Last Woodcock of the Season?

Tuesday we ran Wild Apple Samantha here at the Kennel as Katie was home for the week and wanted to go for a walk around the property.  Sam started out with a beautiful find on a grouse that was about 30 feet in front of here in some furs.  She's now holding some of them until I flush which is great progress for a nine month old puppy.  She went on to have two more grouse contacts and a stop then flush on a woodcock that Katie heard whistle out.  The last woodcock I'd seen before this one was November 12th.  The bird Tuesday was right next to one of the many seeps on the hill behind the house.  This is one of the spots I often find an early returning bird in March.  This year I probably won't have to wait until March to see more woodcock as I'm planning to spend some time in Kentucky this winter hanging out with the family and working a few dogs.  

After resting the dogs this week (except for the short run for Samantha) I expect to be back in the woods this weekend.  Although this time of year we usually have to wait until late morning for it to warm up a little bit and then the sun sets pretty early (4:07 today) making for some short hunting days.  It means that we only run three or four dogs a day but after a long season that's probably enough.

Wild Apple Samantha in the bird field last summer.