CAPERCAILLIE SHOOTING 
if he gets two or three days at them in a season. It is only by staying up 
in the Highlands long after other shooters have left for the south, 
and by enjoying the hospitality of local tenants and proprietors, that 
a close acquaintance with this noble bird is possible. 
Two or three cocks and half a dozen hens to each gun may be reckoned 
quite a good day, though, if his experience is extensive, he will do better 
than this. A successful stand at Capercaillie is something to remember, 
and occurs but seldom; it has this delightful attribute, that you never 
know when it will come or where. The largest number I ever saw in one 
drive was at Murthly. In December, 1884, I and two Cambridge friends 
were just clearing up cock Pheasants in the woods. There had been a 
three days’ gale with snow, and the Big Wood was swarming with capers. 
I placed my dear old friend W. L. J., one of the most delightful of men and 
one of the worst shots in existence, in a spot near the keeper’s house in 
the Big Wood, and no fewer than thirty-eight caper sailed over his head. 
He killed one, and was well pleased, I am glad to say. The best “ stand ” 
I ever had was at Dupplin one November day in 1889, when I got four 
cocks and six hens in one short drive. I have been one of the guns when 
the following bags of Capercaillie have been made in Perthshire between 
1883-1898 : Ladywell, 35 cocks ; Logierait, 33 ; Dupplin, 28, 27 ; Murthly, 
28, 25, 22, 21, 20, 18, etc. ; Rohallion, 18 (12 cocks) ; and many bags of 
18 and under. The largest number of Capercaillie ever killed in one day 
was at Fotheringham, in Forfarshire, in November, 1894. The birds had 
been increasing there for some time, and had done much damage to the 
crops, so an organized battue was arranged by Mr Walter Fotheringham, 
the proprietor, and 107 birds fell to the guns. James Keay, our old keeper 
at Murthly who gave me these particulars, was present and counted 
the birds. No doubt a larger bag of Capercaillie might be killed on the 
Taymouth estates, the site of their reintroduction, than at any other place 
in Scotland, but the present Marquis of Breadalbane kills very few, as he 
likes to see them flying about, and thinks they do not do much damage 
to timber. In 1862 it was estimated that there were at least 1,000 to 2,000 
Capercaillie on the Taymouth estates, but this I think was an over-estimate 
at the time, though at the present date it is well within the mark. 
It is not difficult to maintain and to increase a stock of Capercaillie 
provided the woods are suitable and the birds have bred there. The great 
thing is to avoid killing too many hens, and to keep down the vermin, 
especially foxes and hooded crows. Female Capercaillie usually place their 
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