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HUNTING IN FRANCE Woodcock (Bécasse)
Rare snapshot of a woodcock taking off - by my nephew Melchior, Ste Appoline Feb, 2015 Season Bag Limit & French Woodcock Society (CNB) policy C.N.B Bag limit of 3 (sometimes 2) birds per hunter and per day, and 6 for a group. A group starts with 3 persons. We want things to be clear, we do not claim for any endorsement of the CNB -Club National des Bécassiers- our over 50 years old woodcock society- but we are fully hunting in accordance with its rules and firstly with its motto -Chasser le plus possible en tuant le moins possible- In English, "Hunt as much as one can, kill as few as possible". The birds are only shot on solid points. We will not hunt during severe periods of cold. We will respect the agreed bag limit. Our dogs only carry tinkerbells, never any electronic device. Websites C.N.B "Club National des Bécassiers" French Woodcock Socity - The C.C.B "Club de Cazadores de Becadas" Spanish Woodcock Society. The best dog bells in the world, in Nay, Béarn (Pyrenees). From these webpages you will have access to more links and woodcock pages like the excellent website of the Club della Beccaccia in Italy. A woodcock experience in France... Normandy Day trip at 130 km from Paris Program The night before the hunt is spent outside Paris in the town of Saint Germain en Laye. Your hotel could be the Pavillon Henri IVth, a beautiful historical building where the king Louis XIVth, Alexandre Dumas and Ernest Hemingway have stayed before you. I will pick you up there in the early morning. We will be hunting a noble oak and beech forest in Normandyfrom 9.00am to 5.00pm. If your wife is traveling with you, she can wake up later, and from the hotel, she will be able to occupy her day in Paris or Versailles or simply stay around. Walking and shopping in the streets of Saint Germain en Laye is very pleasant. There is a street market on Tuesdays and Fridays and an outstanding archaeological museum. The heart touching "Monte-Cristo" house of Alexandre Dumas can be visited within a short taxi ride. On request we can arrange countryside accommodation in a village near the forest, but Saint Germain en Laye is much more convenient. In the late afternoon I will take you back to your hotel. As another alternative, the night after the hunt can be spent in Paris, but again Saint Germain en Laye is probably more convenient and relaxing.
At dawn with a pair of setters in Provence * French hunters love woodcock over dogs as this bird really reveals the qualities of good dogs. Woodcock is never a game bird of many shots. Sometimes it is really scarce. But the lucky hunter has dogs we say here inventing birds when there is none. Dogs that always find birds, whatever the covert or the size of the woods, no matter who passed before him. This dog will always find and point even the meanest only bird present, and will keep bird and point whatever the time the master needs to find him. Each bird has its own story and I know old woodcock hunters (les vieux bécassiers) in their 80's who are able to tell you all details of almost each bird they shot... or missed ! during a 60 years career. We rigorously apply the famous motto of our Woodcock Society, the CNB: Chasser le plus possible en tuant le moins possible. "HUNT AS MUCH AS YOU CAN BUT SHOOT OR KILL AS LITTLE AS POSSIBLE". The CNB, (Club National des Bécassiers, has a website in French that you can find from this page). Glorious days with
Jumbo in the Ft of Bord-Louviers I have been asked sometimes what is the breed of Jumbo ? - Jumbo was what is called in English a "pointing griffon". The usual name in French is Griffon Korthals or simply "Korthals" . More precisely it is a "Griffon d'arrêt à Poils Durs Korthals" or "GAPDK" in the abbreviations used for field trials and technical documents. During the late 19th century, Edward Karel Korthals was a Dutch game keeper serving a German prince who sponsored his work. He created the griffon now known as "Korthals", by mixing and fixing several sorts of old breeds of griffons, hounds and pointers, Italian "spinone" and woolly haired "barbets" waterdogs. The Korthals is a totally different dog from the German wire hair. If you make a google search with the words <<griffon korthals>> or <<club du griffon korthals>> you should find more informations. Picture below: Discovering the mill of Coat-Cren in Brittany
You
are walking silent in a
cold winter morning, in the shade of a big forest. The dogs are so
happy to run
freely that their good mood becomes yours. Your soul is like running
with them, and they really run with pleasure. Most of the time you
can't see them but they're both carrying a nice sounding bell, each
with a different
sound. You walk and often stop to listen at the bell's sound. The frost
cracking under your boots, and the song
of the bell in the valley are really nice sounds. The canter gives the
tempo, but they're meeting some presence...
the bell pounds differently and so does your heart. Suddenly a total
silence fills the wood. Where are
they? (most French hunters refuse to use these horrible beepers), walk
quickly where you last heard them. Now you're close.
