Last Ptarmigan Hunt/07

[Kummok]

Went out for the last time in 07 for ptarmigan and managed to get a few more meals in the freezer. Great fun for me but I don't think the ptarmigan enjoyed it that much......

[West Coast Kansan]

They do seem a little upside down about it... maybe dizzy from riding on the sled.  :D

[Kummok]

They do seem a little upside down about it... maybe dizzy from riding on the sled.  :D

At "breakneck" speed, you might say ( Oh, I can see this is going downhill fast ;))

[Wildcat]

You guys may have a point there.  Help a southener out will ya - other than obviously being an etible bird, exactly what is a ptarmigan?  From the picture they look like overgrown albino quail.

[Kummok]

.....Help a southener out will ya - other than obviously being an etible bird, exactly what is a ptarmigan?  From the picture they look like overgrown albino quail.

http://www.adfg.state.ak.us/pubs/notebook/bird/ptarmiga.php   Will get you "official" take on ptarmigan from ADFG.

I hunt them with 22LR. They can taste like liver that flies if they are just fried, plus they can be a tough as shoe leather if not properly prepared.....many folks I know, don't like them for that reason. However, after cutting them into stew sized pieces, soaking them overnight in the reefer with baking soda and water, frying them in "special" seasoned breading, cooking them all day in a crockpot in chicken broth into a thick stew and serving over a bed of Thai Jasmine rice and fresh Baby Spinach leaves I've converted many ptarmigan haters into ptarmigan lovers that want third helpings. Never tried smoking them....YET!

The really wierd thing is that when I've tried to sneak up on them on snowshoes, I could get within 100 yards of them without them scattering for cover....but, on a noisy snowmobile I can get so close I have to sight down the barrel because they're to close to scope...go figger ???

[Gizmo]

Nice birds.  One thing about hunting, there is no shoot and release. ;D

Looks like the site could use a few photos.  Maybe you could pose the birds and snap a few for them.

[Wildcat]

Thanks for the site.  Grouse I understand.

If they taste like liver when fried, then based on some earlier posts you may want to re-think the smoking thing, lol. ;D

[NePaSmoKer]

Nice birds and gun SS Ruger 10-22?

Kinda like a grouse here in PA, cant use my 22 much anymore cuz its getting too many houses so i use my 410

nepas

[West Coast Kansan]

I remember when I was a puppy and hunting grouse on the ND / Canada border with a 22.  I would swear the birds were nothing but feathers.   :D

Would get lucky once in a while.  When they do get up, it would scare the snot out of me.  Seems they would wait till I was about to step on them and they they would get up... probably have a heart attack now  ;D

[Oldman]

At least he did not say that they taste like chicken....

[LilSmoker]

That's a great picture Kummok, your way of life up there looks very appealing to me  ;)

[Kummok]

The good times outnumber the bad, LilSmoker, but crawling around under a guest cabin at -10°F thawing sewer pipes, on occasion, keeps me from getting too prideful! ;)


NePas:
Hard to disguise the Ruger 10-22 ss/Syn! Just got it this year, cuz I was previously using a really nice Win 9422XTR and was concerned about banging it up on the sled. That's the nice thing about the Ruger, cheap, rugged, and shoots straight consistently!  The ptarmigan union should boycott its manufacture ;) ;D