Most of my ptarmigan hunting was in W AK, when I lived there. The ptarmigan numbers there was phenomenal! However, I hunted off the Denali Hwy, Summit Lake area, around Cold Bay (lots of birds also), up towards Nebesna and the road to McCarthy with success, after moving to Anchorage. I never did have any luck on ruffed grouse where I hunted, but bagged a fair number of spruce grouse from Glennallen to Paxson, particularly after the 1st good freeze in the late summer/early fall.
Some of the places mentioned are a bit off the beaten path, thus making them logistically more difficult. I had a couple of shotguns, but mostly used a beater 870 12 gauge, that fit the terrain and conditions I often hunted in (off a sno-go).
I have a good friend who taught in King Cove (across the bay from Cold Bay and would go there to waterfowl hunt, mainly. We would hunt ptarmigan if we limited on waterfowl. He had his vehicle barged to Cold Bay, therefore, we had a vehicle to run around in. It being a base during WW2, there were plenty of old roads to drive around on. I will say, I did get a bit paranoid hunting the willow patches for ptarmigan, with the number of bears in the area. We would talk constantly when we were hunting the willows.
Last edited by Cameron; 01/10/16 07:23 PM.
