Spring is known to be the mating season, and still in some European countries it is also the propitious time to make some highly selected samples of particular wild animals of extraordinary beauty such as the grouse and black grouse. For this reason we have gone to the heart of Eastern Europe, to the immense plains of Belarus to go and undermine these animals in the singing arenas.
First step grouse
It was at night, the sound of the alarm clock entering through the eardrum had reached the brain as if it were a red-hot blade.
It was two o'clock, his head heavy from too many vodka-based toasts the night before, or rather only a couple of hours before, he advised to stay down in bed, instead you had to get up; I suppose my hunting companions were also experiencing the same sensation, but slowly the first noises began to be heard, a sign that they too, like me, having raped themselves, had risen to their feet. Fortunately Daniele had thought of everything and, even in the middle of the Belarusian forest, the mocha was already bubbling and the scent of coffee was a real relief. Two abundant cups, the first absolutely bitter to try to dampen the hangover, while the second, immediately after getting dressed, sweet and hot to prepare me for the day ahead. At half past two the gamekeepers arrived on time to accompany us, Paolo would go hunting for grouse while I went looking for my first magnificent capercaillie. The country's bureaucracy provided for the compilation of a whole series of sheets and a few signatures to be affixed, but the hunt chief, strict and precise during work, as nice and friendly during the abundant drinking after the hunt, had fulfilled all the he did his homework quickly and explained to me how the hunt was going to take place. Perhaps because of the alcohol fumes still very present, it seemed to me that I understood that the final phase of the approach to the rooster I would have had to do hand in hand with a big Russian man who, as in the game "a two three star" would have dictated the times to move and those to stop.
I had seen all kinds of hunting, but the prospect of walking through forests with a man hand in hand did not appeal too much ... but after all it was always me who carried the gun. It was cold outside, taking into account the almost summer weather left at home only the day before, the temperature here was close to zero and it was drizzling. I had brought with me a 12-gauge shotgun: in the Lagoisk reserve, perhaps the best in Belarus for grouse hunting, it was forbidden to shoot grouse with a rifle and shortly thereafter I would also understand that it would be completely useless. I had taken with me five cartridges loaded with zero lead and we set off full of hopes and expectations in search of this mythical animal. When I reached the hunting place I felt really good, the adrenaline produced by the imminent hunting and the fresh air had cleared my mind, now I just wanted to go hunting. We proceeded in total darkness, in silence and in single file, in the lead was the companion then followed by the fighter chief and myself. At a certain point we separated, I remained with the hunting chief while the escort who was the real expert left: the goal was to try to identify the first song of the grouse. Only ten minutes passed when our companion emerged as if out of nowhere and motioned me to follow him in the utmost silence. At that point it was just me and him. After about a hundred meters we stopped again to listen and after a couple of minutes you hear it ... Knock knock knock, the metallic tick that slowly increases, then a dry snap similar to the noise that the corkscrew makes when you open a nice bottle of wine red, and then what the Germans call "schleifen", a noise similar to a whetstone sharpening the scythe. The rooster had crowed! The gamekeeper took my left hand, now I knew we had to start the actual approach. Further away I heard another rooster crow, I think it was the antagonist of mine, the tension was rising and now I was waiting for the moment to start moving. Here it is again! At the third verse of «schleifen», the hand shook: it was the signal, we took two steps and then stopped. One two three… star and we continued; so every time the rooster crowed. Knock knock knock ... My muscles contracted and then when it was time I decided to take two steps without fear of making a noise: the rooster during the third verse of its song is completely deaf and since it extends the neck upwards to the maximum in fact he is also blind. But do not move only a finger or make the slightest noise when it is not in the "schleifen", it would go away like the wind.
La hunting in Belarus it was easy ..
The whole approach lasted about ten minutes, it was still dark but it was beginning to feel that the day was near. The cockcrow was loud now. I sensed that by now we had to be really close to the animal, but I didn't dare move to look around: I blindly trusted my companion who had already proved to be a true specialist. At one point, while the rooster sang its third verse, the gamekeeper pointed to a point on top of a pine. I raised my head and stood still in that position; there was silence again now, but then I saw it, or rather I believed that a darker spot almost at the top of the tree was the grouse. I was sure of it when he sang the song again, I saw it move, now I was just waiting for the song and when the sound started, taking the rifle and firing was all a single movement. He came down with all his five and a half kilos and now has a privileged place among my best trophies and above all in my heart. It had been a while that the idea of hunting for grouse and of the black grouse in the crowing arenas; then, you want for one thing you want for another, the opportunity had not yet happened. The decisive impetus came when strange rumors reached my ears: in Europe they were discussing the prohibition of hunting animals in love, ie roaring deer, brunft chamois, roosters in crowing arenas and so on. Apart from the fact that if such a thing happened it would be a further blow to the correct management of the territory and wild species, it is now well known that the best selection of animals to be taken can only be done during the mating period, but this argument would be long to deal with now and would inevitably lead us off topic, so maybe it will be the subject of an article later. So in order to avoid unfortunate surprises and in order not to miss an ancient and fascinating form of hunting, I decided to call a friend who has an agency that manages exceptional reserves in Belarus and among these perhaps the best for the grouse hunting.
So, having worked out the details, we decided together to make a sortie in the best period, that is: at the end of April, when both the capercaillie and the grouse in those areas they are at the peak of the singing season. The organization was perfect at the Minsk airport, our companions were waiting for us with all the weapons permits ready and the paperwork was done, we got into the car to reach the Lagoisk reserve which is about seventy kilometers from the capital. There hunting house immersed in the forest it was warm and welcoming and already on the first evening we had the opportunity to meet our guides who showed us what we were going to do a few hours later. The first hunting trip was in fact scheduled for three the next morning. Paolo, who as usual accompanied me on my hunting adventures, would have initially dedicated himself to black grouse while I would have gone to the grouse. In the three days planned for hunting we both managed to reach our goal: a grouse and a black grouse each, but above all we had a truly unique hunting experience: undermining these magnificent animals in the singing arenas is surprising; being able to see the black grouse fighting each other to establish the hierarchy in the matings is extraordinary while approaching the very diffident grouse is a hunt that should be tried at least once in a lifetime. Furthermore, Belarus is a truly beautiful country full of wild nature; with the further advantage that the costs are still affordable and certainly this aspect does not hurt either. In conclusion, a fair applause goes to the tour operator who once again proved to be really up to the task in organizing hunting trips and he succeeded in the enterprise, but to be honest with him I was already used to it, to make everything go the right way giving us a unique experience. So my advice, if you are passionate about these forms of hunting, is to organize a hunting trip for as soon as possible to hunt the grouse and the black grouse in the singing arenas, perhaps in Belarus. Good luck to all.
Text and photos by Federico Cusimano