doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com A Bird from Sweden

Hey Daryl:

That is a nice picture of a Capercaille (the world's largest grouse)even though it probably was your snapshot rather that a set-up.

This is the same species that adorns the engraving of many old German and Austrian stalking rifles, combination guns, and drillings because small bore rifle was a preferred method of harvest during spring displays in the late 19th century there.

I have a friend that went to Russia a few years ago expressly for Capercaille, and he shot a male with a 12 ga. turkey load as it displayed and "crowed" up in a tree. There his guide's name for it translated as the "two step" bird because each time the male crows at dawn you can take two big strides in their direction until you get within range. Otherwise their acute hearing usually has them flush wild.

Two big conservation issues for this species are forest mismanagement and, interestingly, livestock fences. The birds collide with some of the many wire fences strung across the landscape from Scotland to Russia to contain sheep, cattle and goats. The same issue has recently been identified for Sage-grouse, another large but not very nimble grouse, here in the U.S.

Regards,
Ben

Note to the enthusiastic, Capercaillie are wonderful to eat, IF YOU LIKE THE TASTE OF TURPENTINE!!!
They diet on Pine needles.
If you want to shoot them use a Canon.
Or any other camera.

I was surprised the Capercaillie pictures I took turned out as well as they did. I think I got 6 pics, but all were through the windshield, as I was driving when it showed itself. A friend may have taken some pics out the side window, without glass. If so, I'll see if he has better ones.

It doesn't look like it would taste good. Pine needles? Like drinking a gin and tonic. Yeech

I shot a spruce grouse when I first went hunting in Canada.
Tasted exactly like Pine Sol ans stank up the kitchen
Same diet as the Capercaillie then.
Never shot another.

Thank you Mike Bonner.
Reminds me of the friend who mistakenly drank a bottle of stock finishing oil thinking it was Brown Ale.
He died a terrible death but had a wonderful finish.

Now THATS funny!!!!!!!!!!!Thanks...

I have eat this bird many times and never taste it like turpentine. In Finland they eat pine needles only in winter when we normaly can�t shoot them. In sveden it is allowed.
In autumn when those birds normaly hunted they eat mostly berries which is very easy to notice when finding doodoo of them. When knowing that diet it�s very easy to imagine that bird tastes very good when beeing shot at right time of the year.

Igorrock, that's interesting. I have had some good spruce grouse and ptarmigan meals by cooking the breast meat like schnitzel.