adam f Posted November 17, 2011 Report Share Posted November 17, 2011 (edited) I had a day out with the Okehampton Woodcock Club yesterday with a view to joining and shooting a bit over the season with them. A really great experiance - proper hunting, true wild birds in a stunning setting, mixed woodland and forestry in the middle of Exmoor just outside of Okehampton, Devon. My mate Gary and I met with 5 of the others in a Little Chef for brekkie around 9am before heading out into the plantations and starting shooting around 10am. The plan was shoot one, beat one so with 2 teams of 3 and Barry floating in-between we cracked on. Dale had been insistant on explaining to us that these were wild birds and it is early in the season so dont expect big numbers. He also explained it was hard going. On the first drive we flushed 5 birds in all but none made the bag - they dont get the repuation of being hard to shoot for nothing! Still it was an awesome sight to be beating through such amazing woodland and then the clatter of wings before the majestic woodcock dips and curls around the tree tops! Second drive drew a blank, third drive and Stu's cockers put up a bird that was dropped and signalled a proper start to the season! All in all we managed 9 drives through the day and everyone had at least a couple of chances - but boy are they tough to shoot. Dale dropped a couple of cracking birds that others in the line had missed - he's a mean shot with that little 28 bore! I have shot woodcock before but only when they have flushed out of a pheasant drive - being on a proper day for them was a completely different experiance. I managed to break by duck on the last drive of the day - dropped it with the first barrel, broke the gun to re-load just as another flushed behind! - a chance of a left and right missed! To finish the day we stayed for the evening flight - an awesome way to finish off, stodd in the halflight awaiting the birds heating out to feed. The flight was breif, maybe 10 mins but hectic, we saw maybe 6 where I saw stood, I had a cracking chance at a pair but fluffed both but Gary next door managed one as did a few of the other guys. We finished with 9 Woodcock and a squirrel, we flushed / saw 32 birds in total, which is great for so early in the season. Cant wait till next time. Edited November 17, 2011 by adam f Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samyw Posted November 17, 2011 Report Share Posted November 17, 2011 Well done mate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicky T Posted November 17, 2011 Report Share Posted November 17, 2011 Well done indeed Always wanted to try a bit of Woodcock shooting one day Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garygreengrass Posted November 17, 2011 Report Share Posted November 17, 2011 Well done Can`t beat a bit of woodcock shooting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timmytree Posted November 17, 2011 Report Share Posted November 17, 2011 Very nice, but don't let the Okehampton tribe see you spell their town OAKHAMPTON, they'll eat your dog or worse! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oke Posted November 17, 2011 Report Share Posted November 17, 2011 Looking good! Is it just Wednesdays you go out there? If so your dogs are safe, for now anyway! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkeyboots Posted November 17, 2011 Report Share Posted November 17, 2011 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dorsey Posted November 17, 2011 Report Share Posted November 17, 2011 Good shooting matey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon123 Posted November 17, 2011 Report Share Posted November 17, 2011 Well done :good: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
truckboy1 Posted November 17, 2011 Report Share Posted November 17, 2011 Glad to hear you and Gary had a good day, I was very please with how the day panned out as i think everybody had some shooting and most managed to bag a bird including gary with his first ever Woodcock, mind you i am glad he missed a couple as it gave me the chances i need to bag my first of the season See you again soon Dale Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hutchie the white hunter Posted November 17, 2011 Report Share Posted November 17, 2011 :good: :good: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steyr 6.5 Posted November 17, 2011 Report Share Posted November 17, 2011 Fantastic day mate, love shooting and eating Woodcock. Get them in the oven with a nice brandy cream sauce Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pykie Posted November 18, 2011 Report Share Posted November 18, 2011 Glad to hear you boys had a good time. Stu, the one with the Sprockers, is my dad. Hope you keep getting good numbers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beretta28g Posted November 18, 2011 Report Share Posted November 18, 2011 On a shoot out my way, youd be fined if you shot one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fisherman Mike Posted November 18, 2011 Report Share Posted November 18, 2011 (edited) On a shoot out my way, youd be fined if you shot one. Thats because Native Sedentary woodcock are scare in GB these days and numbers are dwindling at an alarming rate. The sub species which migrate to us from Scandinavia and Eastern Europe is very slightly different and does not interbreed with the native species because they migrate back again in the late winter early spring. I suspect when the OP says wild birds they are actually migrants, albeit wild. Edited November 18, 2011 by Fisherman Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adam f Posted November 18, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 18, 2011 The club has a massive amount of land, 80% of which is so thick it's impossible to access, shoot and disturb. The 20% they do shoot is mainly around the outskirts of the woods. The club have shot the land for 25 years and monitor numbers of woodcock carefully, they shoot a very, very small proportion of the birds on the ground. What I'm saying is the ground isnt shot to death and they guys really look after it - making it a sustainable wild / migratory bird shoot - comparable with wild fowling over a large marsh I reckon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul223 Posted November 18, 2011 Report Share Posted November 18, 2011 Mmmmmmm tasty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallard123 Posted November 19, 2011 Report Share Posted November 19, 2011 well done mate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigJohnCat Posted November 19, 2011 Report Share Posted November 19, 2011 Good write up Adam. Talking to Gary yesterday he really enjoyed it. Might like to join you for a day down there some time in the future. Cheers John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ack-ack Posted November 19, 2011 Report Share Posted November 19, 2011 Nice read, good going Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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