Woodcock and Wildfowl

The woodcock is a wild and capricious bird and its movements are to a degree governed by the phases of the moon. The majority breed in Scandinavia and North West Russia and migrate to their wintering grounds in Britain and Ireland in the autumn and early winter. They offer highly challenging and unpredictable sport and a day’s driven woodcock is a very rare and special occasion.

Wildfowling in Scotland is an experience of dawn and dusk, the high tide mark and remote ponds straining to hear distant wing-beats or the call of a goose.

Snipe are similar to the woodcock in that numbers can never be predicted. On occasion snipe are driven but they are predominantly walked up.

Many of the estates that Sporting Lets represent offer woodcock, wildfowl and snipe. Generally this is as a walked up day as part of a mixed sporting week due to the difficulties of predicting the birds arrival. A very small number of our estates specialise in woodcock and wildfowl and offer rare opportunities for long weekends with perhaps two days of driven sport.