A good afternoon afield

[Skull Hunter]

Well, I called up a buddy (non hunter) to see if he wanted to go for a snowshoe and see if we couldn't rustle up a few ptarmigan.

Well it didn't take long to find a nice covey and I managed to take down a couple of nice birds.

http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll254/Zubris21/IMG_0308.jpg

I ended up getting 7 in total, and my dog had a blast. She's not really a working dog, but did a great job of retrieving the only bird I sent her after.

http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll254/Zubris21/IMG_0311.jpg

[new hunter]

Awsome morning .
Good on you for bringing a non hunter out as well , Ive taken out non hunters and shooter a few times too , its nice to expose people to our sports who would otherwise never get out and see what its REALLY about .

[Westcoastgunner]

Those are some great looking birds! Good lookin pup as well!

[Foxton Gundogs]

Awsome, reminds me of my days in the North, They are a very fun bird.

[gerrygoat]

That is real cool I'm curious, how do they taste this time of year? I imagine they don't eat spruce like spruce grouse.

[Skull Hunter]

That is real cool I'm curious, how do they taste this time of year? I imagine they don't eat spruce like spruce grouse.

I actually find them to taste very similar to spruce grouse. Seems they are feeding on buck brush right now. Usually I cook them up in a nice stir fry, but this time I might try to make a ptarmigan pot pie.

[Gumsehwah]

Look Yummy.

I've only seen them a couple of times before.

What kind of country should I be looking in?

[Singleshotneeded]

Nice birds! I've only ever shot them in the mountains, Gum...

[gerrygoat]

I actually find them to taste very similar to spruce grouse. Seems they are feeding on buck brush right now. Usually I cook them up in a nice stir fry, but this time I might try to make a ptarmigan pot pie.

I like spruce grouse especially when they have been eating berries, very good :) I got one a couple of years ago in late fall that had it's crop full of spruce needles but after soaking the strips of meat in milk for 24 hours it tasted really good, The dog lapped up the milk like there was no tomorrow. Grouse stir fry is one of my favorites.

[Skull Hunter]

Look Yummy.

I've only seen them a couple of times before.

What kind of country should I be looking in?

Well I guess that depends what time of year you're looking for them. During the fall, they tend to be up high, I've seen most of them the rocky patches and willows on moderately high mountains. In the winter they tend to move down to lower elevations and these birds were shot in a nice open mountain pass at about 1000m.

My method of hunting is to meander around looking for fresh tracks from a distance. Once spotted use your bino's and have a good close look into the surrounding area because they blend in pretty well. Often you might only see 1 or 2 birds when there are closer to 30 in the same covey. Anyways once they flush keep an eye on where they head as it's very possible to follow up on them.