It finally happened. After three decades of people losing their minds in the French countryside, digging holes in the middle of the night, and obsessively measuring shadows on maps, the most famous treasure hunt in history is over. On April 24, 2024, the news broke that the bronze replica of the Golden Owl had been unearthed.
The hunt started with a book. Specifically, On the Trail of the Golden Owl book (or Sur la Trace de la Chouette d'Or), published in 1993 by Max Valentin. He claimed that whoever solved the eleven riddles in the book would find a buried bird made of gold and silver, encrusted with diamonds. People thought it would last a year. Maybe two. It lasted thirty-one.
The Man Behind the Mystery
Max Valentin wasn't even his real name. It was a pseudonym for Régis Hauser, a marketing pro who understood exactly how to hook the human brain. He teamed up with artist Michel Becker, who painted the cryptic, haunting illustrations that accompanied the riddles.
Hauser died in 2009. He took the secret location to his grave, or so everyone thought. He actually left a sealed envelope with his lawyer containing the solution. For years, the community of "owlers" (chouetteurs) lived in a state of constant anxiety. Would the secret be lost? Was the bird even still there? Becker eventually took over the legal rights and confirmed the treasure was still waiting.
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Honestly, the whole thing was kind of a mess for a while. There were lawsuits, a bankruptcy involving the original publisher, and even an attempt by Becker to sell the original golden statue (he was stopped by the courts because the prize technically belonged to the future winner). But the book remained the Bible for thousands of seekers.
Why the Riddles Were So Brutal
The On the Trail of the Golden Owl book isn't just a collection of poems. It’s a layered nightmare of logic. Each of the eleven riddles consists of a title, a block of text, and a painting. You have to solve them in a specific order, which, naturally, the book doesn’t tell you. You have to figure out the "B" riddle first just to get the sequence right.
- Wavelengths and Colors: Each riddle is associated with a specific wavelength of light.
- The Mega-Map: You need a specific Michelin map (989) to plot your findings.
- The 12th Riddle: This is the "zone." Once you solve the eleven visible riddles, you take the "remnants" of your previous answers to construct a final, secret twelfth riddle. This points to the exact spot—down to the centimeter.
Most people got stuck on the "780" or the "470." The riddles involve everything from Napoleonic history to Morse code and chemical symbols. It’s not just about being smart; it’s about thinking exactly like Régis Hauser did. One riddle, the 560, mentions "Neptune" helping you twice across the water. Imagine how many people spent weeks staring at coastal maps of France trying to figure out if that meant the sea or just a very specific pond.
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The Moment the Earth Moved
In early 2024, Michel Becker began posting teaser videos. He had gone to the site, checked the spot, and realized things were heating up. The community was using modern tech—Lidar, advanced GPS, and collaborative Discord servers—to narrow down the search area in ways Valentin never imagined in 1993.
Then came the announcement on the official Discord. A winner had surfaced. They hadn't just guessed; they had the bronze owl in hand. According to the rules, the winner exchanges the bronze replica for the actual gold statue, which is valued at roughly 150,000 Euros (though its historical value as a pop-culture icon is likely much higher).
The location? It wasn't in some exotic mountain range. It was buried in a fairly unassuming spot that thousands of people had likely driven past without a second thought. The hunter who found it has remained relatively private, which makes sense when you've just ended a thirty-year obsession for tens of thousands of people.
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Common Misconceptions About the Hunt
A lot of people think you could solve the On the Trail of the Golden Owl book just by being good at crosswords. You couldn't. It required a deep understanding of French geography and a weirdly specific type of lateral thinking.
- "The owl was in Bourges." Not exactly. While Bourges is widely accepted as the "opening" or the starting point (the 530 riddle), the final location was miles away.
- "It was a scam." People claimed this for decades, especially after Hauser died. But Becker proved the bird was there. The legal battles were just a side effect of the hunt's unexpected longevity.
- "You need a shovel and a prayer." Valentin always said that "if you have a shovel but not the solution, you have nothing." The "zone" was small. If you didn't have the 12th riddle, you could be five feet away and never find it.
The Legacy of the Golden Owl
This book changed how treasure hunts work. It inspired Masquerade in the UK and countless digital "ARG" (Alternate Reality Games) today. It turned ordinary people into amateur cartographers and history buffs. It also caused a fair amount of property damage, as "owlers" occasionally dug in places they shouldn't have, like private gardens or protected historical sites.
The end of the hunt is bittersweet. For some, it was a life-long hobby. For others, an addiction. But it proves that a well-crafted mystery can outlive its creator.
What to Do If You're Still Interested in Treasure Hunting
Since the Golden Owl has been found, you might feel like you missed the boat. You didn't. The world of armchair treasure hunting is still very much alive.
- Check out "The Secret": A book by Byron Preiss from 1982. There are still several buried casques in North America that haven't been found.
- Look into Michel Becker's new projects: Now that the Owl is over, there are rumors of new puzzles or commemorative editions that might spark a fresh hunt.
- Study the Owl solutions: Once the full, step-by-step solution is officially published in its entirety, study it. It is a masterclass in how to hide information in plain sight.
- Join the community: Sites like Chouette d'Or forums and specialized Discord servers are pivoting to other mysteries. The skill set you learn—cryptography, map reading, and research—is transferable.
The Golden Owl is gone, but the thrill of the chase isn't. Digging a hole in a forest at 3 a.m. might sound crazy to some, but to those who followed the trail, it was the only way to live.