[KL7AA] The Great Alaska Ptarmigan (GAP) - Action requested

[Jim Larsen]

I am finally back in town and we need to get everyone lined up to be a 
Ptarmigan next Sunday from 3-5PM here in Alaska.  A Ptarmigan is an Alaska 
based QRPer who operates for two hours (running 5 watts or less) and all the 
QRPers in the US and Canada try to work you ...to "bag the bird" as it where. 
  It is fast paced and fun (assuming the bands are open).  If the bands don't 
open, I would like to try this again three or seven weeks later.

Even if you have notified me before, please reconfirm and I once I have the 
final list, I will try to spread us all out from 14.026 to 14.064 taking into 
account geographic issues such as two of you close together.  If we can 
separate you by frequency, all should work fine (e.g. Gordon and Doug, John 
and me, etc).

I am hoping to have Juneau, Fairbanks, Kodiak Island, Soldotna, Anchorage, 
Eagle River, Wasilla/Palmer and more if at all possible.  I will come up with 
prizes and prize rules and a certificate for this event...suggestions or 
designs on the Hunt would be appreciated.

The announcement below (exchange info is near the end of the writeup) is what 
I put out to the QRP-L mail reflector two weeks ago before my two week trip. 
I will need to be posting all this week to get everyone informed.

Thanks.

73, Jim
===================================================

Announcing the Great Alaska Ptarmigan (GAP) Hunt on Nov 17 0000z-0200z which 
is Sunday afternoon or early evening. I am trying stay away from CW 
sweepstakes and Thanksgiving.   0000z is at the end of the SSB sweeps.

The plan calls for up to a dozen Alaska Ptarmigan for you to hunt.  We will 
spread them out in the bushes all the way from 14.027 to 14.063 plus or minus 
qrm.

Here is a primer to get you up to speed on GAP.
======================
www.state.ak.us/adfg/notebook/bird/ptarmiga.htm

The Great Alaska Ptarmigan (GAP)

Ptarmigan, close relatives of forest and prairie grouse, live in alpine and
arctic tundras throughout the northern hemisphere.

The birds are quite sociable in winter (get on the air more) and usually feed 
and roost in the snow close together. (In the snow...that fits)

Ptarmigan are notorious for their here-today, gone-tomorrow populations,
pulsing between superabundance and virtual absence in just a few years. The
causes of the rapid population changes remain a mystery. Many people think
that ptarmigan numbers fluctuate rhythmically, with peaks once every 9 or 10
years. (Sounds like Alaska propagation)

In early spring, male ptarmigan become intolerant of other males and establish 
territories that they defend vigorously with aerial chases and a variety of 
gargling, croaking, and screaming noises. (Noises which we make after another 
month of lousy propagation)

Hunting: Ptarmigan hunting is fun. You never know what to expect from one trip 
to the next. (Yup, that is Alaska QRP) On opening day you tramp through
colorful thickets of willow and dwarf birch, your dog nosing coveys of brown
birds out of the brush while you mop your brow and wish you hadn�t put on a
sweater. Late in September, after facing a strong, cold wind for several
fruitless hours (two hours to be exact), you top out on a rocky ridge and
suddenly find yourself surrounded by several hundred stretch-necked,
pinto-patterned ptarmigan (It could happen). You hang up your shotgun for five 
months, only to be tolled into the hills again by the bright blue days of 
March. Warmly clad in parka and mukluks, you snowshoe across narrow alpine
valleys following meandering trails of three-pronged ptarmigan tracks across
the brilliant snow (We tend to come and go).

Ptarmigan hunting can be a serious business (but of course), especially if you 
live in Alaska�s vast hinterland and caribou have been scarce. Then is the 
time to go after ptarmigan in earnest, using all the tricks at your command 
(Don't all QRPers use all their tricks?). Snares are very effective when used 
by those who know the birds well (But of course experience helps). A favorite 
method is to build a thin fence of close-set willow branches, leaving small 
openings where the snares are set. Another technique takes advantage of the 
fact that ptarmigan drag their feet in soft snow (listening for late callers 
in the pileup). A series of snare loops are tied into a long line, and the 
loops are placed flat on the ground around a favorite thicket of willows. 
Birds step into the loops, drag their feet forward--and are caught.
======================

So now you have more than you ever wanted to know.

We will be using Spartan Sprint format with RST, S/P/C (State/ Province/ 
Country), and power out. The call of the Great Alaska Ptarmigan will be �CQ 
GAP�.   We have emails from GAPs in Juneau, Kodiak Island, Soldotna, Eagle 
River, I think Fairbanks, and many in the Anchorage area.  We hope to have as 
many as a dozen Ptarmigan hiding in the bushes and spread out throughout the 
geography.

There will be prizes and maybe even certificates for all entries (with SASE). 
  I will post this information again with more detail when I get back to 
Anchorage after the 7th of November.

73, Jim
Jim Larsen
AL7FS AK QRP #003
Anchorage, Alaska
http://www.qsl.net/al7fs