Brian my choice of choice of chokes mirrors yours, as the woodcock cover I hunt in Virginia is mostly thick too, although sometimes you will get an opportunity to take a little longer shot if one flushes from a clump of brush in more open woods. Another factor to consider is whether you use a flushing or pointing dog. Mine is an energetic flusher and keeping him within shotgun range can be a challenge at times, so sometimes the shot may be a little longer than you get over a pointing dog. All that said, I mostly use a 16 gauge choked right cylinder and left light mod (originally full but I had it opened), with an ounce of 8 1/2 shot which I hand load. My wet weather gun is a 20 gauge semi-auto and I usually use a skeet or IC choke, shooting an ounce of factory #8s.
The great majority of my shots are 15 to 25 yards and the combination of close shots at these erratically flying fragile birds calls for open choke with small shot.
