I realize this is an old thread, but figured I'd post this just in case. I'm newer to Colorado, I moved back after being gone for years and am newer to hunting birds with my dog. He's better than me but we're both in shape for dusky hunting this fall and I can't wait to get into the higher elevations and am considering hunting ptarmigans as well. I read this whole thread and appreciate all the info shared and am also looking for partners to hunt any upland bird or waterfowl if anyone is interested?
Ptarmigans in Colorado
- Thread starter GreenmtnSage
- Start date
TheGreek
Well-known member
Where do you live? Where do you hunt? What kind of dog do you hunt over?
Birdbander
Well-known member
My lodging reservation and deposit are in, purchased licenses today and have spent more time on OnX this last year than my employer would knowingly allow. I'll arrive in CO next month on the 17th and depart on 26th.
I'm hopeful I'll get after ptarmigan three days and dusky grouse the remainder. The weather and how well the dog holds up will ultimately decide.
Trying to keep expectations realistic but the mind wanders.
I'm hopeful I'll get after ptarmigan three days and dusky grouse the remainder. The weather and how well the dog holds up will ultimately decide.
Trying to keep expectations realistic but the mind wanders.
El Jason
Well-known member
Can’t wait for an update.
Birdbander
Well-known member
I could take a picture of my empty game pouch now and save you the waiting
TheGreek
Well-known member
I too have newly reignited CO ptarmigan dreams for this fall after previous ptarmigan-less excursions here in the Zirkels.
Gonna try a different part of the state once ptarmigan season is open. Will probably have to wait until after the weekend opener as Sage grouse opens that same weekend and that is only a 7 day season.
Gonna try a different part of the state once ptarmigan season is open. Will probably have to wait until after the weekend opener as Sage grouse opens that same weekend and that is only a 7 day season.
I live in Boulder and hunt over a 5 year old Irish water spaniel. He looks like a poodle but is definitely NOT a poodle - a bird/gun dog all the way and once he got past the bad gun-shy issues he had, the rest just turned on quickly and fairly easily. It was amazing. My shooting skills have been slower to improve but I'm working on this.
I've hunted various spots in the short season last year that remained after I moved to CO at the end of Oct. '25. Hunted pheasant north of Yuma in walk-in plots - no birds seen or taken. Hunted duskys near Granby, near Williams Peak (photo), and near Mt. Evans - no birds seen or taken all 3 places. Hunted ducks at Walden Res. and along the Michigan River - few ducks seen far off & none taken. Hunted geese along the S. Platte River - saw a big flock but forgot my decoys and they were out of range overhead. I ended up taking my dog to a private farm near Wiggins to hunt some pheasants and chukars just so he could get some birds, but I have a limited budget for doing this regularly, which is why it's public lands for now.
I'm going camping early next week with my dog to scout for duskys in Routt N.F. so hopefully we'll have better luck seeing birds for a successful future hunt. I was thinking of going high while I'm there to scout for ptarmigans but after reading these posts about Mt. Zirkel not being very good, I may not bother. I'm willing to drive to most anywhere within a 4 hr. radius from Boulder, so from my knowledge at this point I think this should offer me a number of options. I'd even be willing to travel farther in the state if everything lines up. After last season, it just feels like a significant uphill climb to learn where and how to find birds even though these forum posts have been the most helpful so far. Still, I feel like I could use more local knowedge from hunters who have had solid success with any of these birds, and I know only 1 hunter friend locally (but he's not very available) and Boulder isn't exactly the hunting hot spot.
Photos: pheasant hunting in PA, Feb. '25, spectacular view of the Gore range while dusky hunting.
Attachments
Last edited:
I've spent a gob of time in the alpine in Colo watching, filming, scouting, and hunting sheep, mtn goat, and moose. I run into ptarmigan every few trips. I often find them in the same vicinity as previous sightings. You will likely need to cover lots of country to find them. As mentioned earlier they sometimes chatter and sometimes that's the only way I figure out where they are.
I spent hours upon hours glassing big game in the alpine and can't remember ever spotting a ptarmigan with my spotting scope. I often almost step on them before spotting them. I think I've heard a lot more of them before spotting them. It helps to know what they sound like. I would definitely get online and listen to their different calls. If they're in a group and you break them up they may chatter to get back together.
Good luck if you try it! I'd leave your pooch at home, but that's just me.
I spent hours upon hours glassing big game in the alpine and can't remember ever spotting a ptarmigan with my spotting scope. I often almost step on them before spotting them. I think I've heard a lot more of them before spotting them. It helps to know what they sound like. I would definitely get online and listen to their different calls. If they're in a group and you break them up they may chatter to get back together.
Good luck if you try it! I'd leave your pooch at home, but that's just me.
If you can find ptarmigan in the zirkels , I gotta biologist that would probably like to talk to you. Supposed to be there or have been, but I don’t believe there’s been any recent sightings. And if you’re running around looking for them , you probably found blues at elevations you would’ve never expected to find them and would’ve expected to find ptarmigan.
Birdbander
Well-known member
@timf
Without using location names I'd say that there should be ptarmigan straight west of your location. If I were in your shoes I'd start my seach looking for trailheads as close to or above timberline that you can find, then head out along a trail with the dog leashed until you get away from folks & get into areas that look birdy & start hunting.
