On a cold, cloudy day in late March, Jerry and I took our one-year-old female setter Dilly (CH Woodville’s Yukon Cornelius x Northwoods Redbreast, 2024) to a nice woodcock spot of young aspen and sparse undergrowth.
Dilly was exuberant—whether due to her age or the conditions or both—but we knew she was hunting. We were all rewarded when, within about 20 minutes, we found Dilly on point.
The woodcock were back!
For many upland hunters and dog owners, the return of the woodcock is an important part of the natural rhythm of things. It confirms the seasonal shift from winter to spring.
And how can one not be excited about that return? How can one not be enchanted by woodcock and delight in their oddities? There aren’t many birds that have a cuter, rounder body or a longer beak. Breast meat is dark and leg meat is white. A woodcock’s brain is, basically, upside down. Ears are placed under its eyes, which are situated far back on its head.
And those eyes! In “Making Game: An Essay on Woodcock,” Guy De La Valdene writes that a woodcock’s eyes are “black and limpid, not eyes to dwell on if one intends to keep hunting.”
Taxonomy The scientific name of the American woodcock is Scolopax minor. It is the only upland bird in the large Scolopacidae family, a major shorebird family. Other members include sandpipers, curlews, godwits, dowitchers and snipe.
Besides the American woodcock, there are seven other members of the Scolopax genus. Eurasion woodcock, S. rusticola, is native across Europe and Asia from Ireland to Japan. There are six other species, each native to their own small island.
Woodcock nest
All family members are ground nesters and usually the nest is just a scrape. It might not seem like ample protection but the camouflage is ideal. Generally, 2-4 eggs are laid and are colored and spotted to blend in. At birth, precocial young are covered with down and, with the help of a parent, are mobile enough to leave the nest within hours.
Evolution Birds date to the Cretaceous period (135 – 66 million years ago) of the Mesozoic era, a.k.a., the age of dinosaurs. Birds with beaks survived the asteroid-induced mass extinction at the end of that period most likely because they could eat plants.
The first woodcock fossil discovery was from about 20 million years ago. When the glaciers began retreating during the later Pleistocene epoch of the Cenozoic era (about 20,000 – 30,000 years ago), woodcock followed. They ended up in their current locales at the end of that retreat.
Range and Habitat The woodcock population in the U.S. is divided into two major groups: Eastern (from the Appalachian Mountains to the east) and Central (west of the Appalachians to western edge of the Minnesota/Iowa/Missouri borders). The Eastern birds generally migrate along the Atlantic coast and the Central population usually follows the Mississippi River.
Woodcock like successional deciduous forests where there is rich soil. In addition, they need open areas–fields, grasslands or forest cleanings–and shrubby areas.
Woodcock roost, forage and practice their mating ritual—the sky dance—in open areas. They move to the cover of a forest during the day to forage and to avoid predation.
Fine camouflage
Avoiding predation A woodcock’s prime methods of predator evasion are not moving and camouflage. Countless times while training young dogs, Jerry and I would stop to listen for the bell of the errant dog. Within about a minute and usually no more than 15 feet away, a woodcock flushed, thinking we had moved on.
A woodcock’s approximately 1,000 feathers are flawlessly arranged in various patterns that perfectly mimic the accumulated detritus of the forest floor. The colors of those feathers, as described in De La Valdene’s book, include “cream, cinnamon, ochre, black, burnt umber, raw sienna, brown and auburn” and five shades of gray.
Woodcock chick
Fun facts about food, nesting and migration • Males and females have similar feather arrangement and colors. Females, called hens, are a little larger and have slightly longer wings and bills. • Woodcock are solitary birds and except when breeding or rearing chicks spend their days alone. • Woodcock eat worms…lots of worms. Estimates vary but somewhere between 60-90% of their diet is worms, which are high in protein, fat and water. Other foods include insects, grubs and larvae. • When walking through the woods, woodcock bob and rock back and forth and look, somewhat, like they’re dancing the two-step. One theory is they are causing vibrations in the soil which can cause worms to come to the surface. • In addition to peents and chirps of the sky dance, males cackle to warn off other males. A whistle noise is made by their fast-beating wings, such as when they flush. • Snow and heavy rains during nesting can be detrimental. • When woodcock eggs hatch, the eggs are split lengthwise. • Hens will use the “broken wing” trick to lure predators away from their nests. • Woodcock take it easy when they migrate. In general, they’re not rushing either north or south and often are the last bird to migrate in the fall. • Snowstorms, thunderstorms and strong winds impact migration. Woodcock will simply wait for the weather to improve before continuing.
