...Or shooting ptarmigan. I'm not sure how many states actually allow residents to hunt the state bird, but it makes sense here in Alaska. I got a call Wednesday from Eric, asking if I would be interested in going hunting on Saturday. The details were few but I knew I had some things at home that I might miss, like dinner with Katie's uncle on Sunday. While trying to hide my excitement, I asked my better half if I could have the weekend off. Knowing I've been waiting for an invite like this for quite a while, she was more than willing to keep an eye on the kids so I could go.
The idea was to head up to Palmer to spend Friday night at Blake's, Katie's uncle, and leave early Saturday and drive the four hours to Paxson. We would drive the Denali Highway, not in Denali Park by the way, and do a little hunting through the afternoon and early evening.
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| A beautiful morning on the Denali Highway |
It had snowed a few inches the Friday night and we were one of the first trucks on the road that day. We drove in about 20 miles and someone flagged us down, needing some help starting his truck. He and his girl were "up pretty late listening to Zeppelin" and their battery ran down and were stranded. We jump started their truck and we were on our way. At about 30 miles in, we started seeing some ptarmigan tracks. These birds jump from bush to bush on the ground and regularly cross the road. With the fresh snowfall, we could easily see where they had been. Blake had his dog, a young retriever, flush out some birds. He got ahead of us several times and scared up some birds farther away from where we could shoot, but he was catching on by the next day.
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| My first bird of the day |
We bagged about 10 birds and called it a day just after 8pm. We headed to the lodge where we secured a cabin and had ourselves some dinner.
We ended up in the "Musher's Cabin". Beds, stove, and a door. What else do you need? We headed out early the next morning, about 7:30. It was about 25 degrees, clear skies, and no wind. Nearly perfect. We had our fill of shooting by noon and decided to call it a day. In all we shot about 30 birds and Hank, the dog, was able to bring back most of them. I know I left a couple on the hillside that I couldn't find.
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| A very proud Hank |
We went back to the lodge, settled our bill, and decided to continue on the road and come out on the other west side of the highway. We stopped at the Susitna River to clean our birds and stretch our legs.
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| In case you were wondering, yes, that is ice floating down the river. |
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| Blake, Eric, and Hank taking a walk over the Susitna River |
Back in the truck and on our way. We traveled down the Parks Highway, through Denali, past Talketna, and into Palmer at about 8:30pm. Had a great time with some good friends and came away feeling more Alaskan than I had two days prior. Now how am I supposed to look at the mountains and not think about my next time out? I think it will have to wait till next year. We're just weeks away from snow in the city, midterms at school, and the holidays soon after. But then again, maybe we should have duck for Thanksgiving, maybe.
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