Colorado Ptarmigan

[alpinewanderer]

Bought my qualifying fish and small game combo license for the 2020 Colorado big game draw and figured I'd take full advantage of it this year. I spend a lot of time in the alpine and see little coveys of ptarmigan from time to time and am tossing around the idea of investing in a little .22LR or .17HMR rifle and going after them. Any recommendations on how to approach a targeted hunt for them? What do you think of the taste of their meat? They don't look like a species that would necessarily yield much food per bird, but they seem like they might be quite tasty. For those of you with some experience and knowledge on the subject I'd love to hear what you have to say.

Thanks in advance,

aplinewanderer

 

[Felix40]

Hunting partner of mine killed one with a rock a few years ago. We never look for them specifically but he couldnt pass up the chance at one. He said with a shotgun or 22 it wouldnt have even been a challenge with the way they hunkered down in the wide open.

A slingshot or a little 22 revolver may be good enough to get any that you see and save some bulk