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| One of Us |
This is a question for those who have taken this great bird. I will be hunting them in eastern Europe late April this spring and am taking my Kerighoff Trumpf drilling in 16ga and 7X65R, and I'll take along my 22 Hornet einstecklauf. It's scoped with a 1.5-6 Zeiss in claws with #4 reticle. I plan to take a roe or a chamois also. What would Capercaillie hunters here recommend I use? An outfitter suggested I use the 16 gauge with ammo he lists as 32 with 2/0 or 4/0 shot. What does that translate to in American ammo? | ||
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32 is the weight of the load, 2mm and 4mm refers to shot size. 32 is 1.15 oz or near 1 and 1/8th oz. 2mm is very close to shot size 2 and 4mm is close to shot size 4. I didn't see anyone that makes a 2 sized 16 gauge. But I did a quick look. Remington makes a 4 shot size 16 in the Extra Long Range lead load. You'll want to ask the outfitter if you can hunt with lead shot. I can only hunt on private land with lead shot in Germany. | |||
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Also what nation has chamois available to hunt at the same time as caper? Neat thing if that can happen. | |||
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I shot mine in Bulgaria with a 12 bore semi auto Beretta using a 40gram 4/0 shot. It’s a locally made cartridge with a mixture of number 4 and 0 shot. If I was using west European cartridges and I went again I’d use 36-42gram number 1 or 3 shot. It’s a great hunt and I really enjoyed mine. | |||
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Bulgaria | |||
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Make it easy on yourself and buy a box of Hevishot #4's. Hevishot is the densest pellet alloy made and kills very well. I'll take Pattern density over pellet size every time, as the Hevishot pellets hit hard and penetrate deeply. It absolutely crushes wild turkeys, so would flatten a capercaillie just fine. | |||
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. If high up in a tree the .22. On the ground 5 or 4 in 16 bore will do the job nicely. Enjoy. . "Up the ladders and down the snakes!" | |||
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I have a box of 1 1/4oz #4 Heavy Shot on order. ...great minds...  | |||
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Any 22 Hornet round nose FMJ is perfect. Your scope is very good. For shotgun i prefer the Rottweil Waidmansheil #4 In a drilling I would use lead pellets. | |||
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Hey, just a point to note as well: You do not actually need the einsteck. Your 7mm with an FMJ will do the job perfectly. I use my 7x57 drilling for small game, as well as my 308w. It only leaves a hole in and out. Use the rifle barrel with best precision. Also, when the caper is on the ground and you approach it, keep the shotgun barrels ready. With a poor hit they sometimes seem dead until they are suddenly flying off.... happened to me after a poor hit with a 223fmj, and a friend the other day using 6,5x55. Enjoy your trip! | |||
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Thanks for the replies. I appreciate the suggestions and comments. Health has caused me to postpone the hunt until next season, but all replies will be printed and saved. Kind Regards, Bruce | |||
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Capercaillie is a magnificent bird. We use to hunt them in the spring, before EU decided is not ethical to hunt birds in the spring, during their mating season. Bulgaria found a way to avoid this stupid rule. Small caliber with FMJ bullets are perfect for the job and a good low light scope will be very helpful as the hunt is done at the first lights of the morning. | |||
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Its a good rule to not kill them during the mating season (its so easy its should not be called hunting) it may damage the population. Most countries have rules against hunting red deer during mating season. | |||
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With all due respect, I need to disagree with you, sir. Our capercaillie population is located in the mountains not in the flat or hill areas. Here is an example of how we use to hunt capercaillie in the spring usually in April: We woke up at 3 am in the morning and we start climbing the mountains through the deep snow about 2.5 hours to the places where capercaillie have their mating places. Birds always select a clearing in the tall forest surrounded by old trees. Same places are used for many generation of birds. The males start singing just before the first light. Many females observe and listen the males from the nearby. The hunter should be very patient and quiet. He can only move during the song of the males which is taking only few seconds and than he stops and listen. During his song the male is deaf, but the females are not. If the hunter is patient and lucky and he is not spot by any of the females and the snow is not frozen he might get close enough to pull the trigger. If this fantastic stalking experience is not called hunting, I don't know what else is. We use to hunt about 5% from the total population of the capercaillie and only the males. What is even worst is the effect of this rule meant to protect the population of the birds. By banning the hunt(for the whole year!) the interest of the rangers for protecting the birds(trophy fees for a capercaillie was 1000 euro) and their habitat has drop to zero. Now the big old trees that surround the mating capercaillie areas are cut for wood and poachers sell the birds to fancy restaurants. The lynx, main enemy of the birds is not disturb by the small and presence of hunters anymore. We use to hunt this bird from centuries and the population was very stable. This spring I was trying to make some pictures for old times sake. The ranger told me he has only 2 mating places from 6 that he use to have. Should I tell you I did not manage to take any pictures? Hell of Eu capercaillie protection! | |||
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Exactly! I was lucky to do one in Bulgaria and really enjoyed the hunt a lot. Fantastic hunt infact. Just wonder how long it will be till EU demands Bulgaria to stop the hunting of them. Here in the UK we used to have many but deer fencing, loss of habitat and so many pine martens and other vermin means their numbers are declining very rapidly. | |||
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The loss of habitat and poaching may be a real problem. In Sweden, Finland and Norway we still have a huntable population of them and its cheap, hunters shouldn`t kill capercaillie illeagal then they can come north for a real hunt. Hunting fee ~30e+ ~25e/day in Sweden Local TV reporter in trouble, difficult to kill? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cLU_1lgnfA We do also have huntable populations of pine marten and lynx. Capercallie and pine marten can be hunted at the same time with barking dogs. | |||
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What about Lynx? | |||
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Lynx are hunted in low numbers regulated by the national EPA and local government. We hunt them in winter-springwinter season with a barking dog, hunters stand around the hunted area ( a circle with a in track only) and the doghandler release the dog on the track, sometimes the lynx are shot by the doghandler then its stays on a rock or climb a tree. Robert Salomonsson hunting movie https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tubZ5Wi-yBo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JywLTYLCQ9g | |||
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Interesting hunt I recon! Thanks | |||
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Sir, believe me you will not find a single capercaillie in Romania that will act like the bird in your video. When we use to hunt them from 10 hunting days you will have the shooting chance in only 5 or 6. On the other hand, last time when I was checking a hunting trip in Sweden was almost the price as in Romania. Can you give me some contacts where I can find a good price trip for capercaillie in your country? Thank you very much! | |||
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Working salory are higher in Sweden than in Romania, a hunting guide will need at least 350-400€ per day. Mating season is mating season the males are stupid during what time, but they are clever and alert every other time. http://www.boka.inatur.se/sv/s...jer?filter=c%3D30005 | |||
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You won, sir! I quit! But thank you very much for the website! It is still cheaper than Romania, where only the trophy fee is 1000 euro per bird. Spring or fall I really need to hunt this magnificent bird one more time in my life. | |||
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