Hunt Intelligence · Upland

Read the Cover. Trust the Dog.

Every region grows a different bird community — its upland fingerprint. Learn the birds, the cover that holds them, and the hours they move, then go where the seasons say go.

Opening Soon · SepRuffed Grouse Sharp-Tailed Grouse Sage Grouse Hungarian Partridge Mourning Dove

Species Guide Season Calendar Region Fingerprints Match the Hunt Upland School

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Migratory

American Woodcock

Scolopax minor

The timberdoodle. A shorebird that moved to the woods, migrates by night, holds like a statue for a point, and flushes in a twittering corkscrew that misses easy.

Group

Migratory

Family

Scolopacidae

Weight

7 oz

Covey

Singles; flights overnight

Season & Activity · Peak Oct–Nov flights

JAN

FEB

MAR

APR

MAY

JUN

JUL

AUG

SEP

OCT

NOV

DEC

American Woodcock

Conditions & Cover

Weather

Flights ride the first northern frosts — new birds in the covers overnight

Wind

Sheltered, moist bottoms hold birds regardless of wind

Temp

Frozen ground pushes them south — they need soft soil to feed

Cover

Alder runs, young aspen, moist creek bottoms

The Daily Clock

How to Hunt It — Hour by Hour

Dawn Shift

First light

Drops back into daytime covers from night fields — new flight birds appear like magic.

Run It

Hit covers first after a frosty night

Whitewash means birds were here

Day in the Covers

All day

Sits tight in alder and young aspen on soft ground, probing for worms.

Run It

Trust every point — they hold forever

Shoot the second window, not the first

Dusk Flight

Last 20 minutes

Whistles out to fields and openings to roost at dark.

Run It

Watch a clearing edge at sunset

Count birds for tomorrow’s plan

Cross-Reference

Where This Bird Lives

Northwoods Grouse & Woodcock

Alder runs on soft ground; flights peak mid-Oct

Southern Pine Quail Country

Wintering flight birds in hardwood bottoms

≋ Waterlands · Upland data blends NOAA weather, state season books & brood-survey reports

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