Alaska upland

[rward3310]

Im moving to Fairbanks, Alaska October 15th. Anyone up there wanna show me and my pudelpointer how to hunt grouse?

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[VernAK]

Grouse cycles are very low at this time. It may be best to try for ptchickens .

 

[rward3310]

Id be happy to try for anything. I know I'm getting up a little late in the season, I just want to give my dog a bird season since we are leaving Missouri before anything is open.

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[Yellowknife]

Missouri to Fairbanks in October.... that will be a shock.

I'm a lousy bird hunter, so can't help too much. Very few people hunt with dogs here, although it does happen. I think you will find that the majority of birds here are taken with .22's.

We have all types of birds though, so no shortage of options. Locally, Spruce and Ruffed grouse are in the timber and accessed from the logging roads and ATV trails. We have some Sharptails down by Delta Junction too, although I've never hunted them. Ptarmigan are in the tundra and willows on the local "domes" or out in the White Mountains. My kid collected a few of those on Sunday and we had them for dinner last night. They are stuffed with berries this time of year and good eating.

The Ptarmigan hunting goes all winter, so if you don't mind the cold and short days there is no such thing as "too late" in the season.

 

[Russp17]

I'm in Anchorage so a ways away, but there are actually a lot of people who have dogs up here. I have a GSP. I advise joining the Alaska Yukon NAVHDA group on facebook. Good resource for meeting up with other hunters and just getting involved with a bird dog group. If you make it down south let me know and we can chase try to chase some birds. The season goes all winter so lots of opportunity for grouse and ptarmigan. I quit grouse hunting in the winter due to trapping going on, but I ptarmigan I hunt all winter. Sometimes march and april is the best hunting because the snow makes a nice crust and the dogs can cruise.

 

[Clarktar]

I'll be moving to Fairbanks in October as well. Got a lab and hope to find some ducks, grouse and the bird with the odd name.

We can fumble around as newbs.

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[kwackkillncrew]

I think alot of ducks have generally gone through fairbanks in october. I would look for river or any open water and you should be able to find a few ducks. I do not hunt up there though. Closest i get is delta junction. Once the cold weather hits it freezes up real quick up there. From what i heard from my buddy is that they have had some pretty warm weather up there this year and the birds are acting a little different so maybe this year they will have a few more birds around that area longer.

 

[AK_Skeeter]

There are 2 clubs in Fairbanks that train dogs all summer long so if you want to extend your season with either your lab or pudelpointer, look them up. The Fairbanks Retriever Club usually starts with a "puppy" class in March leading to hunt tests and field trials starting in June. The other club is the Alaska Yukon NAVHDA club. Both clubs train during the summer at Chena Lakes out at North Pole.

Grouse are down this year due to a wet spring during nesting season.
Ptarmigan have faired slightly better.
Ducks have been excellent recently but they will mostly be gone when the marshes freeze,
except for spring fed creeks.

 

[AKducks]

I have seen 5 grouse in my past 2 outings looking for moose, so while the numbers are low, they are not zero.

as for locations I would try any logging road and drive until you find some grouse then hunt there.

If you want I could show you around a bit when you get here. I have an FMA cow tag so I will be trying to fill that