Spring woodcock
Saving the best for last: The Sky Dance Most male members of the Scolopacidae family have some sort of aerial display for breeding. Woodcock are renowned for their ritual, nicknamed the “sky dance.” I’ve heard it many times and in many spring seasons around our house and kennel.
Aldo Leopold exquisitely describes it in “A Sound County Almanac.”
“He flies in low from some neighboring thicket, alights on the bare moss, and at once begins the overture: a series of queer throating ‘peents’ spaced about two seconds apart, and sounding much like the summer call of the nighthawk.
“Suddenly, the peenting ceases and the bird flutters skyward in a series of wide spirals, emitting a musical twitter. Up and up he goes, the spirals steeper and smaller, the twittering louder and louder, until the performer is only a speck in the sky. Then, without warning, he tumbles like a crippled plane, giving voice in a soft liquid warble that a March bluebird might envy. At a few feet from the ground he levels off and returns to his peenting ground, usually to the exact spot where the performance began, and there resumes his peenting.”
Santa Claus and his team of nine reindeer didn’t miss a stop at our winter kennel here in the Red Hills region of southwestern Georgia/northern Florida.
All dogs received special treats in their dog dishes this morning.
From all of us at Northwoods Bird Dogs, a very Merry Christmas to you, your friends and family!
This is a framed greeting card by very clever cartoonist Sandra Boynton. I bought the card at least 30 years ago in The Bibelot Shops, a favorite St. Paul store, sadly now closed.
Northwoods Nickel (CH Shadow Oak Bo x Northwoods Chardonnay, 2014)
Jerry and I have just released three setters for sale. Northwoods Nickel, a six-year-old female, is a “10” in every aspect. She is beautiful and intelligent, stellar in the field and a calm companion.
Northwoods Istanbul and Northwoods Geneva are two-year-olds out of Nickel by CH Erin’s Hidden Shamrock. These young dogs have it all—wonderful disposition, physical conformation and fully trained on ruffed grouse, sharp-tailed grouse, woodcock and bobwhite quail.
The sun was warm but the wind was chill. You know how it is with an April day. When the sun is out and the wind is still, You’re one month on in the middle of May. But if you so much as dare to speak, A cloud comes over the sunlit arch, A wind comes off a frozen peak, And you’re two months back in the middle of March.
~ Robert Frost
Northwoods Geneva (CH Erin’s Hidden Shamrock x Northwoods Nickel, 2018) on a sunny afternoon in the woods.
Evening meal of sharp-tailed grouse from last fall.
Northwoods Rob Roy (Northwoods Blue Ox x Northwoods Chablis, 2012)
Our good friend and client Chris Bye recently completed a whirlwind, monumental effort for the future of bird dogs. He made a very quick, round trip, solo drive from his home in Wisconsin to Georgia for the express purpose to breed his Northwoods Rob Roy to our Northwoods Minerva.
But while in this Red Hills region of venerable quail plantations, Chris and I took some time to train dogs from horseback on Pinehaven Plantation in north Florida. Chris captured this classic covey rise in slow motion during a workout with pointer Northwoods Audi and setter Northwoods Hercules.
The National Grouse & Woodcock Hunt (NGWH), put on by the Ruffed Grouse Society (RGS), is a big deal. This year, the 35th, began on Tuesday, October 11, and ran for four days. Part get-together/part fund-raiser, it is headquartered at the Sawmill Inn in Grand Rapids, Minnesota.
In addition to plenty of good food, camaraderie and the opportunity to support a worthy organization, NGWH is bird hunter heaven. There is a sporting clays competition, shooting lessons, trap demonstrations and two days of guided hunting competition in the woods of Itasca County.
Jerry and I felt honored to be asked by RGS Director of Member Relations and Outreach Mark Fouts to put on a dog demonstration. So last Wednesday, October 12, we found ourselves at the Grand Rapids Gun Club where the RGS hosted its Outdoor Festival.
Jerry and I brought three dogs that hopefully would behave well and not embarrass us too much: Northwoods Carly Simon, above on left, pointer Northwoods Platinum and Northwoods Nirvana. Nirvana demanded some attention but the most difficult aspect was the tough conditions—really cold and windy.
The most important command for a bird dog is WHOA and very often misunderstood and misused. Jerry spent quite a bit of time explaining how we train and then demonstrated on Platinum. Luckily, she was perfect!
A highlight for us was seeing so many friends and clients. Amazing how small the bird dog world is…but also heartening that it is filled with talented, fascinating, committed hunters and dog lovers from all over the country.
We know many people involved with RGS and the NGWH. It was fun for us to see Andy Duffy and Boo, his eight-month-old setter male puppy out of our Carly Simon and Sunny Hill Sam. We last saw them in April when Andy pulled out of our driveway in Georgia with tiny Boo on his lap.
