National prominence
Willow ptarmigan
Willow ptarmigan is a year-round subarctic tundra resident keyed specifically to willow, present almost entirely in Alaska. Birds hold to willow-lined waterways and alder thickets on the coastal plain and through subalpine drainages.
How to hunt Willow ptarmigan
Willow-lined waterways and brushy drainages: streamside willow and dwarf-birch thickets on the coastal plains of western and northern Alaska, including the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, or subalpine drainages through the rest of the state. This is the lowest-elevation, wettest, and brushiest end of Alaska's three-ptarmigan habitat gradient, a distinction embedded in the bird's own name: rock ptarmigan holds to higher, more exposed rocky terrain above treeline, and white-tailed ptarmigan to true high-alpine tundra. Willow ptarmigan has the widest range in Alaska of any upland game bird, present in every region except the broad forested Interior valleys, Southeast Alaska's thick woods, and the Aleutians west of Unimak Island.
Two-tier: 15-25 yards in willows and brush at close range, opening to 35-45 yards in open tundra once birds have flocked up and grown wilder later in the season.
Walked-up through willow and dwarf-birch thickets, on foot or via floatplane access to remote tundra lakes, a genuinely different access mode from the ski and snowshoe alpine backcountry travel the other two ptarmigan species require, reflecting this species' lower-elevation, wetter habitat. A dog nosing coveys out of brush helps, though plenty of birds are kicked up on foot without one. Behavior shifts through the season: early (Aug-Sept) birds are scattered and hold tight in willows while feeding on berries, flushing wild when found; mid-season (Oct-Nov) is prime time, as birds move into winter flocks of 20 to 100-plus working a single drainage; late season (Dec-Mar) birds are in full white plumage and often hold tight in willows for extended shooting opportunities, despite temperatures that can drop below -20°F in the Interior. Willow ptarmigan is frequently hunted together with rock ptarmigan, and sometimes white-tailed ptarmigan, across an elevation gradient in a single outing.
What changes through the season
- Widest range and most abundant of the three North American ptarmigan species
Willow ptarmigan occurs in every region of Alaska except the deep forested Interior valleys, Southeast Alaska's thick woods, and the western Aleutians: the largest-range, easiest-access ptarmigan hunt of the three, and Alaska's official state bird. Not a gear-changing factor on its own, but relevant to why this species anchors the state's ptarmigan hunting culture.
- Extreme cold and remote access shape gear choice
This species' lower-elevation, wetter habitat is commonly reached by floatplane landing on tundra lakes rather than the ski or snowshoe travel needed for higher-elevation ptarmigan hunting. The season runs into deep-winter conditions, with temperatures below -20°F in interior regions, where a simple manual action, a hammerless double or a pump, is more reliable than a gas-operated semi-auto, which can get sluggish in extreme cold.
- Plumage is the field mark distinguishing willow from rock ptarmigan
Male rock ptarmigan retain a black eye stripe through the winter that willow ptarmigan lack, the practical way to tell the two apart in hand when they're taken together in the same outing. No source ties this to any change in range, toughness, or method for willow ptarmigan itself.
What to load for this hunt
Lead
- Gauge
- 20 gauge, 12 gauge
- Shot size
- #8, #7.5, #6Agency
- 20 gauge is named directly as ideal for ptarmigan and grouse. 12 gauge is the other mainstream option, useful when birds are holding tight in willows and the shot has to punch through brush, or when birds are running wild in open tundra and flushing at 40-plus yards. Shot size follows the same close/open split as the range field: #7.5 or #8 in a light 2.75-inch load for willows at close range, stepping up to #6 for open tundra at 35-45 yards; over-gunning a bird this size in tight cover is how you destroy meat. Choke matches: Improved Cylinder for the close willows flush, opening to Modified for the longer open-tundra end. Willow ptarmigan is the largest of North America's three ptarmigan species (430-810g, averaging roughly 570-685g), noticeably heavier-bodied than rock or white-tailed ptarmigan, though the gear figures land numerically the same as rock ptarmigan's.
- Choke
- Improved Cylinder, Modified
Non-toxic
| Steel | Bismuth | Tungsten-matrix | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shot size | #7, #8, #3, #4Estimate Close end (lead #7.5-8, willows and brush): steel #7-8. Open-tundra/long end (lead #6): narrowed to #3-4 rather than a heavier bracket, since this species' longest sourced range (35-45 yards) stays well short of the 45-70 yard flushes that would justify a heavier pick. Range, not this bird's above-average body mass, is what keeps the narrower pick. Choke: the close end opens (Cylinder/Improved Cylinder); the open-tundra end keeps Modified rather than opening further. | #7, #6, #5Estimate A density-ratio estimate from the lead baseline: roughly #7-6 at the close end and #5-6 at the open-tundra end, following bismuth's density of about 85% of lead's versus steel's 70%. Choke is capped at Modified regardless of range, since tighter constrictions fracture bismuth's more brittle pellets. | #8, #7.5, #6Estimate Identical to the lead baseline across the full close-to-open-tundra split. Tungsten-matrix's density (about 95-97% of lead's) is close enough that no meaningful size or choke adjustment applies, and no choke restriction applies to the material at all. |
| Choke | Cylinder, Improved Cylinder, Modified | Improved Cylinder, Modified | Improved Cylinder, Modified |
Where it is open, and what the survey says
- AlaskaOpenVaries by hunter/zone/method — see detailADF&G's 2026 Alaska Small Game Summary is the most positive of any Alaska combo this year: hunters are likely to encounter more willow ptarmigan throughout much of the Alaska Range, and possibly more in Southcentral, with specifically positive reports from the Seward Peninsula. Alaska's state bird and its widest-ranging upland species: a genuine up year, not just an average-to-good one.Warm and dry conditions this season, named directly by ADF&G as the driver behind the improved outlook.
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