Christine Cunningham won an upland gun at a fundraiser, then decided she needed a bird dog. She engulfed herself in the full hunting experience in a short time. She has a deep appreciation of hunting traditions and taking in the holistic experience that surrounds it. Christine walks us through a typical day of ptarmigan hunting in Alaska, what to expect, and how to prepare. Support this podcast on Patreon www.patreon.com/thebirddogbabe Thank you to our Sponsors: Dakota283 Kennels (use promo code birddogbabe for 10% discount) Xcel Shooting Sports (free gun slip $90 value with purchase of any Caesar Guerini, Fabarm, or Syren shotgun purchase) Connect with Courtney Follow Bird Dog Babe: Instagram Facebook YouTube   Connect with Christine Instagram Facebook 6:30 How Christine got started 8:00 Duck hunting 13:10Transition to Upland hunting 14:15 First bird dog 15:40 Learning more about gamebirds and hunting 16:40 Ptarmigan 17:20 Current string of bird dogs 18:30 Raising puppies on wild birds 23:20 Big running dogs for White-tailed Ptarmigan 25:45 Beauty of upland hunting 28:30 Hunting less pressured birds 30:00 What a day of ptarmigan hunting looks like 32:15 Alaskan game bird species 32:00 Best time to bird hunt in Alaska 32:45 Challenging birds to hunt 33:50 King of upland 35:10 Bucket list hunt 36:00 Big game hunting 37:00 Youth and Women Hunts 39:45 Inspiring women to give hunting a try 41:10 Transition to big game hunting 42:00 Respect and values of hunting 44:30 Women Hunting Alaska 46:30 Columnist for Anchorage Daily News 47:30 Christine’s latest work Traverse Journal 50:00 Exciting hunt planned for the year 50:30 Christine’s Shotgun 51:30 Fashion vs Function 53:45 What’s in your vest 55:10 Favorite game bird recipe 55:30 Favorite big game 57:00 Lab of the family