Last updated 2026-09-24 · seasons from WDNR · 2026 season year
There are 20 public units within 40 miles of Black River Falls, Wisconsin that hold ground where american woodcock is recorded — 437,992 acres of it. The most of it is in Clark County Forest, 8.9 miles out, with 131,652 recorded acres. The closest is Black River State Forest at 1 mile. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clark County Forest | County forest | 8.9 | 131,652 | 131,652 | 51% stronghold, 49% regular |
| Jackson County Forest | County forest | 1.1 | 121,297 | 121,297 | 91% stronghold, 9% regular |
| Black River State Forest | State forest | 1 | 69,004 | 69,004 | 100% stronghold |
| Eau Claire County Forest part of the unit | County forest | 22.2 | 47,256 | 47,256 | 100% regular |
| Wood County Forest part of the unit | County forest | 26.5 | 32,726 | 32,726 | 36% stronghold, 64% regular |
| Sandhill Wildlife Area | State wildlife area | 31.7 | 9,654 | 9,654 | 52% stronghold, 48% regular |
| Juneau County Forest part of the unit | County forest | 30 | 7,344 | 7,344 | 100% regular |
| Monroe County Forest | County forest | 10.6 | 7,156 | 7,306 | 52% stronghold, 46% regular, 2% occasional |
20 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.