Just something different. Short film as the cold sure kills the batteries, but it shows a fair bit of my mundane routines which tends to give success.
Hunting & Fishing Sniping rock ptarmigan in winter mountains
- Thread starter THLR
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Great video. Good to see what my Scandinavian relatives are doing back in “the old country”! Why 221 fireball? Is that a common caliber in Norway?
The meat stops curing and it will taste like liver...
The 221 Fireball is very uncommon here. It's a dead cartridge and Lapua has now stopped production. The only reason I use it is to be compliant with swedish law (I live next to the border) for hunting their public lands. The 221 Fireball is one of few centerfires I can transport on a snowmobile sled without a special permit. If not restricted by law, I'd use a 6mm-223, 6 BR or 6.5 Grendel for this. FMJ & moderate to low velocity is key to shooting these birds for the table.
Interesting, and silly (Swedes
). Is it a diameter restriction? Are they afraid of Norse snow-Sniper’s doing a blitzkrieg on the Swedish border?
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Let her out, it's accepted on a gear-forum: Taiga MA jacket TSUP (terrain snow uv print... I think)
Not sure. Swedes are also restrictive about silencer use.Interesting, and silly (Swedes
The dominant brand is now https://www.a-tec.no/
Yeah, me too. Incredible how those big beasties can disappear and require dogwork...And we have trouble finding downed deer sometimes.
Thanks! I try to include something info-oriented each episode. Not always easy and a lot of it very basic.
I believe there are 6 (?) species of ptarmigan worldwide, and they seem to have evolved a little differently. I've heard Steven Rinella (IIRC?) describe these birds as somewhat "dim" and I've had Icelandic hunters ask me why I just don't walk up to them. I guess the different habitats and hunting pressures creates different birds. Around here, they are number 1 hunting species and none too fond of people...
Our American Western Rockies Ptarmigan are very big (we call them blue grouse too). They tend to be kind of dumb and lazy seeming. As an 8 year old on a horse- pack trip I was able to walk up on them often and they seemed huge. My Great grandpa used to head shoot one while elk hunting with an iron sighted 303 Savage and eat it for lunch.
GREAT VIDEO!!! I always like to learn what like-minded folks in other parts of the world are doing.
The Ptarmigan in the Alaska Bush tend to be sorta dumb, as well. I hunted them mostly with a Ruger Mark 2 Government Target 22/45 and the real challenge was to get head shots. I also had to learn to either not shoot them when in deep willow thickets or have my big snowshoes. They would die instantly and be laying there on top of the snow but that snow could be over my head deep and soft!! The other bird I hunted, and under similar conditions, was locally called a Spruce Hen.
The Ptarmigan in the Alaska Bush tend to be sorta dumb, as well. I hunted them mostly with a Ruger Mark 2 Government Target 22/45 and the real challenge was to get head shots. I also had to learn to either not shoot them when in deep willow thickets or have my big snowshoes. They would die instantly and be laying there on top of the snow but that snow could be over my head deep and soft!! The other bird I hunted, and under similar conditions, was locally called a Spruce Hen.
Thanks, glad you liked it!
I'll have a few more. We had a sudden, heavy snowfall and I managed to get out a bit. Now there's a sudden thaw, avalanches and flooding everywhere. Must've pumped 5000 gallons from my driveway...SNOW
Great story! Hope they taste as good as "my" birds. I give them a quick fry and I was recently tipped to put them in an oven bag for a few minutes. Super nice & juicy.
Great story! We haven't had snowfall like that in many years here. Worst it got this year was skiing up to my knees in powder. Always wanted to hunt with a handgun, but it's not legal here. My "dream gun" was a 10" Contender 22 Hornet.
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