For dusky grouse start your search no lower than 9500'. Between 10,500' and 11,400 seems to be the sweet zone where I go. Look for small grassy openings with conifer mixed about. Steep areas like that and/or thick stands of conifer between openings have been good areas for me.
I'm a novice whose learning curve was flattened by a HT member. By starting where he told me and finding birds, I've been able to find more spots but following the pattern.
You & your pup will find birds soon!
Without using location names I'd say that there should be ptarmigan straight west of your location. If I were in your shoes I'd start my seach looking for trailheads as close to or above timberline that you can find, then head out along a trail with the dog leashed until you get away from folks & get into areas that look birdy & start hunting.
For dusky grouse start your search no lower than 9500'. Between 10,500' and 11,400 seems to be the sweet zone where I go. Look for small grassy openings with conifer mixed about. Steep areas like that and/or thick stands of conifer between openings have been good areas for me.
I'm a novice whose learning curve was flattened by a HT member. By starting where he told me and finding birds, I've been able to find more spots but following the pattern.
You & your pup will find birds soon!
That's great - thanks for all the tips! I admit I'm not sure why location names wouldn't be something to type out, but I'm pretty sure I know where you're suggesting for ptarmigan straight west. I wouldn't have expected to go there, so that's good to know. I'll certainly check it out.
And 10.5-11.4K for dusky grouse. Wow, this is higher than I would have thought, but it fits with some of the other posts. Would you suggest these elevations even for early season hunts?
Yeah, I'll definitely follow the pattern you mentioned. Thanks again! For that matter - thanks to everyone on this thread, it's all been very informative.
Last edited:
Birdbander
Well-known member
Specific locations aren't typically named because the unknown number of people that could arrive there may overwhelm the resource. It's not just members of HT that could see this, anyone anywhere and for as long as there's an internet who does a Google key word search will see.
I didn't have any specific place in mind in my advice, just what seemed logical to me based on what I've learned about the two species, their needs & such.
I've only hunted dusky grouse in the southern half of Colorado in the 3rd & 4th weeks of September at the elevations I mentioned. I couldn't say if lower will produce earlier.
Good luck!
I didn't have any specific place in mind in my advice, just what seemed logical to me based on what I've learned about the two species, their needs & such.
I've only hunted dusky grouse in the southern half of Colorado in the 3rd & 4th weeks of September at the elevations I mentioned. I couldn't say if lower will produce earlier.
Good luck!
Got it. Makes sense. thanks again.
Well... I spent the last 2 nights in the Zirkel Wilderness to scout for duskys and (maybe) ptarmigan. It's fantastic terrain and simply being there with my dog makes it obvious why I love living in this state and hunting with my dog so much, but unfortunately we only saw/flushed 2 grouse over the course of the 7 hours we spent cruising those mountain slopes, going up and down maybe 6K ft. total. It certainly didn't match the "high bird density" descriptions I've read about for this area of the state, or at least not where we were for this first trip. Who knows, maybe I didn't get far enough away from the trails. We got as high as 11K feet scouting some very steep slopes and didn't see any ptarmigan, although we didn't get far into the terrain/talus above tree line to potentially find any.
My dog flushed 1 dusky right as we got to a sloping grassy area/small meadow between stands of fir/spruce at about 10.2K ft. - exactly as you described Birdbander, so that was great. Thanks again for those tips! He charged after it too as it flew away and was very excited, aggressively hunting the whole area after, which was nice to see since it was the first grouse he's ever seen, so hopefully he got a bit of the scent.
Here's a ptarmigan question for anyone - how far do you typically need to hike out from your truck/parking location before you're into the regions where you find ptarmigan to even hunt?
The reason why I ask is there are only so many forest service roads anywhere in this state and far less main roads that even access those higher alpine areas over 11K or 12K ft. So I'm wondering how much ground anyone is typically hiking to even access the terrain to hunt ptarmigan?
My dog flushed 1 dusky right as we got to a sloping grassy area/small meadow between stands of fir/spruce at about 10.2K ft. - exactly as you described Birdbander, so that was great. Thanks again for those tips! He charged after it too as it flew away and was very excited, aggressively hunting the whole area after, which was nice to see since it was the first grouse he's ever seen, so hopefully he got a bit of the scent.
Here's a ptarmigan question for anyone - how far do you typically need to hike out from your truck/parking location before you're into the regions where you find ptarmigan to even hunt?
The reason why I ask is there are only so many forest service roads anywhere in this state and far less main roads that even access those higher alpine areas over 11K or 12K ft. So I'm wondering how much ground anyone is typically hiking to even access the terrain to hunt ptarmigan?
Attachments
I found some hiking to an alpine lake to fish last summer. It was 4 miles from where I parked the truck and 2k feet elevation gain. They were pretty loud. Once I got close, there was no question they were there, even though I’d never heard a ptarmigan before.
Sounds good. Just to be clear, this is Colorado you're describing?
Yes. If I recall, I found them at about 12,000’.
Birdbander
Well-known member
Grouse aren't solitary creatures, although the mature males may be a bit away from the groups. If you found one there's others in the area. Glad you're having some success. 
Ahhh, good to know. More gems of info I'll apply when I'm out - much appreciated!
I can't get enough of those high alpine settings. Thinking of scouting for ptarmigan this weekend.
Sorry too for so much grouse talk on top of this ptarmigan post.
I can't get enough of those high alpine settings. Thinking of scouting for ptarmigan this weekend.
Sorry too for so much grouse talk on top of this ptarmigan post.