It is very bushy here. There is a good smell of young pines and
rosemary bushes. Where are they ? A light whistle between your teeth.
The good old dog shakes his head a little bit and
rings his bell smoothly and then silence again. Now you know where they
are. Just under these young red oaks with a big
holly on the right. Now the shotgun is ready. A few more steps, and you
can see the gray silhouette of one dog in the ferns
under the oaks, and soon the black other dog by the holly. Find out
where the heads are pointing. The last meters are
difficult, you try to step on these brambles instead of forcing them.
Here is not too bad. You are waiting with
the gun ready. It is lasting a bit but you love it. The dogs are on the
scent like a wine connoisseur on
an old château Margaux. Not a shiver, but the grey's head slowly
moves left, and the dog stands up again,
looks at the sky and suddenly the wings clack and the two bells start
again. Mer... ! where is she !!? This
brown arrow in the red oak leaves and... BAW !...??? Yes SIR ! she's
DOWN ! Cap in hand, salute ! Now you're here
standing, admiring this beautiful bird in your hand. The priest never
sees you very much at the church but you
know that only a wonderful God has been able to invent such a beautiful
creature. It is the moment you're a bit
sad. The dogs are up again, for them this moment is already far behind.
This is nature, that's how it is. You start
walking again with a sort of sorrow and your gun is a heavy burden to
carry... But... How are we going to cook that one
? Who will we invite for dinner ? Hé! Hé! you're smiling
again and walking with new joy. HEY YOUU !
DOHOGS ! you're shouting. Wait for meeee ! HO ! HOO !
American hunter (with hat)... ... French griffon (with bell), and European woodcock scolopax rusticola Scolopax rusticola is a bigger bird than Philohela minor
Closing the 2004 2005 season in Normandy Recipe The roasted Bécasse "A ma manière !" Also named "Bécasse aux bowels" by Kirk Hogan Firstly, "wait" your woodcock. Hang the bird by the neck in full feathers outside the house but in a dry place. If the winter is mild, leave it for around five days. If the weather is very cold, wait for a week or ten days. When the bird is ripe, get rid of the feathers, keep only the painter's feather -La plume du peintre- (1). And start a the same time two "culinary works" as:1/ La Bécasse (the woodcock) & 2/ La Rôtie (the toast). La Bécasse. Make a delicate incision on belly
and put all the "insides", on a cutting
matt. La Rôtie (the toast) (2)
Back to the Bird. It must be "golden brown", like any roast chicken or
partridge. It must be well cooked everywhere
but absolutely not dry. It's an art ! Also it must have produced a nice
gravy singing (but not burning) in the
steel dish. "You must pay great attention to giving forks to the guests in the fear they could devourish their fingers if those had touched the sauce" ! And as we speak of literature, you can also end up with the
tradition of the "Dîner des bécasses
du baron des Ravauds" of Guy de Maupassant in his Contes
de la Bécasse. (1) La plume du peintre The painter's feather, is an elegant small sharp feather found at each elbow and there is only one on each wing. It was used by naturalist painters for its sharp precise point. It is the small feather crossing the bell on the CNB's logo, but it is much smaller than the bell. Only like 2 or 3 centimeters long maximum. Some hunters place it inside their hat's belt as a trophy to carry all day. Others keep them in a small box for the sad moment when their good woodcock dog will leave this world. A framed picture is realized with all the pairs of feathers displayed nicely as little trophies recalling each bird pointed and bagged during the career of the good dog. (2) Note for people who are learning French... The word "rôtie" sounds more like roasted piece of meat, but the ancient translation for toast was "rôtie". Now we use the English word "toast" for breakfast or tea time but "rôtie" or "croûtons" in this case. However, "rôtie" is more proper. A roast beef would spell "rôti" without "e" at the end.
* In search of
woodcocks, on the "Risoux", Etude bécasses et chiens d'arrêt -woodcock & pointers - by François Lebert |