Church Hill & Prince Coverts

Thicket and I headed up to the Church Hill Covert yesterday in hopes that the northern winds that we had gotten the night before had blown in some more woodcock. Instead the winds must have blown the woodcock that were there out. We hunted hard both over ground that Emma and I had hunted and tried some new ground but could not find any woodcock.

This patch of cover screamed woodcock but they weren't there this day.

Still hoping to get Thicket into some birds, we headed for the Prince Covert.  As I weaved my way through the cover a grouse flushed 50 feet to my left. Thicket appeared from behind me and pointed were the bird had been.

We hunted the rest of the cover and moved into the adjoining reclaimed strip mine cover with Thicket reached out 300 yards or more several times in an attempt to find game but to no avail.  Thicket finds a little water hole after one of her big casts.  

With only one more week of woodcock and early grouse season left I wonder where it has gone. Family commitments take up much of next week with only two free days to hunt. I'll be giving each girl one more hunt for the little gypsy birds before we have to call it over for this year. Two weeks of deer season will give us time to rest up and dream of the late grouse season.