WINTERING WOODCOCK POPULATIONS IN WEST-CENTRAL LOUISIANA, 1952-53 
Vincent H. Reid and Phil Goodrum 
U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service 
In conjunction with ecological quail studies in the longleaf pine 
forest belt of west-central Louisiana, woodcock inventory work was 
carried on from November 1, 1952 to February 1h, 1953. The work was 
done largely on National Forest lands in Vernon, Natchitoches and 
Rapides. Parishes. See map in 1951-52 report. 
Inventory Data 
Method.--As in previous years, bird dogs were used in the inventory 
work. Record was kept of the number of woodcock points made by the dogs 
and the time spent afield. 
Results.--In 223.3 hours afield with bird dogs from November 2, 
1952 to February 14, 1953, 172 woodcock points were made. The average 
number of hours per point was 1.2 (table 2). In 1951-52, the dogs 
averaged one point per 2.1 hours afield. Therefore, woodcock numbers 
on the inventoried upland coverts of west-central Louisiana in the 
winter 1952-53 appeared to be back to the same leyel as found in 1950- 
51 and 19))9-50 when the dogs averaged one point for about each hour of 
work, For 1952-53, the over-all inventory figure shows a 50 pereany 
increase over the 1951-52 census data. 
Because fall and winter moisture conditions in the piney woods were 
improved in 1952-53 as compared with 1951-52, there were more favorable 
wodcock feeding areas. This probably explains, in part, the better 
count, and the return to the 1950-51 and 1949-50 population levels. 
Table 2,~-Hours per woodcock point for the winters 1949-50 to 1952-53 
in the longleaf-pine area of west-central Louisiana 

Hours afield Hours per 
Winter with bird dogs woodcock point 
19,950 129.5 . 1 
1950-51 166.5 n ge 
1951-52 273 2.1 
(1952-53 223.3 1,2 
Migration 
Woodcock began to show up in the coverts of west-central Louisiana 
around the first week in November. One was sighted in Rapides Parish 
and two. were seen in Vernon Parish on November 5, 1952. The first bird 
sighted in 1951 was on November 7. 
