F. John Ward, noted hunter and outdoorsman, and researcher on the woodcock bird.
F. John Ward was born in Minneapolis in 1903. He was well traveled as a young man and after trips to Europe, Asia, the Arctic and Australia, Ward settled in St. Paul and opened a consulting business. Ward was an active hunter and outdoorsman, with memberships in both the local and national levels of Ducks Unlimited. During the 1950s, Ward became interested in the woodcock bird and pushed for research on the species. During this period he worked closely with the University of Minnesota and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on the bird's habits and needs.
During his research on the woodcock, he began to write to scientists and sportsmen in Great Britain and France. The Old World Woodcock, a larger bird than the New World species, had been the subject of many articles and books in Europe. Ward was introduced to many experts in woodcocks in Europe after writing to the president of the Club National de Becassiers, Louis Guizard, which published a magazine devoted to the woodcock, La Mordoree .
Ward's work on the woodcock was in promoting the bird. The woodcock has never been a popular bird in the United States as a game bird, and little funding was to be had for research. During 1966-1967, Ward campaigned for the inclusion of "lesser" or "webless footed" game birds on the Migratory Bird Stamp to provide funds for woodcock research and he attempted to boost interest in forming a national woodcock club organized along the lines of Ducks Unlimited. In 1968 Ward retired to Pebble Beach, California, but continued his work on the woodcock. He organized the European section of the 5th Woodcock Seminar in 1974. F. John Ward died on March 30, 1976.
From the guide to the F. John Ward papers, 1953-1976, (University of Minnesota Libraries. University of Minnesota Archives [uarc])
