TYLEETESS

I hunt upland preserves for the same two reason most people do #1 to tune my dogs up for the regular season #2 to extend my season. I have noticed there are a lot more of these preserves being established, not to mention a sharp increase in price recently. I have hunted on preserves from " mom and pop" type operations to clubs with emacualte club houses, they always seem to have hunters and a lot of times are booked for days/weeks out. Are these the future of upland hunting? With less and less public land each year comes crowding and less birds on these public lands. Nowdays is it just easier to spend the money and go the preserves as opposed to going out of town and spending money on lodging and food? I can see the logic in that. I am not sure what position I would take with calling this the future of hunting preserves as I have been hearing rumblings about that is exactly what is happening. Any comments?

blackliner

Sadly, in areas outside of the Great/High Plains, this is the future of hunting... if you can call it that. Shooting wild birds is becomming less and less of an option for the majority of hunters. Now, you' re best opportunity is to travel to the dakotas, iowas, kansas or nebraska.

sad, i grew up with pheasant hunting right out of my back door. Now, I live in suburban chicago hell with no realistic opportunity to hunt wild brids. I do travel to wisconsin for wild ruffies and woodcock, but most of their pheasants are liberated.

Red Hawk

I agree with blackliner pretty much. Pheasant out here are extremely hard to find mainly because its farmland out here (cotton, rose, apha fields) but the owners or workers out there dont allow hunting. The ones that actual do let you its almost in possible to hunt for one reason or another. Last time i got a wild pheasant (which unfortately was a hen) was when i was 15 and still in so that was 10 years ago. I did however go to a pheasant club near my town ran by a mom and pop. I dont think i will ever go back to it because of what i saw. There was probably about 60 hunters there give or take. The owner went out into a field that was brushy but it wasnt really a pheasant like eviroment to release the birds out of trailer cage from behind his truck. Lot of hunters were standing right there and starting to shoot the birds as they were flying out the it. I was pretty sicken by this sight needless to say. I stood back long enough for the birds to land someplace before i went actual hunting for a bird rather then what the other guys were doing. I eventually found one and get it. Good training for my then german shorthair pup (which sad to say i had to get rid off because of where i was living at time). I found out later from the wife' s owner that some of the birds fly into other fields and eventually ' become wild birds' . I saw her husband' s truck later on and i could see in the past all the dents and such in it from the stupid people that hunt out there. Point being of this story. Pheasant hunting in the future where i live is pretty much here [:' (]