Shooting Through

Woodcock, or Timberwillies as they are known on a certain local shoot very near Rievaulx Abbey, are regarded as the finest tasting of all game. It’s a small bird, which flits, zig-zagging along, evading the gun and its pellets. It can be eaten whole, guts and all, as it defecates on take-off and its entrails turn almost to liquid when it is cooked.

Woodcock seem to appear very rarely and are expensive to purchase, no doubt due to their scarcity in the market. They are said to come in from the Continent, heading to a slightly warmer climate. Many guns don’t like to shoot. them, others find them an impossible target to resist, but the ‘Bag’ will never reach double figures On a normal day.