Category: About the Golden Owl

A new way to solve the Golden Owl treasure hunt is now available, and it will open up this treasure hunt to players outside France.

This game launched in 1993 when the internet was barely born, and the only way to win the owl was to dig for the prize in a French forest. Now a website has been created at https://chouettedor.com/ and players can enter a solution to be checked by the game organiser, Michel Becker. If the answer is correct the lucky owler will be informed and can travel to France to dig up the bronze owl and exchange it for the golden prize.

Here’s how the new system works.

1. An account must be created at https://chouettedor.com/ listing your contact details.
2. A fee of  9.50 euros is paid per solution verification (or 7.50 for AOC members). The solution must be detailed in no more than 1000 characters, listing a postal code for the owl’s location and a ‘super solution’ that describes how it is found.
3. The solution is time-stamped and encrypted, and sent to be read by Michel Becker. He aims to respond within 24 hours. A ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer is given to inform a treasure hunter if the answer is right.

This is a major change to the game, and Michel Becker says it will stop unnecessary money being spent by owlers checking their solutions by travelling around France. He wants to discourage people from digging holes in the French countryside, sometimes breaching local bylaws. However, the online system is optional, so old school treasure hunters can still choose to check their solution the old fashioned way by taking a shovel and digging for treasure.

Good luck, whichever way you choose to play!

Michel Becker took over the organisation of this treasure hunt in 2021. He decrypted the 1993 floppy disc containing the Golden Owl treasure hunt solution and now knows the answer to where the owl prize is buried.

Max Valentin, the original game organiser, answered thousands of questions about the game on the Minitel, an early form of the internet. The questions and answers became known as ‘Madits.’ (meaning ‘Max told me’.) Now Michel Becker takes a similar role, answering questions on his Discord server. Some people call his statements Beckerdits, or Midits.

Michel Becker has made some bold statements about the game, challenging many of the things that have been accepted as truth for nearly 30 years. I’ll summarise the key points here.

-He insists searchers should not trust Max Valentin’s Madits, as many are misleading, or take hunters off track.

-He suggests that Max’s repeated statements about the way the 12th clue ‘super solution’ is put together should be ignored. He says that the final directions to find the treasure are simply found in the last two clues (650 and 520.)

– He says the first 9 clues have mostly been solved, with answers available online. We can suppose that commonly accepted solutions such as Bourge and the game measure 33cm are correct. But does he mean more cryptic elements are online somewhere too?

– He tells us there is an expression in the clues that gives a kind of ‘eureka moment’, that helps us to unlock the solution. He says that when this expression is understood it helps hunters understand the numbers and the supersolution, and it leads players to do something. He has suggested the expression is a fairly common phrase, “used every day by millions of people” rather than a specialist clue-style phrase such as ‘becalmed nave’.

– In addition there are many small new details that were not revealed by Max. There are no calvary crosses in the game, the opening is not used for the super solution, the 600 clue gives a place, we have the area at the end of the 9th clue, either 75 or 57 will work equally well as the last numbers of the 650 clue, the super solution can only apply in one place, and during the super solution we don’t go back to previous puzzles. And there are no doubt many more.

– He has released his own additional clue, in the form of a poem called Pierrette et le pot-aux-roses. 

There is an excellent site called 71721075.fr collecting many of Becker’s statements and summarising them. If you set your browser to auto-translate it is easy to navigate in English.

Becker claims he read around 5,000 private messages from treasure hunters on Discord and he learned some people have elements of the solution. One or more persons have found a mechanism for the use of the mysterious numbers 71721075 in the 650 clue, and someone who has amusingly become known as ‘the entity’ has the right idea for the supersolution. All this has caused an outcry in the community, with many people angry that the hunt organiser is giving tips to those who sent him messages. However, Becker reassures searchers not to be disheartened. He said this new information only proves the game is ‘solvable’ but the people who wrote to him with ideas didn’t seem to know the significance of what they’d suggested.

