The hunting of the woodcock and its future.
The hunt , almost 40 years ago.
Hunting in the past, I mean a very recent world, since I got a hunting license in 1982 .
This may come as a surprise, but even at the time, the European rabbit and wild partridges were still very present. On the other hand, deer was scarce (5 to 6 times less) .
The biotope was made up of numerous natural and permanent meadows, which decreased from 1988 to 2000 by 1,659,000 ha, composed of an important floral richness, an edible mushroom in abundance, the rosé of the meadows now disappeared.
Fauna, more varied, composed of species, some of which have disappeared, such as the lampyre, better known under the name of the glow-worm. The density of earthworms was higher ( natural meadows having diminished) very fertile for soils, earthworm, the main food of the woodcock which consumes approximately, its weight in 24 hours (jp Boidot 2012 ) .
biotope photo
The biotope, healthier and offering a richer floral variety, vital for partridges and rabbits, traditional cultures were more varied, useful as a pantry and refuge for this fauna.
The farming techniques were less intense, near my home, the farmer made piles of manure, aligned like dolmens, to then scatter them with a fork on his fields .
The hunters practiced their passion often alone, sometimes two, the quantity of game allowed everyone to take without too much difficulty. . The dogs used, very often without a selected origin, quickly became experienced. I remember, my father had a rat-type bitch, his quest was different depending on the species of game present. Rabbit hunting requires little movement, the wait near the burrow was sometimes long, before the dogs do to run away the rabbit .
The migration of the wood pigeon in the fall was present and marked, forming groups of 300 or 400 individuals. They landed mainly in woods composed of large trees, to locate food still present in the fields of corn or wheat present during the winter.
The woodcock was the favorite game of some hunters, out of all 4 neighboring municipalities, there were hardly more than 10 hunters to take woodcock, and many did not even shoot woodcock, considered too small.
Of course, the number of woodcock raised was much more substantial the first years, I often raised my first woodcock around October 15th and for the older ones, September was sometimes the month of the first woodcock.