WHY HUNT A QUAIL PRESERVE

Family and Friend Hunts

EDITOR'S NOTE: If you want someone to become excited about fishing and have lasting memories about the sport, then take him to a place where you know he'll catch plenty of fish. You can follow the same plan for successful hunting. If you really want someone to get excited about hunting, take him on a hunt where he can shoot at numbers of birds, regardless of wind, weather and other hunting conditions. That's why I recommend you go to shooting preserves. If you live in Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas or some parts of New Mexico where plenty of wild quail thrive, shooting preserves will not seem as attractive as to hunters in states east of the Mississippi River, which have extremely low quail populations. But in states east of the Mississippi River, you can have a fun time finding and taking numbers of birds at a shooting preserve. Most shooting preserves also will allow you to shoot more than the limit for an extra charge. Let's look at several reasons to hunt shooting preserves.

I like to take my youngsters and older family members to shooting preserves. One year my 82-year-old uncle, John L. Phillips, and his 83-year-old wife, Edna, hunted at a shooting preserve. They rode in a mule-drawn wagon between our finding the coveys. When the dogs pointed, they climbed out of the wagon, shot, picked up their birds and got back into the wagon. As my Uncle Johnny said, "I had the most wonderful time on this quail hunt."

Children have short legs that tire out quickly when they have to walk several miles following behind a pointer or a setter. However, when you put those short legs across a saddle, and the youngsters can ride horses as well as hunt for quail, they'll enjoy an exciting and energetic quail hunt. When my kids were still youngsters, my son John and my daughter Kate would ask me all year, "Dad, when will you take us quail hunting?" To hunt quail and experience the sport like hunters in the past when small patch farms dotted the landscape and plenty of wild quail inhabited the area, go to a shooting preserve. At a quality shooting preserve, you can flush 20 to 30 coveys in a day and have plenty of shooting action like the quail hunters of old. Here's a list of some quail preserves in Mississippi and how to contact them.

MISSISSIPPI

Belmont Hunting Preserve
PO Box 564, Belmont, MS 38827
(601) 454-9580 or (877) 877-3483 Contact: Debbie Ballard
45 mi. E of Tupelo
Est 1988 Acres 600 Type Public Shoots Field Birds Quail, Pheasant Dogs Avail/HDW Packages 1/2 Day

Chandler Shooting Preserve
1751 Hwy. 15 S., Woodland, MS 39776
(601) 456-4141 Contact: Jerry Chandler
Birds Quail NAGA

Circle M Plantation
Rt. 3, Box 710, Macon, MS 39341
(601) 726-5791 Contact: Lanier Long
45 mi. S of Columbus
Est 1994 Acres 6,000 Type Public On Site Clubhouse, Lodging, Meals, Clays Shoots Field Birds Quail, Turkey Dogs Avail/HDW Packages 1/2 Day, up to 14 guns

Clear Creek Quail Farm & Hunting Preserve
156 Oilfield Rd., Lumberton, MS 39455
(601) 796-5063 Contact: Herman G. Morgan
90 mi. N of New Orleans & 70 mi. N of Gulf Coast
Est 1991 Acres 200 Type Public On Site Lodging, Meals Shoots Field, Blinds Birds Quail, Pheasant, Chukar, Ducks Dogs Avail/HDW Packages 1/2 Day, 1-9 guns
Bird Processing
Kennel Bird Dogs
Hunting Jeeps
Family Run Business
RV Parking Available
Hunt With Your Own Dog

Dunn's Shooting Grounds
532 Quailwood Rd., Holly Springs, MS 38635
(601) 564-1111 8-5, M-S (601) 564-1111 Contact: Tom McDougald
35 mi. SE of Memphis
Est 1993 Acres 1,000 Type Public On Site Clubhouse, Lodging, Meals, Clays Shoots Field Birds Quail, Pheasant Dogs Avail/HDW Packages 1/2 Day, 1-16 guns NAGA
Airport Pickup
Brochure Available
On-Site Pro Shop
Factory Ammunition
1st Class Accommodations
Plantation Style Quail Hunts

Kearney Park Shooting Preserve
151 Ergon Rd., Flora, MS 39071
(601) 879-3249 6:30am-4pm Contact: Chuck Boyer/T.W. Tolleson
10 mi. N of Jackson
Est 1980 Acres 600 Type Public On Site Clubhouse, Lodging, Meals, Clays Shoots Field Birds Quail Dogs Avail/HDW Packages 1/2 Day, 1-16 guns

Levee Break Outfitters
253 Avondale Rd., Greenville, MS 38703
(662) 335-8489 Contact: Tom Eubank
10 mi. N of Greenville on Highway 1
Est 1992 Acres 800 Type Public On Site Clays Shoots Field Birds Quail Dogs Avail/HDW Packages 1/2 Day, 2-8 guns

Longleaf Lodge
PO Box 511, Lumberton, MS 39455
(601) 794-6001 M-F, 8 to 4:30 Fax (601) 794-6001 Contact: George Alexander
90 mi. N of New Orleans
Est 1970 Acres 3,200 Type Public On Site Clubhouse, Lodging, Meals, Clays Shoots Field Birds Quail Dogs Avail/HDW Packages 1/2 Day, 6-24 guns NAGA

Pollard Shooting Preserve
Rt. 1, Box 99, Mathiston, MS 39752
(601) 263-4881 Contact: Linda Pollard
Shoots Field Birds Quail NAGA

Savage Quail Hunting Preserve
4679 Blue Goose Rd., Coldwater, MS 38618
(601) 562-4083 Contact: Bobby or Eddie Savage
43 mi. S of Memphis, TN
Acres 400 Type Public Shoots Field Birds Quail Dogs Avail

Tara Wildlife, Inc.
6791 Eagle Lake Shore Rd., Vicksburg, MS 39183
(601) 279-4261 7:30am-6pm (cst) Fax (601) 279-4261 Contact: Sidney Montgomery
25 mi. NW of Vicksburg
Est 1806 Acres 20,000 Type Public, Member On Site Clubhouse, Lodging, Meals, Clays Shoots Field, Blinds Birds Dove, Quail, Turkey, Ducks Dogs Avail/HDW Packages 1/2 Day, 1-35 guns

Thornhill Shooting Preserve
91 Thornhill Road, Jayess, MS 39641
(601) 876-5633 Contact: Conn Thornhill
Type Public Shoots Field Birds Quail

Wildlife Inc.
Rt.1, Box 193, Schlater, MS 38952
(601) 254-6408 Contact: Bo Prestidge
Est 1993 Acres 50,000 Type Public On Site Clubhouse, Lodging, Meals Shoots Field Birds Ducks, Geese Dogs Avail/HDW Packages 2 Days, 1-24 guns

TOMORROW: COMBO QUAIL HUNT