To add to the controversy of Michel Becker challenging elements of the game that have been accepted for decades, many people point out that when Becker retrieved the solutions and dug in the treasure location he found a bird made of iron, and not Max’s owl marked 1/8. He placed a new bronze owl marked 2/8 in the spot so the game could go on. There are some people who think Max Valentin’s solutions lead to the original owl and that Becker was duped with false solutions. Could there now be 2 owls buried in France with Max’s super solution leading to owl 1 and Becker’s super solution leading to owl 2? I personally do not believe this, but it’s an interesting theory.

It’s certainly been an eventful time for hunters since Becker became involved. It adds even more complexity to the hunt that now each hunter must decide whether to take a lead from Max’s tips or Becker’s new hints. This is especially the case with the clear divergence in the method of the super solution which reveals the exact burial spot of the owl. A Becker route says the super solution is mostly devised by the final 2 clues, while Max’s instructions repeatedly tell us to assemble ‘remnants’ of the clues and assemble them in order. I like to think both methods might be right, but just use a different emphasis. Possibly Max’s remnant approach relied heavily on the final two clues for the super solution? Or maybe Becker understands a simplified version of the super solution that he thinks works with just two clues? Quite possibly Becker’s  ‘expression’ is a phrase that Max might describe as one of the important ‘remnants’?

All of these extra bits of information must surely mean this this long running hunt will finally get solved in the next few years… Or will it? I’ve a feeling that if Becker’s owl 2 is found, there’ll still be some obsessed hunters who won’t quit until Max’s fabled owl 1 is unearthed. Happy hunting!

Michel Becker, the illustrator of the Chouette d’Or, has officially taken ownership of the management and organisation of this long running treasure hunt. The announcement came via a video press release on October 30th 2021, followed by a text press release. Several more strange developments in this hunt have followed, as part of the ownership handover.

In April 2021 the original sealed envelope of solutions created in 1993 by Max Valentin was transferred from Regis Hauser’s family to Michel Becker, and to his trusted legal bailiff, Blanche Neige-Schmitt. (Hauser is the real name of treasure hunt author, Max Valentin, however, I use his pen name ‘Max’ throughout this site.) A contract has been set up passing all rights of the game from the heirs of Regis Hauser to Michel Becker and his company Éditions de la Chouette d’Or®

The bailiff wrote a report detailing this handover. It describes how Max’s envelope of solutions contained a protected file on a floppy disk, which was written in 1993 on word processing software that is no longer supported. As the bailiff could not decipher the old file, Michel Becker worked to decrypt the .sam format file. The text of Max’s solution was finally presented to the bailiff on October 22nd 2021. The bailiff checked the solution text and validated it as real in her opinion.

Michel Becker and the bailiff travelled to the location mentioned in the solutions to check if the buried bronze owl was still there. They hoped they could confirm the owl’s location so the hunt could continue under their new management.

In 1993, when the game launched, Max Valentin stated that a bronze, varnished replica of the golden owl was buried around 40-50cm from the surface, with some kind of protection from metal detectors. The owl was cast as one of eight replicas of the solid gold bird, and marked with a number 1/8. Along with the owl Max said he placed a phone number, a password and details of what to do when the bird was found. The bronze owl replica, when found, would be swapped for the valuable gold owl prize.

On the evening of October 22nd. Becker and the bailiff went to the owl’s location and measured a distance, as specified in the ‘super solution’ to then dig a hole. At around 80cm under the earth they found a rusted iron bird wrapped in a plastic bag. The bag had the numbers S09 2005 written on the plastic. Becker has speculated that the iron bird was placed in the ground by Max in 2005. Max Valentin died in April 2009, presumably knowing that there was a replacement bird at the location?  It is not clear why the bronze owl was replaced, or where the bronze owl marked 1/8 is now.

As Michel Becker wants the treasure hunt to continue in good order, he placed a new bronze owl marked 2/8 in the ground. He also added an envelope containing new instructions and password for the finder of the bronze countermark. It seems he had brought a second bronze owl with him on his digging mission in case it was needed.

