I threw a 20 gauge in the truck and cricket and me pointed the truck east to go hit the woods in pursuit of the ghost bird. We hunt a lot of different birds in a lot of places but woodcock are the most challenging wing shooting and as a forester they are my favorite.
In this pic I have just located cricket and he has the first birds of the day pointed.

The cover was thick and it was a pair. I managed a double. After Cricket delivered both birds to hand, it was too good of a moment not to take a short break and get a picture.

We were hunting some pretty heavy cover and for the next several points I was stymied by the cover and had no shot. Finally cricket pointed a bird that I was able to cooperate and reward his point with a retrieve.

When I got home I realized I had not got a pic of the last bird so when I took cricket out of the box I used the flash to get a picture of our 3 bird limit. Cricket is not impressed with post hunt photos and it is reflected in the picture. As bad as this last pic is, it can’t put a damper on a stellar day.

I don’t get to pursue them often enough but I love putting the pudelpointer on the ground to chase the ghost bird.

Great hunt! I'm jealous. Ghost bird is a great nickname. Super elusive. Thanks for sharing.

Pure greatness. Thanks for sharing.

Cricket did a good job, along with you getting the double. The place I sold many years ago had a few woodcock on it. I usually only saw them when I stumbled upon them and they flushed. They seemed to like the strip of woods between the green fields and the pipeline right of way. Good memories.

Did you run into deer hunters

No but I was hunting private land. I would be a little nervous about my dog on public...

Yes it sucks waiting for deer season to end. But I can’t risk it otherwise

Was standing around the lease pond in Marion Co. New Years morning and had one land a few feet away. Would go in the water up to its breast probing.

This always scares me.
In my experience, deer hunters know it is illegal to hunt deer with dogs, and I think some of them then assume it is illegal to have dogs in the forest. They don't realize it is legal to use dogs on squirrel, rabbit, woodcock, duck, etc. That might make them more inclined to shoot.
My dog goes flying through the woods with a GPS antenna, a yellow and orange collar, and a blaze orange cape. Looks sort of like a superhero, Dog Wonder. At the very least, a deer hunter will have to know the dog belongs to someone, and maybe they will know that owner is nearby, and so if they shoot, there will be a reckoning.
Blanked, do you think muzzleloaders are any better? I find the woods get more crowded during muzzleloader season, and my one bad experience was with a muzzleloader. If we don't hunt deer or muzzleloader seasons, the woodcock season is -- what? -- maybe one week.

Yes muzzleloding season is a whole lot better. I do hunt public then

So here is a tip for you. Deer hunters in Lousiana actually like bird dogs . They like to see the deer moving.

Im making my first ever woodcock trip this week. Will probably go to Alabama Creek wma, can you hunt in the national Forest, or do you have to stay in the wma? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

There's some good covers in Alabama Creek. Hunt around the areas they're managing for red cockaded woodpeckers. If you hit em early morning or late just before end of shooting light, you might catch some birds out in more open cover. Middle of the day, get into thick, briary crap that's off of pipelines or right of ways near those areas mentioned above. That's about as clear as I can be without hotspottiing. I only got to hit it once this year before I had a heart attack. I'm hoping to maybe make a trip or 2 before the season ends, depending on how I feel. Good luck.