The SC woodcock season closes out tomorrow. Our season closed out today. We had waited until today as the temps were down from yesterday, but unfortunately, the cold front arrived windy which gave the dogs fits. We hunted my Abby and Willa and Floyd's Pop and Sadie. We normally don't hunt 4 dogs, but since it was the last day for us, we gave it to the dogs. I can imagine the panic of the woodcock, twittering "The Britts are coming." The wind gave the birds the advantage. We hunted private property near Floyd's which is less than 10 miles from where I live. We hunted here 15 days ago and found a dozen birds in a little over an hour. Today we found 5 birds, all wild flushes without a single point. We managed one bird. The area is threaded by a Tupelo swamp and is well known in this area as it goes on for miles across many property lines. Here's a photo of the swamp. Note the swelled butts of the tree trunks. The Tupelo "butt swell" was prized by old time Louisiana duck decoy carvers as it could be carved green without checking. It is also the wood preferred by Floyd for carving his bird carvings. He prefers to let it dry before carving. He harvests the wood from this swamp. Not only is Tupelo a preferred wood for carving, the tree produces blossoms loaded with nectar which attracts honey bees. Tupelo honey is the gold standard of which all other honeys are judged. There was a reason Van Morrison's song, Tupelo Honey, contained the line "she's as sweet as Tupelo honey." The landowner's hives (called "gums" by old timers locally) are under this live oak which is a rock throw from the swamp behind the photographer. I only had one other in range opportunity besides this bird. Those who shoot the Ideal will understand the befuddled panic in attempting to take the safety off these guns on an unexpected flush. I had one such flush today. Abby had found a bird a 100 yards out. It must have flown before I could get within 50 yards of Abby judging from my Fenix 3. Assuming it was the same bird, I suspect it landed between us and I almost stepped on it. The safety flummoxed me. After decades of shooting a tang safety, the Ideal's "off safety" direction operates in the opposite direction of a top mounted safety. Below is a photo of the habitat surrounding the swamp. No rivercane, but plenty of saplings. I imagine this looks like some of the habitat in the north. Well, to book end the woodcock season, I can't think of anything more fitting than a photo of one of Floyd's woodcock carvings, carved not only from Tupelo, but as sweet looking as tupelo honey.