La woodcock she is as beautiful as she is intelligent. To catch it, the hunter must be in the right place at the right time. Everything will be much easier after studying the migratory habits of the queen of the woods.
Nothing better than a hunting trip, perhaps in the company of your own dog and their friends to settle relationships and to test themselves. Among the most popular destinations in this season it is impossible to forget Romania, so close, so similar to Italy in terms of territories and wilderness, sister in the climate so much that many Italians, after having visited it once, can no longer do without it. year they run in search of new emotions.
The abundant presence, on the territory, of the fabulous woodcock, which many hunters will never tire of following, motivates hunting trips to Romania. stars, you will find in front of a partly mountainous territory, covered by wonderful and fragrant forests of spruce, white and beech trees, portions of harmonious hilly territory, all covered with oaks, turkey oaks, pines, limes, hornbeams, and ash trees and beautiful portions of flat land, partly steppe and partly marshy.
It is precisely this variety of locations that guarantees the presence of a truly rich fauna, different depending on the area you intend to attend: and therefore you can opt for small or large hunting, feathered or furred, sedentary or step hunting. And today we want to refer to that of passage today, because when we talk about migratory game, it is inevitable to think of the woodcock hunt, which in Romania frequents practically all the territories we have mentioned, moving according to the climate and the length of stay. Upon his arrival he stationed in the mountains, then slowly descending into the hills and finally visiting the plain. The Italian hunter who chases the woodcock in Romania, however, must remember that the queen of the woods visits this beautiful land only in autumn and spring and for a short time, so the fundamental rule is to be in the right place at the right time.
Complicating matters is the fact that the queen's stay in Romania is rather short as the region does not have the ideal conditions for wintering. Although in autumn it is rich in humus and livestock in the wild, during the winter the temperatures become really too low, and ice and snow do not get along with the woodcock. Only in particularly warm years, a low yet interesting percentage of woodcocks stop to winter in the south and south east of Romania, in those humid and flat wooded areas, between the branches of the Danube and in the marshy areas not far from the Black Sea and in the region of Dobrogea and Tulcea, but these are very rare cases. However, Romania remains a land sought after by woodcock hunters, especially during the autumn season, given its strategic position; it is located right on the route of the fundamental migration lines of woodcocks, which migrate from cold countries to more temperate and warm ones. It is also the immense wooded heritage of the region that guarantees a good distribution of passing woodcocks, avoiding game bags that are too big for hunters, as has often happened in Turkey and Ukraine. In general, however, we can admit that for Romania, there are two hunting seasons for woodcock: the first is certainly the one that goes from April to March, the second in autumn goes from the months of October and November. It is obvious, as previously announced, that according to climatic variations the permanence of the wild may also vary. In fact, it is not uncommon to meet numerous groups of woodcocks in the Romanian mountains in September. These are woodcocks that come from countries of origin or early breeding, due to unfavorable climatic events. They can usually be found in humid wooded bands between 1200 and 1600 meters high, in all the mountainous complexes of the Central and Eastern Carpathians. Precisely in these places the woodcock finds an ideal habitat, immersed in wonderful alpine pastures rich not only in small streams but also in cattle in the wild. They can stop for a few weeks before the next move, which usually occurs in early October.
In the first days of October the woodcocks usually reach the places near the Danube Delta. They move away from mountain areas due to premature snowfalls, or sudden drops in temperatures, preferring the forests of the Delta arms this season. It is an area 4000 square kilometers wide, where woodcocks isolate themselves in the thick undergrowth, also rich in humid environments, rich in animals and humus. They never stop for more than a few weeks, soon flying south. During the end of February the first ascents and the first arrivals in Romania of the woodcock usually take place. They come from the South, Southern Turkey, Central Eastern Africa or Asia Minor. These are migratory groups with a strong migratory instinct, which go in search of better weather situations. They usually spend up to a week in the Delta belt before resuming their flight. Only some time later does the real spring review take place. We are at the end of March or even at the beginning of April and it is the sensitive increases in temperature that make the woodcocks move towards the humid, hilly areas of the Central Carpathians or in some areas of Northern Romania, such as the Transylvanian Maramures Alps. This is a very short support, a few days long, which is immediately followed by the new migration to the north. The choice of the period during which to organize your hunting trip is therefore of fundamental importance, so we recommend that you rely on experts in organizing hunting trips in Romania, who will certainly be able to advise you on the right period. Having said this, it is good to know that hunting for woodcock in Romania can be carried out at the foot, in the company of one's hunting dog or in ambush, during the evening, hunting groups must normally be composed of a minimum of 3 to one maximum of 6 people, and the recommended weapons are smooth-bore, with shotgun pellets with a diameter of 2.5 mm.