Are willow ptarmigan in a special place ?

[Chon the Monk]

I've been going around the whole map but haven't found any willow ptarmigan. Are they located only in a certain area ?

[yogisgoat]

I've seen quite a few in the southern islands and around the war memorial. Remember, they have to be taken on the wing to score a trophy. Which I find a bit ironic. I've seen many Alaskans irl shoot ptarmigan and they always use a .22 and shoot them on the ground.

[Chon the Monk]

The scoring in my game is messed up so i can shoot all birds with the shotgun anywhere on the body and not get penalized. The only thing that causing a penalty so far is using buckshot on them. I'll try looking for them in the south island area again. Thanks

[kesi96]

sure that it is also for ptarmigans? pheasants and ptarmigans need to be shot in the air, every other bird can be shot on the ground too.

[Chon the Monk]

Depends what "on the ground" means. I shot a couple on the ground but they may have been still flapping their wings to land or fly away. My game is doing weird things. I'm getting fatal shots on birds that are flying 250 meters after the being shot with the 10 gauge. The last bird i had too shoot 3 times with the 10 gauge to kill it. The first shot it was on the ground at 20 meters away. It flew so i shot again and hit it again in flight, and then again a third time with a total flight distance of 253 meters. Blood loss from each shot with a vital area sized blood trail. I had to start using the 10 gauge because the 20 auto and 12 gauge pump would not kill birds anymore. It's weird because i can shoot one bird at 10 meters with the 10 gauge and it will just keep flying and I'll never find it. The next i could shoot at 100 meters away and it will drop dead right there. I shot 3 geese, which i seen fall to the ground in front of me but when i went to pick them up they were no where to be found. I shot one goose over water and went to wait at the waters edge but it never floated back. I looked on the map but no blood marker on the map until 15 minutes (real time later). I was still in the area so i went back to where it should have floated back but it never did.

Same no kill problems with rifles. The only rifle i have found that kills large game is 6.5 Creedmore. I'm getting vital area hits but the animals are running 900 meters before dying. After recovering the animal the chart is showing all kinds of conflicting data. For example: Bullet strike to the skin of the animal but no penetration to vitals even with polymer bullets (showing just bullet path). Too the right it will say 100% flesh. To the left sometimes all 4 conditions met (with no deductions). Others times it will be the same but no vital area shot checked (only 3 conditions met). Even though vital blood shot is being displayed at 1 shot on the ground. All animals and birds run or fly between 200 to 900 meters before dying. I suppose a shot goose in flight could easily cover 2+ kilometres at that rate of flight. For some reason all large game is displaying as being "Minor" animals even though after being shot they are Golds & Silvers. I have to look at their body size or antler racks to guess if they are worth shooting.

This all started back at the "elk tower mission" when i had to shoot a elk at night to complete the mission. I had to shoot it a dozen times or so. It kept displaying on the ground as a flesh wound even though i know it was a vital area hit. I finally killed the elk but it ran over 900 meters. When i check it the display said i hit it in the vitals (spine and double lung hit) with the .338. 100 % flesh kill on the right but gave me a Diamond rating kill. It's the only Diamond kill i have had. The game has absolutely refused to give me a Diamond kill since. Always 1 point off of Diamond or it will show 100 % flesh deduction with a vital area shot. Must be a bug all the way back to the Elk Tower mission.

[Chon the Monk]

I started a new game and everything has gone back to normal. Hopefully it stays that way.

[Chon the Monk]

I ended up getting one. I gave up trying to sneak up on them as well since vegetation doesn't actually provide any cover. I set the keyboard to run-all-the-time at this preserve. I find running works better here than walking. You can always hit the "lay down" button if something else shows up.