Anyone find any Ptarmigans yet?

[hozz1235]

I've been looking in PV and no luck yet.

[Leeanda]

Entire mountain town and half of pv...no sign

[ManicManiac]

Yes... pretty much right away.  I was very lucky, I think.  

13 hours ago, ManicManiac said:

Also made my first sighting of Ptarmigans.  They are safe though, I'm not hunting... 😐 ...for now. 

I'm not hunting on this run... so I guess they are lucky too.

Edited June 22, 2023 by ManicManiac

[hozz1235]

According to the video, there should be at least one group in each region.  "Remote, higher ground"

[conanjaguar]

7 minutes ago, hozz1235 said:

"Remote, higher ground"

I’ll check Marsh Ridge today, sounds like it fits that description pretty well…

[Serenity]

Found some in PV at the top of the rope climb near Signal Hill. The pre-placed one with the bear cave at the bottom

They can fly away, but like rabbits they could be more skittish. You can basically walk right over them at times.

Edited June 22, 2023 by Serenity

[hozz1235]

1 hour ago, Serenity said:

Found some in PV at the top of the rope climb near Signal Hill. The pre-placed one with the bear cave at the bottom

Checked that location on my existing run and they weren't there but a fresh run, they were.

Edited June 22, 2023 by hozz1235

[Valuable Hunting Knife]

ML- right by the lodge by the lake, and also up near where the new bunker spawn is.  They're not there all the time though.  Good luck!

[Serenity]

Found another flock on the large hill above (west of) Signal Hill

[ChaosArchbishop]

I confirm they exist. I found a flock in Mountain Town, behind the Gas Station.

[bysinda]

Ash canyon is full of them! 

[DaPepster]

You gotta LISTEN and really SQUINT while crouching to see these tiny guys!  I've found a group at the Rickety Foot Bridge in Broken Railroad, and three groups in Mystery Lake, with one right in front of the Camp Office (like in the YouTube intro video), one near the base of the Forestry Lookout and one atop a hill right close to the Prepper Cache up from the rope climb. 

 

Best way to attack these things is the same as you would with rabbits: a stone.  You can fire the Revolver at them and kill them (did that with my first one), but once you've killed/knocked out one, the rest will fly away, so only expect to catch one each time you see a group.  You could probably also shoot an arrow at them as long as you have Archery Level 5, but rocks are really the easiest.  I already have upgraded my bedroll and made the Base Layer Accessory and like them a lot.

[hozz1235]

10 hours ago, DaPepster said:

Best way to attack these things is the same as you would with rabbits: a stone.  You can fire the Revolver at them and kill them (did that with my first one), but once you've killed/knocked out one, the rest will fly away, so only expect to catch one each time you see a group.  You could probably also shoot an arrow at them as long as you have Archery Level 5, but rocks are really the easiest.

Like you said, if you use stones, you only get one out of the flock.  I was hoping they would fly a short distance and then land, but they fly away and despawn.  I'm wondering if a stealth, fire-hardened arrow approach would let you get more than one (like we can do with deer).

[General_Zod]

I have found them all over the place. You have to listen to the bird noises/clucking - and just follow. I found them in Broken Railroad and Mystery Lake.

[Leeanda]

Still none on my older save...

[James Hickok]

On 6/23/2023 at 2:49 PM, hozz1235 said:

Like you said, if you use stones, you only get one out of the flock.  I was hoping they would fly a short distance and then land, but they fly away and despawn.  I'm wondering if a stealth, fire-hardened arrow approach would let you get more than one (like we can do with deer).

Yes. Stone is not really a good option here. If you miss the entire flock flies away. Arrows on other hand.... seems that they were designed for this. Even if you miss the birds stay. Just shoot em one by one. 

[yollarbenibekler]

There are ptarmigans in the Transfer Pass Region 

1- Near the feedwater cave (when you walk on the railways from the entrance of the regions, take a 90 degrees left after walking 1 minute

2- Towards the end of the blocked road when you leave the train station from the backdoor, you take the right turn not left (left is going to the airfield).

[James Hickok]

Dont you think that skinning them takes too much time - i mean over 2 hours by hand for a single one. I think it way too long. Took me more than 8 hours to skin 4 of them. 

[hozz1235]

4 hours ago, James Hickok said:

Dont you think that skinning them takes too much time - i mean over 2 hours by hand for a single one. I think it way too long. Took me more than 8 hours to skin 4 of them. 

I agree.  It's the plucking of the feathers which take all the time.

[Leeanda]

I tried a regular pilgrim run for a few hours yesterday... Most of pv covered and still saw none....  I'm not sure it's just custom runs affected .

[xanna]

Not found any, but they appeared on my map here:

 

The icon is the rabbit icon, but it says ptarmigan

[UTC-10]

I went to Three Strikes Farmstead then generally following the directions to go NE and up a hill until you get to the point where it starts to go downhill and there I found a flock of ptarmigan right there in the saddle between the cliff and a rock hill/outcropping.  The weather forced me to head back to Three Strikes - it became a blizzard - and I had to hunker down by the fire barrel the rest of the day.  

The next morning I went back to the saddle area and there were no ptarmigans to be seen.  I had  hunted a buck a bit earlier before heading for the saddle so it was not quite so early.  I scouted around and did not see any sign of them.  

The next morning I went directly to the saddle area and still no ptarmigans.  

I was beginning to think that the ptarmigans were not going to be a spawn like the bear - once it spawns it remains spawned even if it wanders over an area - and be more intermittent with some time between appearances.  That would seem to mean when you find a flock you better be careful and get as many as you can before they fly away because it may be a few days before they return.  I hope I am wrong. 

[Serenity]

Sadly there don't seem to be any on the TWM summit. One flock below, but I didn't see any on top. Might have missed them though.

[UTC-10]

Went to the reported location above the rope climb near the bear cave in Pleasant Valley and located a flock of ptarmigan.  I got pretty close (crouched) and wiped out the whole flock (Level 5 archery and fire hardened arrows).  There were six birds.  I  hope that does not jinx future spawns at that spot.  Birds averaged about 2 kilos.  

I went to Signal Hill control hut and then discovered why ptarmigans can be problematic to harvest.  The meat portion - about 1 kilo - comes away like most any other animal.  By hand (Level 5 harvesting) it takes 8 to 10 minutes. 

The bad part looks to be the "feathers" or "units" as the UI refers to it.  After harvesting the meat, the bird carcass weighs 0.06 kilos.  There are four "units" to be harvested.  Each unit is treated like a complete animal hide taking 28 minutes by hand or 21 minutes with a knife for each unit.  Hatchets and hacksaws take twice as long.  

At least I found the birds.  

[Chrysoprace]

Found some near the small climb from Muskek to Milton.