EOS 60 D to take pictures. It was a interesting experience. The woodcock did not make a sound when flushed and I almost stepped on one before it flushed ? I also saw my first Bobcat near dusk! It was like winter with a high temp. of 37 degrees and windy and still some snow around.

[vaturkey]

Always nice to hear. We had a good number of Woodcock down her in mid-March, but they have moved north. Grouse, not so much.

[Sporrns]

Fascinating how woodcock will alter their flushing characteristics according to the cover they are trying to get out of. In contrast to the super-'whistley' power flush they use to rocket up vertically through sparse standing cover, they can and frequently do make almost no sound at all when trying to 'sneak' out of a super-dense cover. My English setter went on point in a small, bushel-basket-sized clump of low, dense briars and vines. When he locked up, his head was almost invisible, thrust into the tangles. I approached slowly, waiting for the flush; when I was about 4 feet away and nothing had yet happened, curiosity got the better of me. I started to kneel down on one knee to see if I could actually see and make out the bird on the ground, which I had only ever had the opportunity to do once before. Just as I got my knee on the ground, the bird flushed no more than a foot in front of my dog's nose. It made no more noise than a playing card thrown into a hat, and almost looked like it was flying in slow motion it flew so slowly. The bird actually threaded its way though the jumble, slipping sideways, backwards, forwards, and at one point I could swear it was nearly upside down. I was so mesmerized I didn't even think about shooting at it. My setter gave me 'the look': is that what you brought me all the way out here for???!