I've joined the NRA

So it’s been a while since I’ve made my mark. I suppose my last post was shortly after the first dusting of snow. Well, six months later and I’m pleased to report I’ve survived the bitter cold and crippling depression and have emerged into the light of Spring as not much worse for wear. There is still a ton of snow on the ground, but we are enjoying nearly sixteen hours of daylight at this point.

So a couple of weeks ago my friend, Clyde took my ptarmigan hunting in the mountains north of Fairbanks. Clyde, as Loren would confirm, is quite a winner. Here’s a guy who has some really poor decision-making skills (as evidenced by the fact that he has to start his car by blowing into a breathilizer) but at the same time is willing to wake up at 6am, after three hours of sleep and still drunk, and drive 80 miles to trudge through waste deep snow to find small, white tundra-pigeons. Many of us would hit the snooze button and roll right back over to that dream about Jay Davidson in a squirrel suit selling balloons on an aircraft carrier. The short of this is, this kid would make a great TKE if he was ever able to get into college.
Anyway, we drove two hours up the Steese Hwy and hiked another hour up the slopes of McManus Mountain. (No joke TKE's. That’s what it’s called.) There I spotted my first ptarmigan sitting still in the snow. It should be mentioned here that ptarmigan have evolved their survival strategy around the assumption that you cannot see them. (This may have worked for Dr. Grant against the T-Rex, but the same is not true for the sharp eyes of the T-VO.) Therefore, they are very easy to get close to and even easier to shoot. My excitement overrided my sense of sportsmanship and I proceeded to literally blow the head off the first one with my 20 gauge. Feeling a little guilty, I decided I would let the next one take flight before I shot it. So after happening on the next little whiter-than-snow dot on the mountainside, I tramped right up to it, hoping it would spring up when I got too close. But the goddamn bird just sat there. After about a minute I kicked my snow shoe at it and frightened it into flight before taking it down. This wasn’t hunting, it was like playing Wack-A-Mole if the mole’s didn’t move.

The next day, I got an email from a friend of mine in Scotland who is a nature photographer and he sent me a link to a photo essay he’s doing on the threatened Scottish Highland Ptarmigan.
More at http://www.chrisjohnstonephotographic.co.uk/latest/ptarmigan/ptarmigan.html.

As if my conscience needed any more badgering. So, I decided the most appropriate response was to send him this photo:


I haven’t heard back from him.

Anyway, I’d like to end this my offering a new beer to the mix. Alaskan Brewing has just released Alaskan White, a new wheat ale. I don’t know if I’ve had an Alaskan beer that has been bad, and this new one certainly fails to disappoint. It’s smooth and full like a Munich weisbier with the refreshing citrus finish of Blue Moon. It goes great with a slice of orange or lemon and compliments a basket of fried halibut and chips marvelously. It’s a great take on a European beer with and an American microbrew twist. This is definitely going to be my Summer beer of choice.

I look forward to hearing more from the rest of you all. Chad, keep it up, your posts are great. And I’ll say this again at the risk of sounding lonely and desperate, any of you are welcome to come visit in Alaska. My cabin is open even if I’m not around. You’ve got a 4-1/2 month window.

Cheers,
Todd