Last updated 2026-09-24 · seasons from WDNR · 2026 season year
There are 12 public units within 40 miles of Amery, Wisconsin that hold ground where american woodcock is recorded — 28,446 acres of it. The most of it is in Burnett County Forest, 25.3 miles out, with 7,841 recorded acres. The closest is State Owned Islands - Nw at 9.1 miles. The season runs September 19, 2026 to November 2, 2026 — 45 days afield, read against the 2026 season year from WDNR. Public-land boundaries here are PAD-US, which records who manages a parcel rather than where the line runs or whether a unit carries a local closure — check with WDNR before you park.
Distance is measured to the nearest edge of a unit rather than to its middle, in a straight line — this app carries no road network and will not print a drive time it cannot compute. A unit whose ground reaches inside the circle is listed for the acreage that is inside it, never for its statewide total.
Ordered by recorded acres — how much of each unit lies inside subbasins where american woodcock is recorded at regular strength or better — rather than by how big the unit is. The biggest block in a state is often not in the half of it the bird is in. PAD-US splits a forest into many parcels, so acreage is summed over the unit's name, and the share is measured against the unit's drawn boundary rather than a centroid: a national forest can be two polygons across half a peninsula.
WDNR names no geographic restriction on this season, so no unit is
excluded for being outside one.
Season geography here is read off a
dates table rather than the rule itself, and a dates table carries no boundary.
| Unit | Class | Miles | Recorded acres | Acres in range | Where the records are |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Burnett County Forest part of the unit | County forest | 25.3 | 7,841 | 23,180 | 34% stronghold, 66% occasional |
| Polk County Forest | County forest | 14.9 | 6,276 | 16,525 | 38% stronghold, 62% occasional |
| Mckenzie Creek Wildlife Area | State wildlife area | 20.4 | 5,547 | 5,547 | 100% stronghold |
| Amsterdam Sloughs Wildlife Area | State wildlife area | 34.4 | 4,195 | 5,054 | 83% stronghold, 17% occasional |
| Washburn County Forest part of the unit | County forest | 30.4 | 2,475 | 7,040 | 35% stronghold, 65% occasional |
| Barron County Forest part of the unit | County forest | 15 | 1,954 | 10,891 | 18% stronghold, 82% occasional |
| Statewide Habitat Areas - Nw part of the unit | State wildlife area | 35.8 | 99 | 99 | 100% stronghold |
| State Owned Islands - Nw part of the unit | State forest | 9.1 | 36 | 137 | 26% stronghold, 74% occasional |
12 units clear the circle in all and the 8 holding the most recorded ground are named. The rest are ground a reader would drive past something better to reach.
A unit marked part of the unit has ground outside the circle as well, and the acreage here is only what is inside it. PAD-US records who manages a parcel, not where its line runs on the ground and not whether it carries a local closure: context, not permission. Check the unit with WDNR before you park.
WDNR's dates for the 2026 season year, read from WDNR. Wisconsin lists this season as American woodcock.
| Segment | Opens | Closes | Days |
|---|---|---|---|
| Statewide | September 19, 2026 | November 2, 2026 | 45 |
Wet alder runs, damp aspen bottoms and shrub swamp — soft ground the bird can probe for worms. Woodcock cover is often two hundred yards of a creek bottom rather than a whole block of forest.
Hunt the low wet ground inside grouse country, and hunt it again after a cold front: this is a migratory bird and a covert that was empty on Tuesday can hold a flight on Friday. Birds sit tight and flush straight up through the alders.
Written for this app rather than read off an agency page — the cover a bird uses does not change at a state line. Everything above that is a date, a limit or an acreage names the source it came from.