Recent trends in Woodcock bags in Britain.

Abstract

In Britain the hunting bag is estimated by the National Game Census, a scheme initiated by the Game Conservancy and involving owners of shoots and estates interested to report their annual bag. Extrapolation of these data reveal an increasing British woodcock (Scolopax rusticola) bag since 1964, which is now estimated at around 200,000 birds. Most woodcock in Britain are shot on pheasant shoots, and since the latter have been increased by hand-reared birds the higher woodcock bag may partly be due to just more days spent pheasant shooting. The geographical variation in the bag reflects the movements of migrating and wintering birds rather than the breeding distribution of British woodcock.