Woodcock Research and Management Programs, 1967 and 1968

Book excerpt: The continental breeding population of woodcock did not change from 1966 to 1967 as measured by singing-ground survery; however, the 1968 survey showed a decrease of 6.93 pecent. Woodcock wing-collection surveys indicated slightly lower age ratios in the 1966-67 harvest (-5.63 percent), but in 1967-68 the change was insignificant. The decline in hunter success of the two preceding seasons was halted in the 1967-68 season; the daily bag showed little change, but kill-per-season increased substantially (+17.5 percent). In a number of States, increased woodcock harvests in the 1967-68 season resulted from earlier opening dates. In the Canaan Valley of West Virginia, immature male woodcock were more mobile and vulnerable to capture and recapture than those in other age and sex classes.Of 85 male woodcock transplanted distances of 1/4 to 3 miles in Maine, 11 (13 percent) returned to their original capture sites; 11 others established new singing grounds at the transplant sites. A test of the reliability of hunter replies to mail questionnaires surveys in West Virginia indicated that the actual harvest of woodcock was substantially less than the survey showed.