Becker, the new organiser of the hunt, has released various official documents through his new company. On the website a new set of game rules has been published (the unofficial English version is here – for information only.) There is also a form to fill in if you dug for the owl at a date before October 2021 and want your solution checked. Presumably this is because there was rusty iron buried deeply, and not a crafted bronze owl at the location? Owlers can send in their solutions until December 31st 2021, they will be checked by the bailiff in January 2022. Anyone who has the correct solution will be told, and asked to dig up the bronze owl to fit the rules of the game. It is worth noting that this form seems to be intended for use by those who dug in the past… However treasure hunters outside France may be tempted to use it to check their solutions, without paying for an expensive plane fare!

Various reports and minutes from the bailiff have also been published online, giving legal legitimacy and certainty to what has happened with the hunt in the last few months. The golden owl has seen a few complex legal cases over the years, and there is currently an ongoing challenge from Yvon Crolet who appears to claim the owl was never buried. He states that he solved the clues but discovered the owl was not there at the final location, so he is challenging the game organisers. As part of the work to put this treasure hunt in good order, Becker asked the bailiff to check the solution submitted by Crolet. She confirmed that this does not match the location she had visited, or details of the solution that were devised by Max Valentin.

This unusual situation, and mysterious rusty iron ‘bird’ has certainly got the owler community talking! It is possible we will never know why a replacement ‘treasure’ was placed in the hole, and by whom. Here are a few ‘best guesses’ that are being discussed.

There were legal complications around the hunt in 2004 – 2005, with the publishing company going bankrupt, so some theorise that Max removed the bronze owl for some reason related to that. It doesn’t seem very obvious how an iron bird not a bronze owl connects to this story. If someone presented an iron bird to Max then he would know they had solved the hunt, and presumably give them the bronze owl marked 1/8? But why would this ruse be needed?

Max told a friend that he dug up the bronze owl marked 1/8 many years after it was buried. He said he wanted to check if the paperwork had survived. All phone numbers in France had changed so the old one listed with the owl was invalid. However, a clear detail of this story is that he wanted to place new paperwork with the owl. Yet with the iron bird there was no kind of paperwork at all.

It is understood that Max wanted to protect his game in the event of his death, yet leaving an iron bird in the ground effectively destroyed this great hunt altogether. The rules state that the bronze owl replica must be swapped for the real gold version. If someone had found an iron bird then they would get nothing. If the rusty iron bird has been in the place specified by the super solution since Max’s death, no one could win the game in all those years!

One theory doing the rounds is that Max might have left a false trail on the floppy disk, so the true solution has not been written down anywhere. This could mean that Becker and the bailiff dug in the wrong place, fooled by Max with a false solution. This seems unlikely, and would lead to an awkward situation with two buried bronze treasure hunt owls and both 1/8 and 2/8 now buried somewhere in France.

Another theory is that an owl hunter dug up bronze 1/8 and didn’t exchange it for the gold owl, leaving an iron bird in the hole. This seems highly unlikely for obvious reasons!

There are some who suspect Michel Becker of something illicit in this situation, but in my opinion it is in his best interests to keep the hunt going and to make it respected. He will want to sell copies of his clue book, and promote his golden owl museum in Rochefort.

If a winner of the hunt is declared any time soon they will certainly come under great scrutiny. Two people now know the solutions, but previously no one living knew the owl’s location. However in every treasure hunt we have to have a degree of trust in the integrity of the game and its organisers. As strange as all this is, I do think this game will continue, and be just as enjoyable to play as ever.

The mystery of the rusty iron bird is a strange one, and equally mysterious is the location of bronze owl 1/8. I’m going to keep working on this hunt, and I’m planning my next trip to France soon. One way to look at this is that the hunt is now more exciting than ever, when we dig we don’t know if we will find owl 1, owl 2, more rusty iron, or, nothing at all and back to the drawing board!

