Hunting for capercaillie: features and methods

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:42

All hunters, both professional and amateur, have at least once tried to catch a wild bird. Capercaillie is a very rare bird, and is found only in coniferous forests and moss swamps. The prey is quite large (up to 5 kg). Despite the large parameters of the bird, capercaillie hunting has its own characteristics.

There are several types of hunting for this bird:

• spring for male (on current);
• summer and autumn for broods and old roosters (with a setter dog, spaniels or husky);
• autumn during their departure to the trees and during feeding, on pebbles.

What does a capercaillie look like? Features of his life activity

Capercaillie is a cautious bird. The characteristic features of the male are brown, gray, dark tones with white spots on the abdomen and under the wings, as well as a metallic sheen. The skin without plumage is bright red. The beak is light. The females of this species are painted in dark red tones with black ripples. The voice of the capercaillie resembles “clicking”.

He flies heavily and noisily. The flapping of wings is heardlong distance.

Place of population are coniferous (pine) and mixed forests. In summer it occurs mainly singly, in winter - in small flocks.

Bird in summer eats various grasses, seeds, berries, and in the cold period - pine needles, aspen buds and larch.

Capercaillie breeds in various forests: both coniferous and mixed. From coniferous forests prefers pine. The bird also builds nests in swampy pine forests and in dry forests. The bird avoids young and sparse forests. They nest on the ground. In this case, the building materials of the nest are branches and stems. In appearance and shape, the nest of this bird resembles a primitive one. The diameter of the nest bed exceeds 25 cm.

The clutch is from 6 to 8 yellowish-white eggs with brown spots. Capercaillie eggs can be compared with chicken eggs in size.

Spring nesting starts from the end of March and lasts 2 months. From mid-May, capercaillie begin to incubate eggs. Chicks appear a month after the start of incubation and feed on insects and spiders.

The bird spends the winter period in a small area, and at night - in the crowns of dense trees. Therefore, hunting for capercaillie in winter is considered easier than in other periods.

Hunting rules

The current hunting rules contain statements about the timing and features of the hunt for the current period. So:

• hunting for swamp-meadow game is allowed from July 10 to July 24, and from July 25 until mid-November, hunters will be able totake guns and dogs with you;
• from July 10 to August 4 hunting for field and steppe game without weapons is allowed.

Also, in the rules, in particular, hunting for wood grouse, requirements for training hunting dogs are included.

What you need to know when preparing to hunt

First of all, before hunting capercaillie in winter and in any other period, you should carefully study the characteristics of the bird (weight, height, nesting sites, etc.). During the cold period, females are separated from males, this factor is also very important.

It should be remembered that the bird can be more than two days under the snow cover. Low temperatures will help the hunter to easily get prey from the mink - if this parameter is 20 degrees below zero, the wood grouse does not leave its shelter for several days after a hearty meal.

If the temperature is 5 degrees higher, the bird will briefly leave the eating hole.

Hunting wood grouse in spring

Hunting a bird in the spring has its own characteristics. So, the hunter must have great sportiness, because this process requires from him the full use of forces, great energy and endurance. In a deaf forest, one must quietly approach the singing bird, overcoming various obstacles. Here, the success of the hunt depends on the skill, training and experience of the hunter, on his endurance.

The bird begins to lek very early, when there is still snow in the forest and the spring weather is almost not felt. Shortly before the start of the mating process, the male begins to walk on the snow, spreading his wings, and characteristic tracks appear on the snow, along which you candetermine that he will soon sing.

He usually talks on a tree. At the end of the current, the capercaillie often descends to the ground after the female and continues its process, running from place to place. At the end of April, males sing already in the snow.

Before starting the spring hunt, you should determine the location and approximate number of males arriving for the spring song. To do this, you should start shadowing in the evening, before dusk. Such reconnaissance is called evening overhearing. The evening current does not last long: with the onset of complete darkness, the capercaillie fall asleep. It is not recommended to approach the singing capercaillie in the evening, because this can disperse the flock and ruin the hunt. It should be remembered that for the hunter-athlete, the main task is to keep the current.

Having overheard the approach of capercaillie and determining the approximate number of males, their location on the lek, you should leave the lek for 1-1.5 km. In remote places, it is enough to move 0.5 km away.

Hunting for capercaillie in autumn

The favorite habitat of this bird is coniferous forests. There are many of them in mixed forests, provided that coniferous trees are still present in the forest. If you need to quickly find a bird, then it is better to do it in damp and remote places.

Capercaillie instinctively behaves in autumn. Ripe berries are their feeding grounds.

In colder weather capercaillie starts climbing aspens and larches. They stay there until the trees are completely bare. Autumn is considered the most suitable season for hunting.

Differencesthere is no difference between hunting methods in the forests of different species. The only difference is that birds climb later on larches than on needles.

After successfully finding aspen or coniferous trees, you should very carefully examine the soil under them. The purpose of this inspection is to look for signs of capercaillie habitation. Characteristic signs will be fallen coniferous needles, small torn branches, as well as droppings. Newly fallen snow can also help the hunter.

If you hear the sound that a large bird has settled on a tree, then it is at a distance of up to 500 meters, and the capercaillie voice is heard about 150 meters away. All this allows you to roughly orient yourself by sounds.

The hunting season for capercaillie begins at the end of August (or September), depending on the region, where individual norms and terms are set.

Because birds eat a variety of soft foods, they need to regularly replenish the supply of pebbles in the stomach. This period can become profitable for the catcher, and then you can arrange a hunt for capercaillie in the fall on the roads.