Many thanks to Mark and the crew of the NGWH for hosting such an outstanding event.
The past couple months, I’ve been using a PE-900 Pro Educator training collar manufactured by E-Collar Technologies, Inc. I bought a one-dog collar but the PE-900 can be expanded to three dogs and features seven stimulation modes, including momentary and continuous, seven vibrations and four tones.
The cool thing is that these options can be programmed and combined in almost any configuration and can be customized for each dog. There are many other innovations—some quite complicated such as Level Lock and Boost.
For basic training in a defined area, the PE-900 is the best ecollar I’ve used.
Nice features.
My favorite capability is the patented “Instant” stimulation mode. It lets me use one hand to dial the intensity up and down while training compliance to known commands. The small increments of low-level stimulation help the dog make the right choice without causing the stress of hard corrections. This “Instant” mode can be applied for up to 45 seconds.
Another feature I like is the small size of the receivers. At only 2.4 ounces, they can be used on a very small or young dog.
For Whoa training, the PE-900 is perfect for use on the flank. The small bungee allows for a snug fit without inhibiting movement. (Houston’s Cappuccino, CH Shadow Oak Bo x Northwoods Chardonnay, 2014)
E-Collar Technologies also improved another issue for me. When training compliance to the Whoa command, I use an e-collar on the dog’s flank. The collar must be snug enough to make contact with the skin but not so tight that it restricts movement. The PE-900 has a biothane buckle collar with an elastic bungee incorporated into the strap which allows a good fit with easy expansion and contraction.
Limitations.
The PE-900’s range is only ½ mile and I wonder if that could be further limited in dense woods or hilly terrain. Too, since I haven’t used the collar under actual hunting conditions I can’t vouch for its durability.
E-Collar Technologies is the brainchild of Greg Van Curen, co-founder and former president of Innotek. Another Innotek alum, Kim Westrick, is in charge of sales and customer service.
For more information on the PE-900 and other e-collars made by E-Collar Technologies, visit their website at www.ecollar.com.
Hunters Dick Taylor, on left, and Henson Orser happily pose with their birds after a successful hunt behind Blue Shaquille. High stem density of the aspens combined with a rather open forest floor is a favorite habitat for ruffed grouse.
No one who is at all sensitive to criticism or who does take kindly to being disagreed with, should speak openly of his grouse dog ideas; much less permit them to become recorded in lasting print. ~ William Harnden Foster, New England Grouse Shooting, 1942
Ruffed grouse tend to inhabit wooded areas with high stem density which makes it more difficult for ground predators to approach. Generally, they prefer a bare forest floor with good visibility and an over story for protection from aerial predators. Grouse live singly and are therefore responsible for their own survival. Their preferred means of travel is walking. When threatened, evasive options are many and grouse will run, flush, fly into a tree, sit tight or any combination.
What Betsy and I seek in a grouse dog are qualities that allow the dog to find the most birds and the ability to point them in a manner that provides the best shooting opportunities. We choose our grouse dogs based on the habits, and habitat, of the birds.
Ruffed grouse are solitary birds that live in big woods.
Even though the woods are vast, only a small portion holds grouse. We require a dog that will cover a good amount of territory searching for these individual birds while staying in contact with the handler.
Ruffed grouse inhabit some nasty areas.
Not only does a grouse dog have to penetrate the bird’s realm but it also has to get there. This includes traversing rough cover of debris-strewn, moss-covered, logged-over areas, tall grass, thorny berry briars and lots of water—whether in swamps, streams, marshes or ponds. A grouse dog is constantly ducking under, jumping over or otherwise dodging something in its path. We want a tenacious dog that is not deterred by tough terrain.
Ruffed grouse also like bare forest floors.
A grouse leaves little scent on a bare forest floor. That open-ness at bird level also gives grouse a good view of its surroundings. We require a dog with superb scenting ability that can follow a bird’s movements. The dog should have the dual qualities of strong pointing instinct and boldness to engage the bird.
After a good hour or two in the grouse woods, Blue Shaquille has had to ford streams and search large areas for his quarry. Among many points this day, he pins a bird in a very likely spot.
In addition to those qualities that are bird-oriented, Betsy and I want a tractable, intelligent dog with physical ability and style. It should have good hearing with natural ability to orient to its handler. It should effortlessly adapt to different cover. It should move easily and hunt for long periods of time, even under hot, dry conditions. Finally, we want a stylish dog that hunts with zeal.
We know that’s asking a lot of a dog but we’ve seen many dogs do it.
And the only way to find out is to work dogs on grouse. It takes time, knowledge of the bird and boot leather. Some abilities can be ascertained when a dog is young but most will be at least three years of age before its true capabilities are known.
