Written By: Steve Sorenson. Holland, MI
This was my 50th season hunting Woodcock, (28 years without a dog) and over that time I’ve had several occasions when it was evident that I had found a resting cover for migrating birds. If you’ve never had that experience, it’s magical. Dogs going point to point, sometimes with birds as close as 10 yards apart! I’ve gotten so moved by the experience that I simply stop shooting and just take it in.
It’s been quite a few years since I last found flight birds so as my shorthair hit 9 and I no longer take next season for granted I hoped for that experience at least one more time. While driving with my 77 year old father in law (who introduced me to bird dogs) and his 12 year old Wirehair to chase Woodcock on a beautiful mid-Michigan October day, he echoed my sentiments. We arrived at the cover we found a couple of years ago with eager anticipation. As we added bell collars and entered the Aspen his dog quickly went on point. He moved in for the flush, there was a clean miss and we both moved towards the re-flush opportunity. That’s when both dogs went on point short of where we had seen the first bird land. And so it continued throughout the cover, recording over 35 birds in the next hour and a half. It’s experiences like this one that help us forget the blackberry scratches to the face, the knocked off hats, the frustration of missing an “easy” shot and the cleaning of a dog that got skunked. If I had never again experienced flight birds I would still consider my Woodcock hunting career fulfilling, but we did, and it was magical once again.
