Ok, here goes.
Getting up there by driving just to go hunt is probably out of the question for most. Two ways to get up there going that way...the ALCAN or by Ferry. Expensive going both ways. Not practical at all for short trips. Getting your guns through Canada isn't a big deal. Fill out the forms, check in at the border crossing, declare and you are through. No pistols at all, just hunting guns.
The upland guns I used, a 20 gauge Model 12, a 20 gauge Rizzini o/u, and on warmer days, a 12 gauge Churchill XXV. The single trigger guns really come in handy when the temps drop into the severe negatives and you have to wear thicker gloves.
If youre hunting ptarmigan in the winter...a couple of necessary items are: binoculars & snow shoes.
Dogs are optional, you'll find more birds just glassing. Sounds crazy I know, but that's how it is. The ptarmigan aren't actually white, they have a pinkish hue to them and they stick out against the snow. When it's snowing out or the day is hazy or foggy, they are much harder to glass and find. The willow Ptarmigan are the species I'm most familiar with. They run like crazy, always seeming to stay just out of range, some days they just don't fly. On days they do flush hard the shooting can be amazing. You'll find the birds on "domes", bald mountain tops with lots of brushy willow on the edges and out in the tundra picking buds and berries. When it's nasty out, entire coveys of ptarmigan will also burrow under the snow for protection from the elements. If you get at when they are still in bed, it's another dramatic flush complete wind blown, smooth glassy snow erupting like an explosion all around you. Whew!!!! :-)
Ruffed Grouse and Spruce grouse...well they do not act like birds in the lower 48. The ruffed grouse are not nearly as wild up there as they are down here especially if your talking about ruffs back east. They can be downright tame. I've walked past ruffs that were sitting in branches...mature, full grown birds, and I swear I could've reached up and pet the damn things. Spruce Grouse, well I have actually reached up and touched them, they just hop up to the next highest set of branches. There are times though when the birds do explode and flush hard. When it's real nasty out, the ruffs will burrow in the snow, they explode upwards if you catch them in their cave and it makes for some seriously dramatic action.
Most hunters up in Alaska do their upland hunting with .22's. Just the way it is up there. Bag limits for all species are very liberal. In some areas (like around the Dalton hwy) the bag limit for ptarmigan is 50+ a day.
All the time I spent hunting birds up there, I only ever ran into one other hunter. It's a solitude to the max. I loved every minute of it. On a back note, this solitude can be dangerous too. If your vehicle breaks down, doesn't start, you get stuck or hurt, it gets serious really fast. Especially in the interior where it can get down to -70 in a matter of a few hours. I got stuck in a snow drift off of an old mining trail in the interior, I had one bar of cell service and managed a SOS text to a friend who drove 60 miles out to rescue me. I think I could've made it through the night though, it only got down to -30. :-/
Last edited by LeFusil; 01/10/16 08:06 PM.
