What is the preferred method of hunting Auerhahn in the German speaking countries? What is the preferred weapon - rifle or shotgun?

Auerhahn is really only hunted in the Austrian Alps in the German speaking part of the World. It is a hunt in the rut - early May is typical. Birds are located by pre-scouting, either by sight or from their droppings found below the trees where they spend the night. You try to sneak up on them while they are still in those trees early in the morning - the approach is in the dark - or in the late afternoon when you expect them to come into the same tree, or at least the same area. Naturally they may not be be exactly where you expect them, but can then hopefully be located via their courtship song and wing noise if they are in the same smallish area.

The most interesting part of hunting the Capercaille (Auerhahn), is that it is exceedingly alert. There is a saying it has "an eye on every feather". But there is a period in its courtship song ("Schleifen" - English: "grinding" or "sanding" - after the sound made), where it is both blind and deaf. So you wait for that period, and then you stealthily move forward. But once that period is over, you HAVE TO STOP IMMEDIATELY, and are often left in painful and outlandish positions waiting for the next courtship song period to move forward. This is very exiting.

Most commonly, the birds are shot out of their sleeping trees, although occasionally, they are also shot doing their courtship dance on the ground. It really depends on the area, and where they can reliably be located in that particular hunting area.

There is an ever raging debate regarding what weapon is best for Capercaille - shot or rifle. I think most situations lend themselves to the rifle better than shot - although taxidermists like birds killed with shot (at distances not too close)... With shot, you always risk the bird spreading its wings and simply sailing off, although mortally wounded. Given the steep and wooded areas in which these birds are hunted, and given they don't leave a scent trail when they fly off, and thus can not be located by dogs, it is exceedingly difficult to find them under these circumstances.

The most common, and probably best rifle caliber is a .22 Hornet. I shot mine with a soft nose bullet in a Hornet and although we had to pick up quite a few feathers after the bird fell out of the tree, the mount turned out really nice (not sure how much the taxidermist needed to repair, but do bring along all the feathers you can find). A .222 Rem would also do the job, but you are probably looking to use FMJ bullets to minimize damage then. The best weapon is probably a combination (shot/rifle) gun, should the opportunity arise to use shot after all. That was how I eventually shot my black grouse (smaller cousin of the capercaille), although that is hunted almost exclusively with rifle. Don't forget you might be shooting in poor light conditions, so a European type scope (heavy reticle, large objective) is not a bad thing to bring along.

You can also hunt capercaille in other parts of the World, e.g. in Sweden (fall/winter hunt) or in parts of the former Sovjet Union (spring hunt). Capercaille are not that super common in the Alps any more, so tags are tightly controlled and fairly expensive to come by. Interesting hunt, though, in particular sneaking up on them during the courtship song.

- mike

you cab also hunt them in norway with eiter rifle,shotgun or combo7drilling. it is a good advice to use a round nosed solid with a moderate velocity as it wont destroy much of the bird . There is many from Germany that comes here to hunt the Auerhanh and the capercaille as they appreciate it much , it is a magnificent bird and a very fine Lord of the forest as it is.

Cartridges that is fine for it is .22Hornet, 6,5mm with a good eiter slow expanding bullet or a rn solid in the cartridge.

If you want a drilling that can be used for all norwegian hunting ,it is very difficult to get away from a 7x57R in the rifle barrel. That is also superb for forrest birds.

shotgun cartridge number nr 4 is a good choice . But the expert who favores a rifle likes the Sako 7x33 as that is a very fien small game cartridge.

Thank you both for the information - it was exactly what I wanted to know. I remember hearing Austrian hunters talk about how exciting it was to hunt them, but it is very difficult to find information on them here in the U.S. It sounds like a very exciting and enjoyable hunt.