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Bob Gwizdz: Last minute flush saves slow opening day of Michigan’s bird seasons

Here’s an upland bird tip to try afield: If you run a dollar bill (or in this case, a $20) alongside the beak of a dead woodcock and the beak extends past the edge of the bill, it’s a female. Female timberdoodles have longer beaks than males. (Photo by Bob Gwizdz)

We’d all had enough before noon on opening day of Michigan’s grouse and woodcock seasons. The temperature was already into the upper 80s and we were gassed. The dogs were at least as beat, and the whole morning had been frustrating.
When we were exiting the truck to get started, Al Stewart took a few steps into the woods and flushed a quartet of grouse. Stewart’s my longtime, opening-day-of-bird-season partner, but we were hunting opener together for the first time since 2020.

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