Hunting Cappercaillie in Norway

Let me start by saying that this trip turned out to be the best hunting trip of all time 😊

As you could read in my previous post that this bird was actually what got me started hunting…As a young boy I have seen this bird and since than I have always dreamed of hunting this bird…

We unfortunately don’t have this species here in Denmark…

Ok now let’s begin with the story of what was to become my favorite hunting trip.

As you all know I have a group on facebook called “Scandinavian hunters” which is a group where members are from all of the Scandinavia where we share pictures and experience from our hunts.

One day there was a post in the group about hunting this bird and I added the comment that they were really fortunate to have this kind of bird to hunt for and I would love to hunt for this bird once.

I got a reply on my comment saying “Why don’t you?” It was a fellow hunter from Norway asking this. Hes name was Sverre Haugen…I’ll get back to him later…

I Said “I would like to but we don’t have them in Denmark”

Sverre replyed “You can hunt with me at my place”

“I would love to” I replied to Sverre’s comment actually thinking that it is never going to happened…you know how this usually goes…someone says you come hunt at my place and then after when it’s time to hunt there is always something that comes up….

Sverre replied “I will contact you before the season begins and we can plan the trip”… “Sure thing” I said

Still thinking that this is not going to happened…

But boy was I wrong…Some time later I get a message from Sverre telling me that the season begins soon and we should plan the trip…

Now I’m thinking…this guy was serious about the hunt…He understood what this hunt ment to me…then I was thinking…I thought I was crazy but this guy must be crazier than me…inviting me without knowing me at all to stay at his place and hunt with him…

Now as crazy I am I said I will come to Norway which actually was the first time I would visit Norway…and there was something else I had in mind….I hate sailing…I get sick every time and I was about to sail for about 15 hours….I said what the hack and ordered my ferry ticket.

I said to my self what a great gesture from Sverre to invite to hunt which will be a great memory for the rest of my life for me…I had to give him something in return to remember me as well. As I in my spare time make knives I thought it would be a great idea to make a knife for Sverre. I would make something special that you could not by in any store. It should be personal…

I got the knife finished just in time before my trip to Norway where I was going to meet Sverre and Per.

Per is also a person I learn to know in my group but never seen before…

The day had come where I should go on my trip to Norway. Packed my car and of I went. It was a quite long trip on the ferry but finally I arrived to Oslo…When you arrive to Oslo with ferry there is so beautiful scenery that the words can’t describe…this a person needs to see by them self…Norway is so beautiful.

I got of the ferry and went to meet Sverre. I got to his house and he walks outside to greet me…We give each other a hug like we have known each other our entire life. Already I knew that this was beginning of a lifelong friendship. I said hallo to the rest of Sverres family and we went on to the hunting are which was about 2 hours drive north of Oslo in a place called Flå.

We got to the cabin…well actually not cabin but a luxurious vacation home where we were going to stay…I took a look around and thought man this is a dream hunting place.

I took out Sverres gift and gave it to him. He absolutely loved it wich made me very happy 😊

Soon Per joined us also. When Per arrived we made something to eat, grabbed a beer and talked for hours about hunting. We also inspected our guns…turns out that I’m not the only one giving my gun a name…Sverre and Peter do to…Sverre had just got a brand new shotgun and “She” did not have the name yet…she will as soon as he has got the first game with the gun…this weekend he will name her he said…If you are wondering what the name is of my gun…her name is “Lucy”…

 We decided to go to sleep because we were going to get early up in the morning and go hunting. I was very tired from the trip so I felt a sleep almost immediately.

Next day we got up, had breakfast, a good cup of coffee, packed our gear and went out to hunt. I can’t tell you how beautiful the nature is in Norway…The scenery was great and looked something like taken out of some fairytale…I’m not sure if the Norwegian people se the same beauty as I, thinking that they are surrounded by this scenery all the time…maybe they don’t think of it as something special or incredible like I do. Maybe they just got use to it…maybe not…but for me this was something incredibly beautiful.

Now I soon realized that my “Little chubby ass” could not compete or keep up with Sverre and Per. The hunt and the terrain is very different from Denmark so after a couple of hours of walking up and down in the hills I could feel my every muscle in my legs burning…It hurt and I loved it. This is what hunting is all about.

I could not tell them about the pain in my legs, but I think they knew, since I was asking to have a small break every hour at the end of the day.

We all get some good chances that day to shoot different kind of animals but I was not lucky…Every time I got surprised when the birds flew up and I took a shot to late or could not take the shot at all…

We went back to the cabin and Sverre prepared dinner which was actually a capercaillie and it tasted wonderful.  Sverre knows his way around a kitchen I can tell you that. Great cook.

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The next day we set out again…my legs were hurting even more…but it didn’t matter I loved it. Such a great hunting experience…

Soon after Sverre shot a black grouse, Per shot several grouses and a hare…me I missed everything I aimed at…I had like 2-3 good chances but I missed…they still couth me by surprise…

All of the sudden while we are walking a big capercaillie flew up maybe 15 meters in front of me…again totally out of nowhere and caught me by surprise… I take aim and shoot…I miss the first shot…I shoot again and it is hit but it continues to fly…the bird changes direction in air and is flying on stiff wings…

Sverre and Per comes running to me telling me that it’s hit and landed over there…

Man I was so happy I can’t tell you how much. I was dreaming of getting this bird since I was maybe 10 years old. In my had I already had an idea on how it is going to be mounted and taxidermized…We should go down the hill to find it Sverre said. Even I was very tired and my legs were burning suddenly I regained my strength. Now we are going down hill again…we just got up…but I did not care…had so much strength and my hart was pumping like crazy.

We got down but the bird was nowhere to be found…we looked and looked but nothing. It was hit we all agreed but maybe when it landed it ran and hide somewhere…After a while we gave up looking for it…funny how things go some times….In a split second I went from really happy and full of energy to sad and disappointed that I did not hit it better…

Sverre came to me and said “Hi bro cheer up this is not the last time you visit me to hunt capercaillie it is not an easy bird to hunt and you will get it next time…”

That cheered me a lot. Yes I would have loved to have this one at home mounted but the hunting is not at all just killing an animal. That part is the least…Hunting is all about new places, new experiences, new friendships… I know that even thou I did not get my Capercaillie I hade the best hunting trip off all time where I was in a wonderful place with wonderful people that I today can call my frineds…And not just any friends but friends for a lifetime.

So thank you by all my hart if you are reading this Sverre and Per. This hunting trip I will remember for as long as I live. My first time in Norway and my very first Capercaillie hunt.