THE GUN AT HOME AND ABROAD 
it is of the highest importance to take up one’s position in such a spot 
where one can find clear spaces to right and left and overhead, and where 
one can at any rate get a fair snap at the passing bird, but also that one 
can have some view ahead towards the most likely point above the woods 
from which Capercaillie may approach. 
I remember once introducing Mr G. E. Lodge, the artist of this volume 
and a keen observer of birds, to the joys of Capercaillie shooting. He had 
never killed one, so I put him in a spot in the Big Wood at Stobhall, where 
he was certain of a shot in the first drive. After the beat he said he had 
shot a Capercaillie and a Woodcock. The “Woodcock,” when picked up, 
proved to be another Capercaillie, whose erratic flight he had mistaken 
for a very different bird. To shoot Capercaillie successfully one must 
be a good as well as a quick shot. The view of the great bird is often 
transient, and in that moment of firing decision must be made at once, 
and the shot placed well forward, so as to align in pattern on the head 
and neck. The breast, and the crop especially, if distended with food, 
as it generally is in the evening, is most difficult to penetrate, and a shot 
that would kill outright a Pheasant, or even a Blackcock, will only be 
“acknowledged” by the Capercaillie, which in all probability will hold 
on for a considerable distance before falling to the ground, and being lost. 
In this respect it is tougher to kill than any woodpigeon, but with 
the pattern striking the head and neck, even as far as forty yards the 
Capercaillie comes crashing into the trees, and he is yours. I have seen 
an old cock Capercaillie killed dead at sixty-five yards, only one No. 4 
pellet having penetrated the brain, but this was in the nature of a fluke, 
perpetrated by a man who ought to have known better than to fire so long 
a shot. 
I have always found a full choke 12 -bore, loaded with 42 grs. Schultze 
and No. 4 shot, the best for shooting Capercaillie. With a full choke 
gun the chances of kill or miss are far greater than with an ordinary 
cylinder and modified choke gun, whilst No. 4 shot gives just that addi- 
tional penetration so necessary in shooting a large bird. When shooting in 
northern woods in October and November one may often have a chance 
of killing a good roebuck while driving caper, so it is well to have four 
or five cartridges in one particular pocket loaded with No. 1 shot. These 
can be quickly substituted for the smaller shot when the Roe is seen 
approaching. 
As regards the beaters only a small number are necessary, even for 
12 
