#woodcocks

Don Balke (American, b. 1933). American Woodcock Bird, Illinois, 1986. Gouache and watercolor on board.

Headlights as the Woodcock Peents - Jeremy Miranda , 2025.

American , b. 1980 -

American woodcock luring worms 

A Shotgun Feathursday

It finally feels like Autumn here in Wisconsin! The temperatures are cooler and the leaves are just starting to change color. Sandhill cranes are migrating and turkey hens and their young can be seen foraging all over lawns along the north shore of Milwaukee County. For those who hunt, it’s prime game bird season. Wisconsin has a rich history of outdoor sports and recreations and the Special Collections departments has no shortage of publications documenting these pastimes! 

Shown here are illustrations from Shotgunning in the Uplands written by Ray P. Holland. The book includes 8 reproductions of oil paintings and many line drawings done by American wildlife artist Lynn Bogue Hunt (1878–1960). Ray Holland (1884-1973) was both a hunter and early conservation activist. He worked as a United States Game Warden, was instrumental in the passing of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, and was active in a number of national and international wildlife protection groups. He was also a writer, photographer and editor of Field & Stream magazine in the 1920s and 1930s. 

Dave Newell, a succeeding Field & Stream editor, had this to say about Holland in the foreword to his book:

"Like any other man, Ray Holland enjoys a good shoot—and he is an excellent shot...But even more he enjoys white birch trunks against dark spruce, scarlet maple leaves on the edge of a swamp, the crackle of frost grass, the smell of a campfire, the companionship of good dogs and old friends....And after all, these are the things which count. These are the things which are loved by all real sportsmen."

Cheers to scarlet maple leaves and the companionship of good dogs and old friends!

American Woodcock (Scolopax minor) - photo by Sam Galick

Virginia Wildlife; vol. 32, no. 10. October, 1971. Cover illustration by John W. Taylor.