By James Davis
Shooting preserves provide a wonderful opportunity to extend your upland hunting season. The various game farms, hunt clubs, and shooting preserves that are spread out across the nation, provide a chance to keep your shotgun skills in check, your pup sharp, and most importantly more time in the field with family and friends!
Shooting preserves are privately owned lands that are maintained and managed so hunters can experience a quality upland bird hunt. Many hunt clubs are located within sixty miles of most large cities and major metropolitan areas. This affords hunters a local opportunity to spend a day chasing long tails! Game farms range in size from forty acres to well over one thousand and provide gunners with ample shooting opportunities as the seasons are long. Clubs regularly open in the fall and close in late March or early April. The farms have individual hunting areas / “fields” that are reserved by an individual or group. Clubs usually run two hunts a day. A morning shoot from eight a.m. to noon and an afternoon shoot from noon until four p.m. Once the date and time slot for your hunt has been confirmed, a field will be selected based on availability, amount of birds released, and the number of hunters in the group. Most farms offer chukars, pheasants, and quail. Birds are purchased at a per bird rate and the majority of clubs require a minimum release of three to five birds per gunner. Some clubs offer “memberships” in which birds are bought in bulk and purchased at a discounted rate to be used throughout the season.
On the day of your hunt, you will arrive and check in at the clubhouse. Once your “party” has arrived, the amount of birds and field location will be confirmed, club rules, liability waivers, and a quick overview of field boundaries/ property lines will be reviewed. Club staff will then head out to “plant” your field by strategically placing the purchased birds throughout your designated hunting area.
Depending on the property, you may be able to load up and walk to your designated field from the clubhouse or you may have to drive. Once at the field, the hunt, like most upland hunts will include hunters in a “line” and dogs quartering back and forth while “working” the field searching for the birds. Fields are planted with natural cover like switch grass and food plots including standing corn or sorghum. The hunt areas also incorporate a properties various natural features like cattail mashes, creek bottoms, and oak woods. At the conclusion of your hunt the harvested birds will be collected to be processed and packaged. Post hunt, many hunters will retreat to the clubhouse to warm up by a fire, enjoy a cold beverage or grab a bite to eat as they replay and celebrate the hunt.
Shooting preserves not only provide a local opportunity to extend your season, they provide a safe and controlled atmosphere in which to introduce a new hunter or young pup to bird hunting. Corporations and businesses use hunt clubs over the winter months similar to how they use golf courses during the summer to conduct business deals, entertain clients, and perform team building activities. Hunt clubs are also a perfect setting to host a family “holiday” hunt, birthday party, or bachelor / bachelorette party!
Many shooting preserves offer “country club” like amenities to further enhance your wing shooting experience. This can and may include clay shooting with certified instructors, professional guides with dogs, and gun rentals which is a perfect opportunity to try out that expensive new over under that you have had your eye on. Pro shops, dog wash stands, gun cleaning stations, locker rooms, and meeting rooms are also available at many preserves.
With short seasons and hunting opportunities not easily accessible or available to the many hunters that live far away from the bird rich states like North and South Dakota, hunt clubs offer a perfect get away! Whether you want to sneak out of the office for a morning of fun or spend an entire day, hunt clubs work hard to provide local sportsmen and women opportunities get outside with your pup and experience some fast flying bird action. Missing watching your pup catch a sent and locking up on a staunch point? Missing your quivering lab crashing through the brush with a hard earned retrieve? Missing the intoxicating smell of gun powder and the rush of the flush? Well, look no further than your local preserve or hunt club as a perfect way to extend your season!