Tips for Better Woodcock Shooting Skills

“Woodcock are neither the hardest nor the easiest bird to shoot.” I am not sure I can sum up woodcock shooting better than those words of George Bird Evans, author of Upland Shooting Life. Over 35 years have passed since I shot my first woodcock, and I have learned from others and my own errors how to get better or at least improve my woodcock shooting skills. 

While the American woodcock can fly upwards of 30 mph through impossibly thick cover, they are also capable of some of the slowest flights recorded of a bird. Woodcock are an unusual bird to wingshoot; their erratic and unpredictable flight patterns have coined them the nickname mudbats. There will be moments where they seem to float to the canopy with their head turned, those big eyes looking back at you, almost convincing you to reach out and try to catch it with your hands. You may ask yourself, “How could I miss that shot?”