woodcock on ground
Woodcock Minnesota is a non-profit, volunteer run organization dedicated to funding specific research that benefits the American woodcock in our state. Woodcock Minnesota is comprised of woodcock hunters and woodcock watchers who want to improve the plight of our favorite bird, which also benefits numerous other species that depend on early succession forest habitat.

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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 - In March, Jarraff Industries of St. Peter, MN donated the use of one of their Geo Boy brush cutters to make the habitat modifications needed for the Pine County singing ground study. The transport, use of the equipment, and the operators time are valued at around $10,000! A big thank you is due to Jarraff Industries; here is the web address and we'll post some video and pictures shortly. http://www.geo-boy.com/

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!

May 5, 2008 - Several people have contacted us wanting to know what effect all the snow we got in April will have on breeding woodcock. Woodcock are known to be tenacious renesters, that will start over if the first nest is lost. Body weight seems to be key. Provided they have not lost too much weight, hens renest quite succesfully. Unlike last year, temperatures remained fairly warm and the ground did not refreeze, so I hope the birds were still able to do some foraging. I did check a nearby singing ground two-days after the last snow and found several males still doing their thing. Ultimately banding reports and wing-bee results will tell the true story. Until then we'll hope for the best! 

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:

Woodcock Migration PDF 6.2MB

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. 

 
Pat Rubel of the Wildlife Management institute is leading the creation of the Upper Great Lakes Woodcock Management Initiative. Woodcock Minnesota has been in contact with Pat and will aid in the implementation of the initiative which is based on the national conservation plan. You can read the full length conservation plan and an overview of the Great Lakes Woodcock Initiative here by clicking on the files attached below:

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.

This new format will allow us to make rapid updates and do a better job of keeping you informed about what's going on in the woodcock world, without incurring web update and rising printing and mailing costs.
 
Add this page to your favorites and visit often, new content will be added frequently!
 
Peeennntt!
Trevor Sumption, Woodcock Minnesota President