Yesterday opened up woodcock season here in FL. I decided I would give it a try and took off half a day to take Drake out to see what we could rustle up. The place we were headed was along the path of absolute destruction that Hurricane Michael wrought upon FL. I hadn't been out there since last year so this was as much a see what the property looks like as well as a hunt. I really didn't expect much birdwise since FL really isn't a destination hotspot for woodcock but sometimes we get lucky. And there are usually woodducks out there to pop up and in a wet year it isn't uncommon to find snipe.
Here is a sunset shot of the property from last year:
And then from yesterday:
This property is partially longleaf pine and partially oak hammocks. Some areas (mostly the more dense oak hammocks) seemed to do sort-of-kind-of okayish (more on the bad end of okayish) and then others looked like a weather god having a temper tantrum went through.
Drake is getting up there in age and arthritis is catching up with him. One of the reasons I like this place so much is that the managers manage very heavily for quail so it's a relatively easy hunt for the old feller. Not this year with all the downed trees and limbs. Gonna be a tough year for him probably but he did a great job toughing it out yesterday. Some of the logs that are down, it was like straddling a horse to get over them and he needed help in some areas to get up and over those logs. But he was game.
After talking with a few other hunters when I first got there that afternoon, I figured it was good to keep my expectations low. No one had found any woodcock and only one person had found any quail and that was the biologist that works there. However, my boy was up to the task of finding me some woodcock and did so brilliantly. Quail....as usual whooped our butts.
The difference between last year and this year was shocking and very sad to see. They actually have a logging crew working to clean the place up to try to get some order to the place but it will not be like it was in my lifetime. Perhaps not even my niece's lifetime. But, maybe once they get it all cleaned up in there and can begin managing it again, maybe it will be even better for the quail than it was. It is a big cycle afterall.
One of the take aways from my trip out there yesterday. If you have a Hurricane 4, almost 5, barreling its way to you. GET OUT. GO FAR AWAY. The damage I saw to buildings as well as just the overall devastation of the forests was incredible. I've ridden out tropical storms and lower level hurricanes and the damage from those storms was shocking in some ways. What I saw yesterday totally eclipsed all of those storms combined. And that was north of where Michael slammed into the coast.
Dani
Here is a sunset shot of the property from last year:
And then from yesterday:
This property is partially longleaf pine and partially oak hammocks. Some areas (mostly the more dense oak hammocks) seemed to do sort-of-kind-of okayish (more on the bad end of okayish) and then others looked like a weather god having a temper tantrum went through.
Drake is getting up there in age and arthritis is catching up with him. One of the reasons I like this place so much is that the managers manage very heavily for quail so it's a relatively easy hunt for the old feller. Not this year with all the downed trees and limbs. Gonna be a tough year for him probably but he did a great job toughing it out yesterday. Some of the logs that are down, it was like straddling a horse to get over them and he needed help in some areas to get up and over those logs. But he was game.
After talking with a few other hunters when I first got there that afternoon, I figured it was good to keep my expectations low. No one had found any woodcock and only one person had found any quail and that was the biologist that works there. However, my boy was up to the task of finding me some woodcock and did so brilliantly. Quail....as usual whooped our butts.
The difference between last year and this year was shocking and very sad to see. They actually have a logging crew working to clean the place up to try to get some order to the place but it will not be like it was in my lifetime. Perhaps not even my niece's lifetime. But, maybe once they get it all cleaned up in there and can begin managing it again, maybe it will be even better for the quail than it was. It is a big cycle afterall.
One of the take aways from my trip out there yesterday. If you have a Hurricane 4, almost 5, barreling its way to you. GET OUT. GO FAR AWAY. The damage I saw to buildings as well as just the overall devastation of the forests was incredible. I've ridden out tropical storms and lower level hurricanes and the damage from those storms was shocking in some ways. What I saw yesterday totally eclipsed all of those storms combined. And that was north of where Michael slammed into the coast.
Dani
