#351 | Keith Marcott on Woodcock Covers, Border Crossings, and a Lifetime of Bird Hunting

In this episode of Birdshot Podcast, Nick sits down with Keith Marcott to talk about woodcock hunting, bird travel, and a lifetime spent chasing upland birds across North America and overseas. Keith shares stories from hunting woodcock in New Brunswick, Quebec, and Scotland, along with memories from Wyoming, the western bird country, and the years before GPS and OnX made it easier to find cover.
Keith Marcott is a retired engineer and lifelong upland hunter now based in Wyoming. After growing up bird hunting in the Northeast, he eventually built a life around western birds — Huns, chukar, sharptails, prairie grouse, and mountain hunts with Llewellin setters. Some of his most meaningful bird hunting memories, though, came from repeated trips into New Brunswick and Quebec, and later to Scotland, where woodcock hunting shaped the way he thinks about dogs, habitat, and travel.
In this conversation, Keith and Nick talk about:
- Woodcock hunting in New Brunswick, Quebec, and Scotland
- What separates woodcock hunting from grouse hunting
- How hunters found productive cover before GPS and OnX
- Bird hunting travel, border crossings, and old-school camp logistics
- Western bird hunting, dogs, landscapes, and the pull of woodcock country
Episode breakdown:
- [00:05:02] Keith Marcott’s background and a lifetime of bird hunting
- [00:07:01] Moving west: Wyoming, huns, chukar, and prairie birds
- [00:09:42] Keith’s bird hunting road trip across multiple states
- [00:11:07] Camping, snake country, and hunting dogs in the West
- [00:13:00] Snake avoidance training and a rattlesnake encounter in the field
- [00:19:20] Western hunters, ticks, and the difference between regions
- [00:27:07] The first New Brunswick woodcock trip
- [00:29:27] Hunting with guide Danny Bird and chasing woodcock full-time
- [00:36:47] Repeated trips into Canada and DIY hunting in Quebec
- [00:42:05] Alaska, British Columbia, and border-crossing logistics with dogs and guns
- [00:48:01] Finding woodcock cover before modern mapping technology
- [00:49:27] Why woodcock still matter to a western bird hunter
Links:
- Birdshot Podcast: https://birdshotpodcast.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/hwy22outdoors/
- Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/17EVUDJPwR2iJggzhLYil7
- Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/birdshot-podcast/id1288308609
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@birdshot.podcast
Support:
- Use promo code BSP20 to save 20% on your onX Hunt subscription: https://onxmaps.com/hunt/app
- Use promo code BSP10 to save 10% at Meadow Creek Mounts: https://meadowcreekmounts.com/
Birdshot is presented by onX Hunt.

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