Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1896-07-25
Sportsmen Seek Them Despite the
Heat of Summer.
THEIR HABITS AND THEIR HABITATS
Where They May Be Found in the
Vicinity Of Washington.
WORTH II A RID WOR X


panes any violent physical exertion. there
are sportsmen who virtually welcome what
the majority of people would characterize
as bodily torture in order to experience
| that subtle and delicious exhilaration that
the votary of the rod CT the gun enjoys
when his favorite is in his hand. Anglers
will float down the Potomac exposed to the
bI oiling the most torrid dog days
and be perfectly satisfied If at the end of
the day they have had a strike" every
half hour and succeeded in catching bass
every hour. Those who prefer the gun to
the rod are just careless of the unpleas-
ant ACCOMPANYING of a hard days hunt
| when there is a possibility of a woodcock
being flushed, followed by a quick snap
shot
1t Means Hard Work.
Just now the lovers of woodcock shoot
Ing working a good deal harder than
any hired and yet at the same time
are enjoying themselves to a greater de-
gree than they would at a first-class melo-
drama full of startling situations given in
a roof garden theater completely equipped
with all the apparatus necessary to cool
the cuticle. To be successful wcodcock
hunter, indeed, requires that a man shall
have something of the salamander in his
composition. The woodcock is the wariest
in sporadic sort of a way, he is found in
damp spots in the open woods, sometimes.
as at the present time, on wooded hills
away from the swamps, and occasionally
along in September he comes out III the
corniields that skirt the bottoms along
streams and sWamps and marshes and
seeks his susterance in the rich burrows
that lay between the rows. His favorite
place Of domicile, however, and where he
is to be founG most habtually. is in the
thick, dense, swampy lowlani ilickets and
woods grown with underground that
are so plentiful along the Potomac and the
streams that flow into it. The wooicock
lives on worms and nature has provided
him with a long bill which he inserts in
the soft black earth and draws forth his
wrigging food. 1t needs d Sjanch ami
steady dog with a perfect nose and album
dant staying powers to hunt woodcock sue
ceSsfully.
Slow. Steady Dog Needed.
A dog that ranges distance and goes
| at lope or a gallop is of no earthly use
| in woodcock shooting. A half hour through
| the cover favored by woodcock will break
down dog of this sort give the man who
follows him an opportunity 10 see not more
than one in ten of the birds that might be
along the line of the dog rush and make
what might be a good day miserable fail
ure. The unsophisticated may think that
following a dog through the thick under
growth into which the sun cannot send its
a
the fact is that thcle is no hotter place III
the world for person to exercise in. The
sport that one may enjoy, however, in such
unpleasant surroundings amply repays one
for all the discomforts he may undergo
| providing, always. that he finds birds and
can bag them when they are found
Like every other game bird of erratic
| flight. there are vast differences Of opinion
among sportsmen upon the subject OF shoot
| ing them. You will find men who will SOL
! emily aver that a woodcock is the easiest
| thing to hit that flies, and you viii find
| others. and skilled shots at that. who de-
| clare that they elusive and as diff
| cult to bag as snipe.
What IL Needed by the Hunter.
| Perhaps it all depends upon the quickness
| of the eye that looks over the gun barrels
| and the readiness of the trigger finger to
| answer to the impression conveyed by the
glance. man who squints along his gun
| and takes the end sight on the barrels into
| consideration will never make a successful
| woodcock hunter, or rather shooter. The
sport needs wide open eyes in this vicinity.
at least, and snap-shooting of the most ap-
! proved character. The thick cover which
! the bird uses demands art Of this sort. The
dog stands the gunner steps by him and
| f1ushes the bird. there is startled rush of
| feathers. probably a plaintive. shrill but
soft note, brown ball suspended a mo-
ment in the air, to disappear in another
| moment through foliage that seems i'm
pcEetrable. That is not an exaggerated
| description of the experience of the average
| sportsman in this vicinity who goes out
after woodccck.
Peculiarfties of the Bird.
The bird is as peculiar in his habits as an
] ortolan almost. He is as nomadic as a
gipss- A swamp or a marshy place in the
| wooded thicket may show from dozen to
twenty woodcock one day, when the next
| would not discover single bird if the cover
| was cut down and raked over. Some sports
| men believe that woodcock travel in a circle.
visiting the same places over and over
! again at intervals during the season, but
| there are numerous localities in the vicinity
| of Washington where they may be found
| with reasonable certainty all during the
summer and autumn. Cne of the best
| grounds for woodcock shooting is Whistle
| Wing Cove, on the Potomac river, below
| Marshall Hall. The property is owned by
| Mr.. j. +. Jones, and is posted, but many
good shots are given the shooting privilege
! over it, and always with excellent results
| Major L. l.. Blake is one of the most de-
| voted sportsmen when woodcock are in
| question, and has made some excellent bags
| at Whistle Wing Cove.
| other Excellent Coverts.
| On the Virginia side of the river, nearly
| opposite Whistle Wing Cove, and below
| Gunston Hall, is Pohick creek and short
ways up this stream woodcock can be
found in plentiful numbers. Down on the
| Patuxent river in Maryland and in the mag
nolia swamps of Prince Georges county
| the birds can usually be found in numbers
| to assure good shots. plentiful remunera-
! ton for the trouble they may take in get
| ting there. Last week Mr.. John Sydney
| Webb and a friend bagged twelve fine
| birds in one afternoon down on the Patux-
| ent. Those who desire to hunt nearer at
| nome can feel nearly certain of finding
| woodcock along Paint branch, on the main
| line of the b. and o. road. 1t is a good
| idea to leave the train at Branchville and
| hunt the stream up to Beltsville, distance
| of about five miles. Out on the Eastern
branch, below Bladensburg. there are a
| number of places where springheads
! abound under thick underground, and the
| sport has been successfully prosecuted
| there.
| Up the Potomac one can always be GER
| tain Of finding pleEty of woodcock in the
| vicinity of old George Pennefield's place.
| 1t is a somewhat difficult place to get to.
| and the shooting there is difficult also, but
| woodcock hunters are not supposed to al
| low obstacles to deter them, and in the vi
| cinity of Pennefield's, in the slashes that
| skirt the canal, and on the islands out In
| the river. woodcock are continually found
| in plentiful numbers.
The Gun and It's Charges.
The man who knows what he is about