Alaska Ptarmigan

Just wondering are these birds plentifully and is there a hunting season on them in Alaska??

I would love to get some live breeding pairs of ptarmigan.

Keith

Annoyingly so where you're trying to sleep. https://youtu.be/Ec-E3YdAR1U

Don't know about Alaskan seasons,but if you are interested in ptarmigan,there is a youtube channel by William Larkin, (big land trapper) that is interesting to follow. He whacks quite a few birds.
On long weekends with the right beverages,I can almost understand him!

They are pretty cyclical. On the Alaska Peninsula we had tons of them maybe five years ago, now it seems like there're hardly any.

Also, there three of different species of ptarmigan; the most widespread and well-known "willow", the "rock" and the "whitetail" ptarmigan. The rock and the whitetail seem to prefer higher elevations, particularly the whitetail.

Is it legal to live trap ptarmigan?

Keith

^^^^^
I doubt it, unless you have some sort of scientific collection permit.

You might want to check and see about whitetail ptarmigan in Wyoming, I believe they live there, but I don't know if they have a season on them. I do know that Wyoming had and maybe still has some pretty lenient laws about retaining animals alive that are taken under a trapping license; such as marten. Maybe it's the same for birds???

I'll have to do some reading up on them. They are like a grouse right, but a little bigger?

William Larkin, (big land trapper) >>>> I'll see if I can find it.

I know some guys would snowmobile into the higher elevations looking to bust up flocks. I'm told flocks of fifty or more weren't uncommon. Once the flock was broken up, they'd strap on their snowshoes and go after individual birds that were looking to regroup. Pretty common bird in the upper elevations.

^Thanks. A beautiful bird in the winter looks like they change colour in summer.

KeithC You can head up to Kavic and spend some time with Sue. I'm sure she could fix you up. LOL

I'll pass. I usually fast forward through her part of the show. She would probably get ticked when I skinned out her foxes too.

Keith

I posted a YouTube video of what they sound like. I did a spring bear hunt in the higher elevations and those birds must have been looking for mates. Constant chatter all day long. Days are long in Alaska in May.

No worries - she can't hit squat with a firearm...

You would be known as the bravest man ever lived. Lol

^ LOL

I swear if I were 5000 feet overhead with fuel tanks dry and Sues airstrip the only one below I'd knock out the planes Windows and start flapping my arms.

Osky

Yep, there is a reason she is up there by her lonesome. Always yaking about her customers but it is very rare to see anyone there. Not surprised at that either.

There are three types of ptarmigan in AK. The Willow, Rock and Whitetail. The willow is most common. I hunted them some when I was there, always late in the year when the snow was deep. They were a pain to hunt at best that time of the year. When you jumped them they often headed to the next point which was a mile plus away. They often just flew out of sight. Sometimes they would jump wild hundred to two hundred yards away and other times you could walk right up to them. Where we hunted there was a lot of four to six foot brush. The tips of the brush would be sticking up in spots and that was what they fed on. There is nothing like falling through the snow and being hung in brush in snow shoes in eight foot of powder snow. It was one of those things I am glad I did, but would never do it at this point in life.

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.