Michel Becker seems to be having a little fun with the missing owl twist, offering a reward to the presumed owl 1/8 finder who perhaps chose not to claim a golden reward…. The following post has appeared on the Les Editions de la Chouette d’Or® social media accounts.

At least it seems finding either owl 1 or owl 2 wins a reward!

Note: The details and images used in this article are from the reports written by the bailiff, Blanche Neige-Schmitt, that have been widely shared online through websites, forums and on social media The photos remain copyrighted to the author of that report. I share them here aiming to bring clarity to the English speaking seekers of this treasure community. Additional colour photos of the site can be found here.  

This treasure hunt was set up in 1993, and the book’s publisher has since gone out of business, and Max Valentin, the designer of the puzzle, and co-author of the Chouette d’Or book, has died.

The original rules of the puzzle state there is no time limit to the game. ‘ It is not limited in time, but will be closed the day of the discovery of the cache.’

The rules also state, ‘The Prize is a statuette of gold, silver and stones, representing an owl sculpted by Michel Becker. Its value is about one million francs. In no case can it be exchanged for its cash value.

The rules continue, ‘The book provides the clues needed to solve the riddle. The first person who has deciphered the final enigma to locate the cache is deemed to be the winner.’

In October 2021 Michel Becker, the book’s illustrator, was given contractual control of the treasure hunt by the descendents of Max Valentin. His Editions de la Chouette d’Or company is now running the hunt, and there are clear rules on their website, and a bailiff, Maitre Blanche Neige-Schmitt, overseeing the hunt to ensure the fair enforcement of the rules. You can read a translated copy of the rules here, or learn more about the handover of the game to Michel Becker here.

There are many elements of the Golden Owl treasure hunt that are understood and accepted by the ‘chouetteur’ community, but several sticking points that prevent progress from being made.

Taking the clues in order I will try to highlight the major sticking points.

Clue B – Gives the game order, its solved.

Clue 530 – Reveals the city Bourges.

Clue 780 – Reveals the game measure (likely 33cm) and probably more, perhaps a direction, but the ‘coach and bad horse’ concept of this clue is little understood.

Clue 470 – Reveals Ronceveaux,  but also through the Opening you will see the light.

Clue 580 – Reveals 10 towns, used to solve the next puzzle. It’s not clear if the towns have some other purpose.

Clue 600 – Big sticking point, the mysterious phrase, ‘The key is on the black perched ship.’

Clue 500 – Reveals Carignan, but what is the spiral with four centers at 560.606 measures?

Clue 420 – Reveals Golfe Juan, but from there we need to plot the fall of an arrow flying at 1969,697 measures towards the zenith.

Clue 560 – Reveals Cherbourg, but we don’t understand  the opening that reveals heavenly light or  how Neptune helps twice, or the meaning of seeing the ‘Nave becalmed’, through the Opening.

Clue 650 – Describes how to process the clues that have come before, there are Sentinels at 8000 measures from ‘here’ and we need to decode the number 71721075 that is drawn in the image.

Clue 520 – Suggests the final place to dig for the owl, at this stage you need to understand the remnant clues that give the super solution.

So, to solve this puzzle you will need to:

• Understand the meaning of the coachman and bad horse in the 780
• Understand the meaning of the ‘light’ seen through the opening and also described in clue 560 and 600.
• Decide whether the 10 towns of clue 580 have some extra function.
• Discover the meaning of ‘The key is on the black perched ship.’
• Know what the spiral with four centers means.
• Know where Apollo’s arrow lands when it’s fired from Golfe Juan.
• Plot a route from Cherbourg as described in 560, understanding the meaning of Neptune’s help and the meaning of the ‘becalmed nave.’
• Know how to use the places discovered through the 11 clues with the number 71721075 and some ‘sentinels’ that have been revealed.
• Know which game phrases and concepts have not been used before and are clue ‘remnants’ that reveal the super solution of exactly where to dig.

General pointers :

There is almost certainly some simple game ‘trick’ that makes sense of the towns and cities that have been revealed.

The clue order probably matters, there is an important progression from one to the next.

