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WOODCOCK LIMITED
A Fraternity of Hunters Dedicated
to the Welfare of Woodcock
Mission
Statement
“Woodcock Limited is an
organization of hunters, some of whom
have chosen to limit their take, dedicated
to the conservation and management
of the American Woodcock, and its
habitat. Woodcock Limited will work
with local, private, state, and federal
organizations and Natural Resource
Departments to stabilize and increase
woodcock populations through research,
habitat and harvest management."
Woodcock
Limited (WL) is are an entirely
voluntary organization. WL currently
has members in 28 states and Ontario
and Quebec, Canada and will soon be
starting State Chapters. The bulk
of the membership is in MI, WI, MN,
PA, WV, NY, and OH in that order.
WL will assist,
support and actively encourage State,
County, and National Forest Managers
to meet their plans for cutting of
mature timber for the management of
wildlife, particularly woodcock, grouse
and the 70 other species that depend
on new, early succession, regenerating
forests. WL will work with any state,
federal or private organization to
help woodcock, grouse or other wildlife
where the work could also benefit
woodcock and grouse.
WL will be
seeking additional research on woodcock
recruitment or the lack of and is
considering the possibility of petitioning
the Federal Fish and Wildlife Service
to create a non-web-footed game bird
stamp to get a better handle on the
number of woodcock hunters throughout
all the flyways. Officers, board of
directors and members will be attending
Forest Planning Meetings to state
our position for cutting to create
early succession forests.
Above all
WL is an organization of hunters interested
in preserving the great tradition
of gunning for woodcock with bird
dogs.
HOW
TO JOIN
We will ask for dues for anyone interested
in joining this cause. The membership
period will run from January 1st.
to December 31st. For the first year
we will ask that you simply give what
you feel comfortable with, $20.00
being the minimum, as we are in a
fund raising mode to start off the
organization. A decal, along with
the satisfaction of knowing you are
helping this bird we hold so dear,
is about all you get for a while.
Once we are up and running I plan
to get out a quarterly newsletter
that will give information on what
we have done, what we want to do along
with any general information on woodcock,
woodcock dogs, guns and maybe predictions
based on singing ground counts and
brood counts.
Additional
information on Woodcock Limited can
be found at their website www.woodcocklimited.org
THE
AMERICAN WOODCOCK
The American woodcock is a shorebird
that inhabits forested areas from
Manitoba east to Newfoundland and
Labrador and south to the Gulf of
Mexico. It is known by a variety of
colorful local names including timberdoodle,
Labrador twister, brush snipe, woods
snipe, and bog sucker. The woodcock
is a popular game bird throughout
eastern North America and is the object
of an estimated 3.4 million days of
recreational hunting annually (U.S.
Department of the Interior 1990).
Hunters in the United States harvest
an estimated 1.1 million woodcock
annually (Straw et al. 1994), making
woodcock among the top ten species
of migratory game birds harvested
in the Atlantic and Mississippi flyways.
The most distinctive features of the
woodcock are its long bill (60-75
millimeters), which is specialized
for feeding on earthworms, and its
large eyes, which are set far back
for 360 degree vision (Keppie and
Whiting 1994). Woodcock are cryptically
colored and more compact than other
shorebirds. Females are larger than
males, with female weights ranging
from 151 grams to 279 grams, and males
from 116 grams to 219 grams (Mendall
and Aldous 1943; Owen and Krohn 1973).
Their plumage consists of a mottled
pattern of browns, black, buff, and
gray. Short powerful wings allow them
excellent maneuverability when flying
through the thickets and tangled brush
where they live.
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