Capercaillie hunt

[Africa Huntress]

I am going on another Capercaillie hunt in Dec. It will once again be a hunt on cross country ski's. I love this hunt and can not wait to do it again. Will borrow either the 220 swift or the 224 weatherby. the fellow that works for us ask me how I wanted them loaded and though it might be fun to ask you fellows. What bullet would you use for this hunt, in the rifles mentioned.

Best Regards

Jamila

three p.s.'s

1. I am back in London and Rio is in the rear view mirror )-: )-:
2. I will also hunt Black Grouse while in Sweden next Dec.
3. and I have invited a member of the forum to join me

 

[Guy Miner]

Never really hunted birds with a rifle.... Dunno...

Except I did blast some crows with a 6mm Remington long ago. That worked out just fine for me, not so much for the crows...

Guy

 

[Guy Miner]

BTW - hunting anything on cross-country skis is Very Cool.

Enjoy!

 

[DrMike]

I've loaded for people hunting capercaillie. One in particular was shooting a .260 Remington and using 120 grain full metal jacket Norma or 105 grain Entox bullets. Either bullet performed very well. The customer, a lawyer from central Canada, was quite pleased with his hunt. Good luck on the hunt, Jamila! Looking forward to hearing your report.

 

[truck driver]

Didn't know what it was so I googled it. It's a very beautiful bird. If I had to use a rifle to hunt them I think it would be a .222 but since you have specified the 220 Swift or a 224Wby I would use as heavy full metal jacket that the rifling twist would stabilize unless it was illegal to use them and then I would use what ever was most accurate and try for head shots.

 

[Africa Huntress]

Dr Mike, Guy and truck driver--thank you for your posts.

also congratulations America on an excellent olympics. We ( Namibia ) won 0 medals in 2016. But you Americans did very well, with the highest gold and overall medal count, congratulations

 

[DrMike]

Yeah, but the capercaillie hunt is the important issue!

 

[Charlie-NY]

I'd use a V-Max bullet at warp speed and watch the feathers fly, but that's just me.

 

[alaska100]

Jamila

I wish you the best of luck. It sure sounds like fun. I don't have a clue as far which bullet you should try but I am a little surprised several of our reloader ;s have not given you some suggestions, well a couple did. I like charlie's post lol Brooke

 

[DrMike]

Either the 220 Swift or the 224 Bee should work well for you. I lean toward the Swift, primarily because it is rapidly becoming a heritage cartridge (driven into obsolescence by the 22-250 despite being an excellent cartridge in its own right). Hunting on skis should be an excellent hunt. I'm afraid my knees wouldn't permit me to do this any longer.

I tend to lean toward FMJ bullets as they appear to be permitted in the Scandinavian countries. On birds, the FMJ works well without destroying the meat. I don't have as much experience using FMJ bullets as they are not permitted here in Canada.

 

[Europe]

Either the 220 Swift or the 224 Bee should work well for you. I lean toward the Swift, primarily because it is rapidly becoming a heritage cartridge (driven into obsolescence by the 22-250 despite being an excellent cartridge in its own right). Hunting on skis should be an excellent hunt. I'm afraid my knees wouldn't permit me to do this any longer.

I tend to lean toward FMJ bullets as they appear to be permitted in the Scandinavian countries. On birds, the FMJ works well without destroying the meat. I don't have as much experience using FMJ bullets as they are not permitted here in Canada.

once again Dr Mike is spot on

220 swift with a Norma Fmj. From memory they are 55 gr.

The only way I could take this trip is on a snow mobile as my skiing and snowshoeing days are behind me, Enjoy this and your upcoming skydiving adventure--another sport that I will have to try in my next lifetime. Why would anyone jump out of a perfectly good, and functioning airplane. ?

 

[DrMike]

It is a fifty-five grain bullet, April. You are correct.

 

[FOTIS]

Pictures please!