I have a first season Epagnuel Breton that is coming along great. She's holding point, steady to flush, retrieves to me. Has had a couple hundred released birds, mostly quail and chukar with about 20 pheasant. She wants to go woodcock hunting! Is anyone heading out that can stand to have another hunter and his dog along? I don't even care if I shoot, just let the dog find some..... PM me if you can accommodate!. Thanks

JR

Where did you get your Brittany? I’m a fan of those little dogs.

A guy in Boerne

How is he bred? Do you know what his name was?

I’ll look for the phone #.

I have a few. That’s a good looking pup!

I'd just like to report that I did get an invitation by PM for a woodcock spot. A great guy and his son met me and showed me around the property. We found some birds and they departed but left me to continue hunting. The first thing I realized was that I had no way to keep track of my dog in the thick stuff. My hosts were using a flushing dog with a bell and that was a whole different method than my little pointing dog needed. We collaborated on a bird whereas the flusher got it to move and then we let me EB try to point it. On my own, I headed to more open areas. There was less concentration of birds but my dog started to point them and got 2 more. Overall, we moved about 6 or 7 birds with my host and I moved about another half-dozen on my own. I have since found a beeper-collar to make things go smoother next time.

This is a great thread right here, what a great way to meet other hunters and share the field.
Did you guys hunt public or private land?

Thank you for sharing. Please PM name of the Boerne Britt breeder if you can.

A gps collar is the way to roll and your dog needs to keep up with you. Hunting in silence will result in more points as opposed to flushing wild. If your dog is staunch enough that it will not affect him holding his points, trained to flush on command will allow you to convert on a much higher percentage of pointed birds in the cover you find woodcock in. One last observation from an old bird hunter that enjoys woodcock hunting is by the time you work your way to the pointed bird most of them will have moved. A dog that can relocate on its own and keep the wind on the bird and keep pinning them till you can get there will put bird in the bag in a hurry. The down side to that is it has to make its share of mistakes to learn. There are two schools of thought on that. I am a believer of the bird belongs to the dog and the point is a dance between the bird and dog only. All the best to you and your dog.

The dog is out front, just hidden in the heavy cover. My beeper collar has a locate button that beeps when I want it to. If I don't see or hear the dog for a while I make it beep. Then on point I have it set for 1 beep every 5 seconds. I am not a proponent of letting a pointing dog flush. Just not my thing. I want a broke dog (and right now I have one). So far the beeper is working for its intended purpose. I appreciate you input.

I’ve got a broke dog too. It can switch gears when I need it too though. In the thick stuff most often with woodcock when you walk in to flush you are stymied by the cover. Walking out front and finding a crease in the cover where you have a short window, when it makes sense, then telling the dog to put the bird up is what I am talking about. It takes a thoroughly broke dog to go there and the dog not come unbroke on other birds.

Edit to add: I started with beeper collars and bells long before there was such a thing as GPS collars. Woodcock are like most other birds a dog hunts in that almost every time the dog first smells where the bird has walked then expands till he finds and points it which may be hundreds of yards away. In open country it is no big deal. In the thick woods that you find woodcock in the gps let’s you “see” your dog when it is on a bird and out of earshot. It is a hell of a tool if you run bird dogs. I attempted to advise you how to help your dog point more and “move” fewer birds. In retrospect I should have kept my experience hunting them to myself. Again all the best to you and your dog.

Walking in and flushing a woodcock in the cover I most often find them in and then trying to shoot it for the dog (I have some experience at it) is often like trying to grab a beer off the top shelf of the refrigerator wearing a straight jacket. It makes them a fun bird.

Public land