April Fools Day ptarmigan hunt!

[Jim McCann]

Took two of my Brittanys out for some ptarmigan hunting last Friday. Found a good number of both willow and rock ptarmigan. Took a few willows home with me to eat, and then hunted ptarmigan for the rest of the day with my camera.

Charlie with a willow ptarmigan.


And Mr. Rudy with another willow ptarmigan.





Some rock ptarmigan waiting to see exactly what I'm up to!

[Jim McCann]

A few more pics...

A male rock ptarmigan.



Stetching before flight!



This guy is looking for hens!



Rudy has a bunch pinned!



That's all for now!

Jim

[markopolo50]

Great pictures of the ptarmigan. Are you shooting the willows because they are bigger or just happened that way? Looked like a real nice day to get the dogs out. Thanks, Mark

[LuJon]

Man, I have to get up that way to chase around those little snowballs next year! Another great post Jim!

[Jim McCann]

Mark,

Well, I shot the willows 'cause they were the first birds the dogs found. We found a few coveys of them; one of about 25 birds, another about a dozen, and finally 6 or 7 of them. If I had a choice of which species to shoot this time of year, I'd shoot the willows. They are transitioning through the area I hunted enroute their breeding ground. But I happen to know those rocks are on their breeding ground and are waiting for the hens to arrive. I prefer not to mess with them...at least not to shoot them. But I'm up to keeping them busy and watchful when I move them about while photographing. I'll even cut that off pretty soon.

LuJon,

Thanks!

[kodiakrain]

Those are Definitely Some FINE pics there Jim,

Great Thread, keep tramping around "Out There," and bringing it all back to us here,
the pics are priceless

[Jim McCann]

Kodiakrain,

Thank you for the kind words. Glad you enjoy them. I sure enjoy making them!

Starting to look for drumming ruffed grouse and sharptails on the leks pretty soon with the hope I can get some new images and maybe do some HD video as well.

Life is good.

Rudy has some pinned.


Charlie up high.

[Old John]

Great pictures... Always enjoy looking at your photos... Thanks for sharing.../John

[Jim McCann]

My pleasure, John!

Jim

[SkinnyD]

I'm late to arrive at the party, but I sure enjoyed the pictures just the same. I'll have to leave my flushing dogs at the house if I ever hope to get any pictures like that. Are you using a bigger lens than the normal 70-200? About how long are your normal shots when you photograph ptarmigan? It seems like you've managed to get within at least 10 or 20 yards but I know that if you're using a tripod and a huge lens it could be much further. It would also be a lot more to carry around in the snow. Thanks for sharing those with us.

[Jim McCann]

Skinny,

In the past - the old film days!- I would have used my Canon 500mm lens mounted to a NewF1 with motor drive and firmly attached to one of my heavy Gitzo tripods and I would have to get even closer than 10 or 20 yards. But these days it's different. On this "hunt" I was carrying a Canon 7D with battery grip and a Canon 100-400 AF lens with image stabilization and I had it mounted on a Bush Hawk shoulder stock. I still had to get very close, like 15 yds or so, and that's not close enough and I had to crop these images considerably. With the extremely bright conditions it was very hard to focus on the birds, either auto or manual. I would have preferred less harsh light, but that gives me something to keep going out there - and up there - for.

You have to be very close to your subject when that subject is birds, and even the longest lenses sometimes aren't enough. I'm thinking of purchasing a Canon 500 f4 IS II lens, but at $ 10,000 I'm not sure I'm going to do it. I think my serious wildlife photography days might be over. The lenses I have at present for my 7Ds are good enough for the outdoor work I do mostly. But then Canon is soon to come out with a 200-400 L lens with a matched 1.4 extender built in. On a crop camera like the 7D that's a lot of magnification! It, too, will come in around 10 grand, but might make a better lens for me. It certainly takes money to make money in the photography business.

Jim

[Hoyt]

Nice photos! I enjoyed them.

[Jim McCann]

Thanks, Hoyt! Glad you enjoyed them.

And for everyone out there...the sharptails are already dancing on their leks!

Jim

[SkinnyD]

Do they mostly dance early and late or is it an all-day thing for the sharp-tails?

[Jim McCann]

They like to dance early mornings, but like most guys, they're ready to "dance" any old time. :-)

Jim