March to the slopes, Ptarmigan season ends with month

Story by Eowyn LeMay Ivey

The sun is high and the snow is a brilliant white. With just two weeks left in the season, now is prime time for ptarmigan hunting.

In Southcentral Alaska, hunting season for ptarmigan ends this month. With its longer days and hopefully milder weather, March is considered one of the most enjoyable months to go after these alpine game birds.

While many local bird hunters say they have noticed a decline in ptarmigan activity in recent years, those who have the time and energy can still track down the snow-white birds in the Chugach and Talkeetna mountains as well as in the tundra areas north of Palmer and Wasilla.

Ptarmigan live in alpine and arctic tundra throughout the state. Occasionally all three species -- willow, rock and white-tailed -- can be found on the same slope.

According to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, ptarmigan are nomadic in the winter, moving from one sheltered slope or patch of food to another from November to March. In April and early May, flocks numbering in the thousands move back to their breeding grounds.

While still in their winter habitat, however, smaller flocks of ptarmigan can be found among willow and berry shrubs in high, treeless country. The birds eat the buds of small willows, birch and alder as well as overwintered berries and, when available, insects.

While at first, a slope can seem to be completely bare of any birds, a moment of simply standing and observing can prove productive. Ptarmigan, with their white feathers and black eyes, can become virtually invisible among the white snow and black branches.

Fresh tracks are perhaps one of the best indicators that ptarmigan are in the area. If the birds are not too spooky and the hunter is lucky, small flocks will fly only a short distance when startled, unwilling to give up plentiful food.

In local Game Management Units 13 and 14, the bag limit for ptarmigan is 10 per day, 20 in possession, with the season ending March 31.

The Department of Fish and Game's Web site offers the following recipe for breast of ptarmigan:

Ptarmigan breasts

Chopped onions

2 tablespoons parsley

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 can water

Sherry

Fresh sliced mushrooms

Place ptarmigan breasts in slow cooker. Add chopped onion, parsley, cream of mushroom soup, water, sherry to taste and fresh sliced mushrooms. Slow cook until tender. Add more water as needed.