Location: Somewhere, Beaver County PA
Temp: 38 degrees,
Wind: none
Weather: Cold, no wind. Perfect if dressed appropriately for walking
I haven't post in a coon's age. Apparently a coon's age is...6 months?
I wanted to take Rocko out to see if we could come across any migrating woodcock. Woodcock are a migratory game bird that head south for the winter and make their way back through this area in the spring. They're funny looking (do a google image search of them) and are just slightly bigger than a robin.
Speaking of robins, if you see them in your yard then that is a sign that the ::ahem:: 'cock might be on their way as well. Something that I find interesting about the bird is not even the bird itself. It's the fact then when I bring it up in conversation with a non-hunter, I first get a laugh at the name of the bird and then a puzzled look as in "what-the-heck-is-it"? There is so much going on in the world of wildlife outside of our yards and this is one of those things. You'll never see one walking around your front yard or sitting on your clothesline, so you have to set out to see 'em.
I have a brushy spot about 1 mile from my house where we've flushed them before last spring (unfortunately not in the Fall though). So we set out to see if we could flush some.
Here is a picture of the habitat we're hitting:
After 3 minutes, Rocko went on point. His collar went off and then he started to creep. I yelled "Stop!" to him and he did. I started to approach and one burst up from the brush, flew 10 feet into the air, hit plane, and buzzed off between the small trees in the photo above. I say buzzed, because when they fly their wings make a strange buzz/'peet' sound from air whistling between them. Similar to a dove I guess.
Then as we walked further, another bird flushed and flew right over my head. Rocko came running towards me, proud. I'm not really sure what happened but I know it wasn't pointed. Maybe he ran it over, maybe it was anxious and flushed when it saw the dog...who knows. I patted him on the head regardless.
I saw the general location where the bird landed so we headed that direction. Rocko went on a solid point:
It's cool when this happens. The scent will hit is nostrils, he'll stop in his tracks, and do a loud 'breath-out'. This picture I caught him in the middle of his exhale. Of course, you gotta have the right-foot up to get the 1950's-era Field & Stream artwork look.
Surprisingly, this bird held fairly well for being a second flush. I actually had to walk around the brush and flush the bird. Rocko didn't hold point for all that long and came along with me. I wish I had a better photo because I might be able to pick out the bird from the brush.
We flushed one more bird and then called it a day. Three birds in total were moved. Rocko did a great job. I don't know why we can't point and flush like this during hunting season.
I had trouble getting Rocko out of the brush. Here's a picture of him taking a break, looking into the habitat. Pretty thick/jaggery stuff:
Fun St. Patrick's Day. Unfortunately, it's March 24th now and we're expecting 7 inches of snow tonight! Something tell's me we're going to have no spring. Straight from 30 degree temps straight to the 80's. Time will tell.
