The right-and-left that almost was

Here in North America we only have our woodcock in the eastern regions. I live in the far west, so I’ve never had the opportunity to hunt them. They are a popular bird in their range and are frequently written about in books and magazines.

Wanting to try woodcock shooting for myself, my wife and I in 1985 made a trip to New Brunswick, Canada, principally for woodcock. The experience couldn’t have turned out better.

Not only did we encounter very good numbers of woodcock – along with ruffed grouse as a bonus — our guide had a drop-dead beautiful Irish setter that was extremely good at finding the birds in heavy cover. But in most cases I found the shooting to be a little too