Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting Upland backpack hunting?

Just wondering if anyone does the whole backpack hunting for upland game? Like Chukar, Grouse, ect.

I'm going to atleast camp this year, dont know if i'll even need to backpack in, but who knows...

JWP58:

Yes, sort of. I don't go backpacking specifically to hunt birds in the mountains but sometimes I encounter a ptarmigan or dusky grouse when scouting for elk in the Fall and I carry a .22 or some times just a Wrist Rocket.

I hunt doves, pheasants and quail on the prairie so no backpacking involved.

KC

Ptarmigan in CO?

Some day i hope to get down to CO to hunt Ptarmigan behind my brittany.

White-tailed ptarmigan in CO, I was not aware. Learn something everyday.

I have not done it but it is on my short list. One spot I deer hunt in has a couple of groups of blue grouse. I have planned on hiking in and hunting them but I may wait untill I get my deer. Then go back a week later

FAIR_CHASE:

Yes there are ptarmigan in Colorado but you don't see them very often. They are masters of camouflage and they can be sitting right at your feet and you don't see them. I wonder how many I have walked right past without know they are there. You almost have to step on them to get them to move. Then they don't move very far. They're always counting on that camo. Once they have betrayed their position by moving they are easy targets. They don't fly when you shoot one of them. The survivors just hang around so you can fill your limit of three per day out of one small flock. Now I take my German Shorthair Pointer into the mountains with me hoping that she will smell them. The young ones are really good eatin'.

When winter sets in their feathers turn pure white. The legs are covered with feathers right down to the feet. They live above timberline in the winter and get fat eating willow buds. They trade the white feathers for camouflage in the summer.

You know I have seen several flocks of ptarmigan in Alaska and they have a very different habit. They don't seem to rely on camouflage as much. They fly in big flocks and won't let you get close to them. They are much harder to shoot than the Colorado variety.

KC

I've done it a couple of times out in western Oklahoma on public land when quail hunting. Me and my hunting partner did the same thing for ducks on one occasion. I don't suppose it was really necessary. But it was nice to be able to walk in near to where we'd be hunting and set up camp. It also got us away from the designated campsites where most hunters kind of stacked up. Not that the panhandle ever gets real stacked up with folks.

Sorta backpack hunt grouse and woodcock. Hike in but not all that far off the logging roads. I would say 2 to 3 miles max really no reason to go farther. The "road warrior's" don't go more then a few hundred yards at the most so 2 to 3 miles gives me peace and tranquility.

Though we were unsuccessful, I backpacked in for Himalayan Snowcocks in NV. That was fun. We were above the mtn goats... Pard got 2 the next trip.

Wow, thats bucket list stuff right there...

And it's cheap. IIRC, the 3day upland license was $52! I'm hoping to get back in a few years for another try. My pard has shot 4 now, but I'm pretty sure I can convince him to give it another try... It was pretty cool to jump at covey of chukars are nearly 11,000 feet.

I really haven't done so yet, but maybe I should.
My Blue Grouse hunting area is a strong 4.5 miles in and 1800 ft. up. Which a real walk for a day's hunt.
The nice thing is that I seem to always have the place to myself. That makes it worth it.
I've been places where the Chukar were so tame you had to stop and let them cross the jeep road you were driving on.
BTW, Kalifornia has some neat Ptarmigan hunting areas. All of them over 11,000 ft. E

As a teen ager three friends and I did a three day/two night backpack hunt for chukars along with a little bass fishing in a roadless dry country gorge. The chukars were way the most fun. We had stronger legs than brains, running chukars up and down basalt cliffs, not a bad trade-off.

I backpack for Blue Grouse and Franklin's and Ruffed live in the same general areas. I carry one of my combination guns so that I can shoot the Grouse, but, also a deer or whatever when on one of these trips.

I usually go to "the Boundary Country" or the "West Kootenays" for this hunting and most of them are 3-5 day solo treks from where I can get my vehicle to as high as my old legs will take me.

Success, is usually pretty good and most hunts end with a limit of Grouse and, once in awhile, I get a Whitetail, usually just a spike close enough to the access road to get him out. I have encountered moose and elk on such hunts, but, much too far into the bush to get the meat out alone.

This, is my favourite way of hunting and one that is well suited for BC hunting conditions given our wet climate and steep, densely forested terrain.