More Alaskan ptarmigan hunting

[Richard Flanders]

Most have already seen this place as it's my regular ptarmigan spot. This was my Saturday entertainment. No feather-rich hero shots today unfortunately. Only got a few distant hail Mary shots off. Good fun though and brutal exercise on snowshoes. Makes one feel their age for sure.

[chris dawe]

Mr .Flander's did you put up many bird's ? how are the number's in general?
I ask just out of curiosity as the ptarmigan number's way over here (Newfoundland )are way down ...great to hear that you got out all the same.

I would love to see some more pic's

All the best
Chris

[Richard Flanders]

I saw maybe 6-7 birds, some far off and on their way somewhere. I only kicked 3 up and they flushed pretty far out. From the number of tracks around you'd think there'd be hundreds; some areas are just plain solid tracks everywhere, including part of the area I shoed through. There's always birds there; it's just a matter of whether I find some napping as I walk that hillside.

[TARNATION !!!]

Richard: My snowshoes are hung up for another year. Practically tropical here now. Good luck on the hunt. Look forward to seeing pics of those caught napping on the hillside.
Cheers,
Jack

[Richard Flanders]

My sympathies Jack. Still plenty of snow here, but headed for 50deg soon so it will go fast. If the pond holds up I'll still be able to fly skies for two more weeks and there will be plenty of snow in the mtns for a long time yet.

[Dean Romig]

Richard, do you use floats later in the season?

[AmarilloMike]

Thanks for sharing the event and posting those photos. What a dream - fly out and land on the snow, strap on the snowshoes and chase birds. Did you run dogs? Thrills me just to think about it.

Thanks again,

Mike

[Richard Flanders]

I don't have floats and don't run dogs. You couldn't run dogs at this location. They'd wallow in the snow most of the time. Some areas around the edge of the lake they could stay on top but mostly it's too deep and soft. A bit later they might be able to stay on top early in the day. A bird dog would go crazy out there if they could run; there's a lot of birds around and it's a hell of a lot of work to find them without the help of a dog. This is the first time I've failed to get some though. My avatar pic was taken there last year. You can actually see quite a few bird trails in my first picture above. If I go back out I'll take a pic of all the tracks from the air; it's amazing how many there are and what a large area they cover.