Hunting & Hunters: Reading the facts of woodcocks: a real art that can help in capturing the queen of the woods.
We are not commonly excited about droppings, as long as you are not a hunter and are not in the middle of a hunting trip. In that case run into a dejection of the woodcock is a more than desirable fact that in more than one circumstance has brought back the smile on the saddened and tired face of the hunters. Because? Simple: if there is what is called done in jargon, it is very likely that there is or has been a woodcock nearby. The good hunter just has to find out what the facts have to tell and act accordingly.
The fact: identikit. Each game leaves behind different signals relating to its passage. In the case of the woodcock the fact is equipped with bright reflections, caused by a thin mucus that covers it: it is very simply the urine that is emitted together with the fact. All this makes the dejection rather bright and shiny; it is no coincidence that the French call it "miror" to be translated as "mirror". In fact, it almost seems to reflect. The shape, on the other hand, remains more or less the same: on average large, proportionate to the wild, in the form of an irregular circle with white shades and with a dark content, the most interesting for the hunter. The fact of the woodcock is precisely made up of urine, feces and urates as already mentioned. It is the latter that give the product a whitish consistency: in simple words it is crystallized urine, the result of the metabolism of proteins, of the same density as gypsum. The real feces are dark and help the expert hunter to learn more about the woodcock that has passed through that place, leaving a souvenir. 
Single or close together. The distance between the facts or the presence of a single or more droppings can speak volumes about the quality of the time that the woodcock has spent on the spot. Specifically, in the case of a single event this could tell of a woodcock that landed on the spot for a single moment and then flew away. If, on the other hand, the facts are numerous and close together, this indicates that the area was pasture. It is up to the hunter to find out whether it is day or night groundbait.
Made elongated. It is important to remember that woodcocks must stay on the ground to emit their droppings: it never happens that they abandon them in flight. When we are faced with a rather elongated and not rounded fact it is likely that it was emitted at the moment of the whisk, in the middle of a hunting action.
Day or night groundbait? If you are faced with several facts, all close together, this can only mean one thing: many woodcocks have frequented the place for pasture. Obviously it is important that the hunter knows how to recognize the facts relating to the diurnal pasture (those that interest him, by the way) from those of the nocturnal pasture. How to distinguish them? In the case of diurnal groundbait it will also be possible to observe three, four made close together, clearly visible on the carpet of leaves that you will take care not to step on. In addition, shades and colors are quite bright. In the case of the nocturnal groundbait the nuances of the facts will be decidedly less vivid since several hours have passed. 
Consistency. One made with a compact consistency, with the dark part well positioned in the center of the hypothetical white circle, and which appears frothy to the eye and to the touch, tells us that the fact was recently deposited, certainly during the day. In fact, as the hours go by, the texture changes: the brown lump flattens out and the texture loses its typical luster.
That greenish spot. Another trick to know if the woodcock is nearby, by observing its droppings, is represented by a small greenish dot that appears on the top of the lump. It discolors within minutes and can immediately warn us. Having said that, it is good to remember that it is rather difficult to study the movements of the woodcocks made during the peak of migration. There is a lot of migratory euphoria, but also suspicion and nervousness on the part of the wild and its attitudes are not always sincere and natural. A period of calm such as that represented by wintering is much better.
You May Also Like ..