Toke hunting

The breeding season for capercaillie begins much earlier than for other birds. That is why this period is the most suitable time for hunting capercaillie in the spring on the current. But the most suitable period is the middle and end of February. The hunter can find the place of mating quite simply: traces of a large flock can be seen in the clearing.

Glukhar can also choose another place for mating. A weighty clue is that the bird, in mostcases, comes to mate at the same time.

During mating, all the attention of males is drawn only to the female, this moment can be used. Having found a flock, you need to wait about 30 minutes for all males to start singing and be involved in this process. While waiting, you can not smoke or even talk.

After waiting for the right moment, you need to make a shot, after aiming. A flock keen on displaying will not immediately notice what is happening. It is worth noting that bad weather conditions prevent wood grouses from starting mating. Birds have a great sense of the weather. Therefore, before planning a wood grouse hunting on the current, you need to familiarize yourself with the weather conditions.

Search for a bird in the hole

Hunting wood grouse in the hole brings the best "harvest", but it also has special moments. The most difficult thing is to find a place for the bird to spend the night. In most cases, capercaillie make holes near the feeding place. But not always. Tracking a capercaillie is a rather complicated process. He leads a sedentary life. For this reason, before going hunting, you should track down the place where the bird spends the night.

You need to sneak up to this place carefully, because capercaillie can wake up from any rustle. When a place to spend the night is found, you should make sure that the hole is fresh and there is a capercaillie in it. This can be determined by appearance: there are recent bird tracks around the hole. If the hole has only one hole, the capercaillie is inside. If there are several holes, there are no birds there.

If the search for the hole was successful, thenyou can:

• Scare off the capercaillie. He will start to climb out of the hole, and the hunter will have time to aim and shoot.
• You can also hunt birds with your bare hands.

Hunting Secrets

For a successful hunt for capercaillie from the approach, you should know some features:

1. At a distance of at least 40 meters, you should consider the location of capercaillie with binoculars.
2. Then you need to find a flock of birds, sneak up on it and fire a shot.
3. When you find a feeding place or a flock, you should not rejoice, because this bird is very cautious, and also settles at high altitude (the capercaillie will notice the hunter much earlier than he approaches).
4. Dense tree crowns also interfere with hunting.
5. A bird can change positions while singing, move along branches. This deceives the hunter as the volume of the song goes up and down.
6. Capercaillie can take a long time to determine from which direction a shot comes from if the weather is very windy.
7. This bird is very resilient, and after receiving even a fatal shot, it is able to make the last flight over an impressive distance (up to 200 meters).
8. Due to the impressive weight of the capercaillie, it is somewhat difficult to quickly take to the air, so the hunter has an additional chance.
9. Better to shoot the bird from the side or from the front. In no case should you fire a shot in the back, because the capercaillie can fly away even with such a wound.
10. Some difficulties are caused by hunting in hot and dry times, because any movement is heard by the bird.
11. A good option is to hunt from a pond. The boat moves almost silently, and birds that are distracted by pecking pebbles become more accessible targets.
12. High chances for successful catching of prey are hunting for capercaillie with husky. The dog will not only tell you which tree the capercaillie is hiding on, but will also distract him from the hunter.
13. For the spring capercaillie, whose plumage is thick and dense, you should use large fractions No. 1 and No. 2.

Tips for successful hunting

1. For running shooting, you should choose the lightest gun, because hunting can drag on for a whole day.
2. Don't shoot the bird from behind, better change position.
3. Capercaillie can leave at any time, so don't hesitate to shoot.

Hunting with dogs will also be successful. For example, a spaniel is best at identifying a brood of birds. Increases the production of a brood of capercaillie on the road. Hunting for young animals is usually easier, because old birds can quickly run away from the dog and take to the sky.

The spaniel is more energetic than the pointing dog and doesn't stand up. Experienced dogs during the pursuit overtake the bird and lift it on the wing. This allows the hunter to shoot the capercaillie faster.

After the bird climbs the tree, it is better to take a husky for hunting. She drives the bird up a tree, which in turn is distracted from the hunter.

Point dog will be useful in the summer-autumn period. She must be experienced, well-behaved and have high flair.

An experienced dog will easily determine the direction of the birds and will lead them until they hide. Then the dog approaches the litter and takes a "dead" stance. The hunter, seeing this, takes the most convenient position for shooting and sends the dog forward.

When shooting at rising birds, it is very important to determine the direction of their flight and possible landing. Usually some of them sit down in the trees, and the second one falls to the ground.

Important! In hunting, you should follow the rules, and in no case shoot young males, queens and young females.

Select weapons and accessories

In principle, you can go for prey with almost any type of weapon, but hunting for capercaillie with rifled weapons is preferable. The following are the reasons for this choice:

1. In some cases, you have to go into a dangerous wilderness, and the failure of one trigger mechanism (USM) will not allow the hunter to be left without a weapon.
2. Rifled weapons allow you to load different cartridges, this can be done both for shooting from different distances, and for the safety of the hunter (for example, to protect against larger predators in unfamiliar places).
3. Also, rifled weapons are protected from various debris that very often penetrates into it during running hunting (for example, from various small twigs, pieces of leaves, sticks, etc.).

For shooting from a distance of 50 meters it is better to take cartridges from zeroshot and a sample of gunpowder 40 grams. At a distance of up to 35 meters, it is better to use the 12th gauge. The fight of a gun with any shot should be accurate and sharp.