Sue is so smart, she can do more than any man, and she will tell you that also. Real good shot too

The Willow ptarmigan is a strange bird. If I tried to hunt them on foot, they would flush wild. But I could drive my snow machine right into the middle of a flock and snipe them with the .22 until I ran out of shells. It was common to see flocks of several THOUSAND birds.

From my experience overcast flat light days even snowing they tend to run from you. Bright clear days they will take flight and are gone.

Ptarmigan are neat grouse. I have shot them (Willow) in Quebec while doing the now hunt-of-the-past drive up caribou trip. They were, at least where we were, rather daffy. You could swat them real easy along the roads. They seemed to be long distance movers though (hence the darker breast meat). We'd see flocks lift up along the road as we drove, and sometimes those flocks just kept on flying....like ducks, they'd go several miles before setting back down. They, at least the Willow variety, are migratory in places and will shift their range from summer to winter, sometimes by long distances. They have migrated from the sub-arctic areas of Ontario to, at times, as far south as northern Minnesota. Last winter there was even one Willow Ptarmigan along the north shore of Lake Ontario near Toronto! I have not eaten any Rock or White Tailed Ptarmigan. As far as I know, Colorado has a season on the barn pigeon sized White Tailed Ptarmigan. I know of people going way up above 11,000 feet and shooting them in the past. I believe the air would be too thin for my worthless lungs at that elevation. Edit....the "Red Grouse" of Scotland fame is a sub-specie of Willow Ptarmigan.

I have a keen interest in this myself - because it's on my bucket list, and because I have a new bird dog that is now 18 months old. Last fall, we went on a big tour of Alaska - me and my pup "Sam Elliott". We hunted HARD all along the Denali Highway. The Taylor Highway. The Richardson. And even down to Valdez. This was September/October - before any snow. I shot a lot of spruce grouse, but never one ptarmigan.

There is a guy who wrote a book on bird hunting in Alaska. I forget his name at the moment, but I think he is on the alaska outdoor forum quite a bit. His book is hard to get a hold of, but I think the general consensus is, cover ground on a vehicle without spending tons of time on your feet, until you lay eyes on them, or on their sign. I think he invests a lot of time in using his binoculars in winter, and looking for tracks. Then goes after them.

I also think winter is key because they group into large flocks. High country and willows are key. Most of the ones I have seen were randomly, in the high country - while hiking or hunting big game.

Ptarmigan country.