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Where to hunt american woodcock near La Crosse, Wisconsin
Last updated 2026-09-24 · seasons from WDNR · 2026 season year
There are 9 public units within 40 miles of La Crosse, Wisconsin that hold ground where american woodcock is recorded — 48,594 acres of it. The most of it is in Jackson County Forest, 31.8 miles out, with 25,014 recorded acres. The closest is Statewide Habitat Areas - Wd at 0.3 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.
Public land within 40 miles of La Crosse
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jackson County Forest part of the unit | County forest | 31.8 | 25,014 | 25,014 | 100% stronghold |
| Black River State Forest part of the unit | State forest | 32.1 | 12,712 | 12,712 | 100% stronghold |
| Van Loon Wildlife Area | State wildlife area | 11.7 | 3,807 | 4,060 | 94% stronghold, 6% occasional |
| Monroe County Forest part of the unit | County forest | 23.2 | 3,791 | 3,942 | 94% stronghold, 2% regular, 4% occasional |
| North Bend Bottoms Wildlife Area | State wildlife area | 17.3 | 1,688 | 1,688 | 100% stronghold |
| South Beaver Creek Wildlife Area | State wildlife area | 21.5 | 1,121 | 1,121 | 100% stronghold |
| Scattered Wildlife - Wd part of the unit | State wildlife area | 3 | 196 | 549 | 36% stronghold, 59% present, 6% occasional |
| Statewide Habitat Areas - Wd part of the unit | State wildlife area | 0.3 | 181 | 361 | 50% stronghold, 10% present, 40% occasional |
9 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.
Season and limits
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 |
- Open today
- Open
- Bag limit
- not shown No single bag limit is shown for this species here — read the notes below and check the current WDNR regulations before you go.
- Hunter orange
- requiredAt least 50% of clothing above the waist, and any head covering, must be blaze orange or fluorescent pink any time a firearm deer season is in progress. This applies to small game and archery hunters, not only to deer hunters. Waterfowl hunters are exempt.
- Shooting hours
- not carried
- Wisconsin requires blaze orange or fluorescent pink only while a firearm deer season is in progress — but then it applies to small game hunters too. This app flags orange as required for the whole season because missing it during gun deer season is the dangerous error. Check the gun deer dates.
- Woodcock is a migratory bird, so its limit is set federally and published on WDNR's migratory bird table rather than the upland one. This app does not carry that table, so no figure is shown.
- Migratory bird: a federal HIP registration is required in addition to the small game licence.
What to walk when you get there
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.
Read next
- Where to hunt american woodcock in Wisconsin — every unit, ranked
- American woodcock hunting in Wisconsin — season, limits and range
- How to hunt american woodcock in Wisconsin
- American woodcock — biology, range and how it is hunted
- Wisconsin hunting regulations