Insights and personal theories into the meaning of repeating game concepts such as ‘light,’ sentinels, ‘the Opening’ will give ideas for progressing the game.

There are many small mysteries alongside the big ones listed here! It’s quite possible that someone exploring a small game mystery will stumble upon something that solves this 25-year long game.

The additional clues and ‘mandits‘ have been explored as much as the original 11 enigmas, yet they don’t seem to have progressed the game an awful lot. Max said the owl could be found by studying the book alone. In my opinion he spent years carefully avoiding giving any meaningful answers in those mandit Q&A! However the mandits can be very useful to check theories.

The topics that Max refused to be drawn on in his ‘mandits’ are almost certainly key to solving this puzzle. Max refused to answer questions on the light, the methods for linking each enigma, the spiral with four centers, the becalmed nave, and (understandably) any clear description of the final location.

The game images, drawn by Becker, were added after the basic concept and clues were devised by Max. It’s worth bearing in mind the fact this was originally devised as a text only treasure hunt! The images were drawn based on Max’s descriptions with Becker having no understanding of the game solution. It’s hard to be sure of the role the pictures play, clearly when Max knew the book would have visual elements he incorporated them. Clues such as the 650 and 500 have important visual elements.

It’s expensive and almost certainly unnecessary to buy a copy of the out of print original book ($220 on Amazon) however I found it useful to print a bound copy using a downloaded PDF of the clues. This cost me about £10 including shipping, I used Dox Direct. but any online printer will do!

Régis Hauser / Max Valentin

Régis Hauser wrote the Golden Owl book using the pen name Max Valentin. Sadly he died in 2009, but his memory lives on through the intriguing treasure hunt he created. Max worked in advertising and marketing before publishing ‘On the trail of the Golden Owl’ in 1993 with artist Michel Becker. Max Valentin also created more than forty other treasure hunts, whose prizes were successfully claimed. He also invented an interactive web game, ‘On the trail of the Cistes’, that allowed its users to create puzzles and hide small treasures in plastic boxes. Nearly 80,000 players registered on the site and more than 60,000 cistes have been hidden throughout the world. Régis Hauser was also the author of novels and humorous books.

Michel Becker

Michel Becker is an artist and treasure hunt enthusiast. He met Regis Hauser at a party and offered to get involved in his treasure hunt project, illustrating the clues and designing and funding the creation of the golden owl statuette. He created the pictures for the Golden Owl book, according to the specifications provided by Max Valentin. He currently owns the statuette of the Golden Owl, and, controversially, he tried to sell it at auction in June 2014. The sale was stopped by the legal action of the A2CO – the Association of Golden Owl Researchers.  In 2009 Michel Becker launched a visual only global treasure hunt called ‘The Treasure Tube’ selling a tube of paintings for €99 and offering a million euro prize,  but it was stopped a year later with the prize not awarded, there were estimated to be 2000 participants. In 2016, it was announced that a museum of the Golden Owl would open in the city of Rochefort, with the holding company apparently owned by Becker.  Becker’s paintings and the original specifications for the art will be displayed in an art gallery in an old water tower. This project also launches the Chateau 1876 association, its stated objective is ‘to create a place attached to the organized treasure hunt entitled “On the Trail of the Golden Owl ©” and, more broadly to group the objects and writings related to this operation for their ensure a sustainable existence and make them accessible to the public.’  In October 2021 it was announced that Becker would be the official organiser of the Chouette d’Or treasure hunt and a new set of game rules was published.

La Chouette d’Or is a sculpture by Michael Becker of an owl with an approximately 50 cm wingspan, weighing about 10 kg in gold and silver and accented with diamonds.

This unique object was initially estimated to be worth one million francs, and as a unique collector’s item is likely to be worth somewhere between 250,000 to 350,000 Euros.

This valuable golden owl is not buried, but a replica made of bronze is hidden somewhere in France. The person who solves the 11 clues and finds the bronze owl can exchange it for the real Golden Owl.