Woodcock

Deceiver

Member
I have a 3 yr old WPG that does well with quail and I'm looking to diversify her skill set with hopes of getting her on grouse and woodcock in the future when visiting family up north. Can anyone steer me in the right direction on places (and when) to start looking for these birds in GA? I routinely do lots of walking and little shooting looking for quail, so I'm prepared to hunt hard and have the appropriate expectations going into this. I travel all over the state, so region specific advice isn't necessary. Thanks!
 

NCHillbilly

Administrator
Staff member
Woodcock are usually in damp thickets. Grouse are in the mountains, they prefer second-growth woods. Grouse are a lot more rare than they used to be.
 

trad bow

wooden stick slinging driveler
Woodcock hang around wet areas that have plenty of cover. Privet thickets in middle Georgia and cane thickets on the rivers down to coast are where you need to start looking. I haven’t seen any yet but I’m sure the migration hasn’t got to us yet. Season comes in first of December. Sometimes the birds don’t make it down till late in season. Depends on weather. Birds can’t feed in frozen ground.
 

Deceiver

Member
Thanks everyone! How wet are we talking? River flood plane that's boggy after a rain type areas or edges around swamps? I know of a few areas that hold swamp rabbits in middle ga and have really thick cover would that be a good place to start?
 

kingfish

Senior Member
I hunted a club in Wheeler County back in the mid 90's. We had a thick overgrown cut that I hunted out of. The first time I hunted the cut I heard a strange call right as it was cracking daylight. Then one launched like a mini helicopter and I saw it against the sky clear as day. That cut had several that roosted there and they were there every year. Really cool to see them launch.
 

PopPop

Gone But Not Forgotten
Creek bottom privet thickets is where I always found them. I enjoyed seeing them fly out into the pastures from my deer stands just before dark. My English pointers would point them fine, but would not retrieve them. Then they just quit showing up. Haven’t seen or heard one in years. East Central Al.
 

coachdoug87

Senior Member
They like thick overhead cover, but basically bare on the ground. The diet is mostly
Earthworms and the y need to Be able to like the ground
 

AceOfTheBase

Senior Member
Also, you'll see some light colored droppings around the worm poke holes.
Those two things together usually means timber-doodles were there.
I was always on the lookout for those two signs when hunting them.
 

GLS

Classic Southern Gentleman
Google woodcock splash and look at images.
The birds won't be in water, but around water. Sometimes, but not always.
I have found them in young pine thickets, huckleberry bush clumps, cat claw brier thickets, rivercane brakes, sweet gum sapling clusters. Vertical stems. As mentioned, they like ground that's open so they can walk around. I usually hunt mornings when its cool. Some folks swear by late afternoon when birds start walking to field and road edges. At night they feed in open fields, road shoulders, anywhere there are worms. During the day they are in loafing areas. Good luck.
 

redneck_billcollector

Purveyor Of Fine Spirits
I have been site prep burning all week for planting longleaf pine in Mitchell Co. I went out today, and everywhere I was able to get the fire to burn into the border hardwoods I flushed woodcock. I saw around 20 different birds today. I had gone out to sow LL pine seeds in some of the harder to get to places in my clear cuts. The land is next to the Flint River, and where ever my cane burned there were woodcock. Lots of droppings too. They appeared to be hunting worms in the burnt over areas.
 
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