|
�
October 9th, 2008 - Season is upon us, we are hearing generally good results from members across the state. Birds do seem to be concentrated with not much happening in the way of migration...yet! We do have some new blaze hats available for $15. They are made out of a CoolMax material and are very comfortable. Send us an email if you are interested. Please send us your hunting reports as we keep tabs on the migration and most importantly hunt safe!
September 10th, 2008
August 29th, 2008 - What a great event! After a beautiful day, Duluth's Randy Zahn emerged as the champion of the 2008 Woodcock Minnesota Side by Side Challenge. Randy was also part of the Duluth Double Gun team that beat the Norm Moody led Deep Portage squad in a little "side action." Kim Salo, also of Duluth, was the winner of the Triple Double, getting next year's entry fees paid, and a $75 gas card. We'll post complete official results soon. Thank you to all shooters and volunteers that make this event possible!
August 4th, 2008 - The second leg of the Minnesota Triple Double is complete! Congratulations to the Duluth Double Gun crew on a great event. Visit duluthdoublegun.com for results.
The format is set for Woodcock Minnesota's Great Northern Side by Side Challenge - we'll shoot 75 sporting clays, 25 birds in the pigeon ring, 40 driven woodcock (flurry,) and 10 walked up woodcock (with a twist!)
If you plan on shooting, please pre-register soon so we can get a jump on squading and designate start times.
July 19, 2008 - Woodcock Minnesota has a new life member, Grady Parker Sumption, born July 9th, 2008. Grady is our second son and great reminder that conservation actions taken today are largely for the benefit of our children and grandchildren. Woodcock Minnesota just distributed $1300 to the University of Minnesota to reimburse graduate students for the mileage they put on traveling to Pine County study sites this spring. Attached is a synopsis prepared by grad student Stefanie Bergh. Rising transportation costs are just one of the many challenges faced by researchers today. Thank you for your continued support.
Remember the 3rd annual Great Northern SxS Challenge is just over a month away and we hope to see you there! June12, 2008 - The first leg of the Minnesota Triple Double is complete. Twenty shooters attended Deep Portage's SxS event and fun was had by all. "Normy" the wooden dog introduced shooters to a new game that did a great job of simulating that last grouse of the day! As usual, downtime was filled with show and tell, double gun style. Hats off to Norm Moody, Ted Lundrigan, Bob Siebert, Jerry Lamon, and the Deep Portage Staff on a job well done. We understand that Bob and Ted had a lot of fun setting up the course! All funds raised will benefit Deep Portage's Upland Bird Youth Camp. Next up, the Puglisi Shoot in Duluth August 2-3, followed by Woodcock Minnesota's own event August 23rd in Little Falls.
May 18, 2008 -
I could do a lot with one of these bad boys!
May 14, 2008 - The first woodcock chicks of the season have been banded in Isanti County. Bill length indicates the two broods banded had hatch date estimates of May 4 and May 12. That means the hen that hatched her clutch on May 4 sat on her nest through the late season snows!
April 24, 2008 - Singing grounds are busy places right now. Earlier in the week I took a couple evenings and visited a nearby singing ground and witnessed several birds in a small area trying to one-up each another. One particular bird landed 10-feet to my left and cursed me out with vocalizations I had not previously heard. I'm fairly confident that woodcock can swear...
Some brush clearing was recently completed on one of our Pine County study sites, it will be interesting to see how long it takes birds to find and use it. Introduce a spouse, family member or hunting partner to woodcock by taking them out to watch singing displays. Shows start nightly at 8:30 p.m.
April 19, 2008 - Here is a link to a thesis on woodcock migration done in 2004:
April 17, 2008 - Last Saturday the Finlayson-Giese Sportsmen's club house was destroyed by an arsonist. The historic log building was one of at least 10 buildings, including several lake homes, that were burned that night. The FGSC is a valued partner in our singing ground research study. Several Woodcock Minnesota members have expressed interest in helping with the clean up. The club will let us know when they will have a clean up day and we'll post it here. We have no doubt the club will be stronger than ever and rebuild quickly..
April 12, 2008 - Woodcock Minnesota takes to the air waves! State biologist and board member Earl Johnson is joined by Bill Sherck, host of Due North TV as he talks about banding, aging, and sexing woodcock. You can catch the show this coming Thursday (the 17th) on Fox Sports Net (FSN) North at 6:00 p.m. Due North TV will also feature a woodcock hunt filmed last fall with our own Randy Havel and Jim Gerchy that is set to air in August. We'll pass on the date and time when it is set. Finally, something worth watching on TV!
April 8, 2008 - Representatives from the USFWS, Wildlife Management Institute, and state wildlife agencies recently met at the North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference in Phoenix to finalize a federal woodcock conservation plan.
Woodcock Conservation Plan pdf 1.07MB
Great Lakes Woodcock Initiative pdf 170K
Watch for updates on the plan!
April 4, 2008 - Welcome to eSplash the new Woodcock Minnesota website!
Singing males have returned to central Minnesota and it seems like the perfect time to launch our new website. The site is a work in progress and we will continue to add functionality, but what you see here is a look at what's to come.