[KL7AA] Great Alaska Ptarmigan Hunt - This Sunday afternoon

[Jim Larsen]

The Great Alaska Ptarmigan (GAP) Hunt

Greetings from Alaska.  Here are the Great Alaska Ptarmigan (GAP) and their 
assigned frequencies.  Let's have fun with this hunt and thanks for trying to 
work Alaska.  This is an absolute "First" for Alaska QRPers.  Never in history 
have so many Alaska hams operated QRP at the same time.

Notes:

GAP hunters should call "Up 1 KHz".

If 20 meters is dead dead, then check for GAPs on 15 meter frequencies.

We have one Great Alaska Ptarmigan who has volunteered to be there for the 
slower operators.  Check for KL0XK on 15 and 40 meters although if those bands 
are both dead for him, he has an assigned 20 meter spot.

Operate from 0000z-0200z 17 November (3-5PM AST Sunday).
GAPs will call "CQ GAP", etc.
Exchange is  RST/SPC/PwrOut  e.g.,  559 AK 5w  (Same as Spartan Sprint)

Here are the Great Alaska Ptarmigan:

KL7R  Mike    Juneau
AL7OK John    Anchorage  S
AL7FS Jim     Anchorage  S
KL7IKV Lynn   Anchorage  S
KL7CC  Jim    Anchorage  NE
KL7GN  Gordon Anchorage  Mid
WL7CDC Doug   Anchorage  Mid
KL7PB  Rich   Sterling
KL�WN  John   Kodiak
AL7N   Ed     Fairbanks
KY7J   Ken    Emmonak - way out west on the Bearing Sea
KL7Z   Randy  Anchorage
KL0XK  Don    Elmendorf AFB  40/15 meters for slower cw ops
===============================

7.108   KL0XK  Slow code. If 15/40 dead, then 14.029

14.026  AL7OK  21.026
    029  KL0XK but only if he is getting nothing on 15/40 slow code.
    032  KL7GN     032
    035
    038  AL7N      038
    041  KY7J      041
    044  AL7FS     044
    047  KL�WN     047
    050  KL7Z      050
    053  KL7R      053
    056  KL7CC     056
    059  KL7PB     059
    061  WL7CDC    061
    064  KL7IKV    064

    ---  KL0XK  21.108 Slow code. If 15/40 dead, then 14.029

There will be prizes and maybe even certificates for all entries (with SASE). 
  Let's all have fun and work the Great Alaska Ptarmigan.

73, Jim
-- 
Jim Larsen, AL7FS
Anchorage, Alaska
http://www.qsl.net/al7fs

==========================================================================

Here is a primer to get you up to speed on the Great Alaska Ptarmigan (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 information than you ever wanted to know.  :-)

73, Jim, AL7FS