Hunting for the Urban Man

It wasn't long ago that the urban Nimrod who wished to indulge in his favorite sport of upland game or duck shooting was confronted with alternatives, neither of which was entirely happy. Either he had to content himself with nearby skeet and trap shooting, or he had to pack gear and duffel for an extended trip into the wilds – with the unhappy prospect of roughing it, getting up at pre-dawn to sit through a blizzard in a duckforsaken duck blind, pretending he was enjoying the wet, cold hours of waiting for a shot, and generally disrupting his life (and taking a good bit of his time) in order to experience the thrills of the sport.

Happily, he has another, far more pleasant option these days. Increasingly, attractive tracts of land near major urban centers of the nation are being turned into hunting preserves. A lot of them are private clubs; there is also a growing number that are available to the public provided advance reservations are made. In either case, a basic fee (annual dues for membership clubs, otherwise a per-day charge) gives a man a good day's hunting with none of the inconveniences involved, and with every assurance indeed of bringing home succulent game birds to grace his table.

The virtues of this kind of hunting are obvious: the urban gentleman can rise at his leisure on a Saturday or Sunday morning, pile into his car and take an easy drive to his hunting club. He can be in the field with guide and dog, both provided by the club as part of its service, by early afternoon – taking four to six birds in an average day – and be in the clubhouse for cocktails by five, back in the city by six and ready to pick up his evening's date by eight.

These shooting preserves are now legal in forty-one states in the U.S.A., and offer the hunter unlimited game bags, dependent only on the size of his wallet, plus an extended hunting season, usually running from October through the middle of March.

The shooting plan at a typical preserve is a simple one. If it's duck you're after, the plan goes like so: the birds are released from towers far removed from blinds located on the edge of a lake to which the ducks fly for water. Since the shooters cannot see the towers, the ducks, for all intents and purposes, have flown from afar and are just as elusive as though they'd breezed in from the marshes of Saskatchewan. This is called pass shooting and, with mallards riding the winds at fifty miles an hour, is as pulse-pounding as any you've ever experienced.

If upland game's your cup of tea, the shooting preserve offers sport without parallel, too. For today's (countinued on page 135)(continued from page 75) preserve operator raises and conditions game birds that are just as strong on the wing as their totally wild brethren. Upland game is usually released into the field at dawn each day; a goodly number of these birds escape the gunners and daily become more wary and full of tricks. And the pens are large enough so that the birds get plenty of exercise before their release.

The wily ringneck pheasant seems to be the most popular bird available at shooting preserves. Next in line is the bobwhite quail, followed by an exotic import that is rapidly gaining favor – the chukar partridge. Both quail and chukar hold better for good dog work than the ringneck. but all three – along with the wild tirkey – provide the hunter with an exciting day in the field. Most clubs offer the sensible option of taking home the birds you've shot, or leaving them there and accepting in exchange the same number of birds already cleaned, wrapped in cellophane and flash frozen.

Public shooting preserves operate under several different plans. One is a "day shoot"–that is, you pay for only the game you bag in one day. Another is the pay-in-advance plan. Here a specified number of birds are released and it's up to you to collect what you paid for. Charges vary from $5 to $8 for pheasants, $2.50 to $3 for quail, $3 to $4 for chukar partridge and from $4 to $5 for ducks.

Private shooting preserves are restricted to members and guests they may wish to bring. In most cases, birds are guaranteed each member, the number depending on the annual membership charge, the hunter's advance estimate of the number of birds he'll want in a season, and the plushness of the club and its facilities. Club memberships range from a low of $150 on up to $2000 and more a year.

A typical, average-cost private club is Richmond Game Fields in Richmond, Illinois, a scant forty-five miles from the heart of Chicago, mostly over superhighway. Richmond was originally open to the public on a day shoot basis, but after three years it was converted to a private club.

Managing Director Charles Terry explains his operation this way: "We spent three years experimenting at Richmond Game Fields, testing the types of cover that would best hold birds. We tried all kinds of feed planting. We were seeking the best conditions for birds to live in the natural state. With our plan of controlled release, we are now able to provide hardy birds in sufficient number to assure a good bag and yet test the skill of hunter, guide and dog."

At present, Richmond has over a thousand acres devoted entirely to upland game – pheasants, quail, turkeys – where hunting is as authentic as in more primitive areas. Duck shooting is made to simulate the kind of pass shooting you find on the Canadian plains. The terrain offers the hunter a variety of wilderness scenes: rolling fields, lakes hidden in quiet valleys, wooded hillsides, hedgerows, brush and river. Ammunition may be purchased right at the club; the hunter may use his own gun or borrow one. A guide and first-rate hunting dog – if desired – are provided for each hunter or hunting party.

Costs at Richmond are fairly representative. An urban huntsman may enjoy a five-month season, with a guaranteed bag of forty pheasants, for about $350, no more than the average cost of one week of hunting in a distant state. Also, he gets double the bag allowable in many wilderness states for five straight days, and he can hunt as frequently as he desires, bring as many friends as he likes, and never be away from his apartment overnight.

Across the nation you'll find others – more than one thousand in operation today. The Maier Pheasant Farm and Shooting Preserve, Bremen, Indiana, is an example of the day shoot preserve. It is open to the public and hunters can bang away at pheasants all day long, with shoots planned for mornings and afternoons. Suffolk Lodge Game Preserve, Brookhaven, Long Island, New York, is almost within sight of Manhattan skyscrapers. Begun in 1950, this is one of the fine preserves on the Atlantic Seaboard. Pheasant, duck, quail and chukar partridge shooting are offered, with a September through February season. Operating as a private club is Flying Feather Game Fields, Oakfield, New York, where pheasants are featured. On the West Coast you'll find Mt. Whitney Game Bird Club, in Lone Pine, California, a private club. Operating on a day shoot basis and open to the public is Mars Hunting Club, Los Angeles, California. Only one hour from L.A. is Hidden Valley Gun Club, Arlington, California. This is a truly plush private club with memberships costing up to $2000. In California, private clubs are more numerous than public shooting preserves, while in New York the opposite is true.

But coast to coast – and points between – you can now find near most urban centers private clubs or day shoot preserves made to order for the urban Nimrod and very likely the equal of the finest gunning available anywhere in the U.S.A.

For further information on shooting preserves, write to Playboy Reader Service, 232 E. Ohio St., Chicago 11, Illinois.