At season’s end:

Unique preserve

reviews opening
By Scott Nicholson
nicholson@wataugademocrat.com

The organizers of Watauga County’s only hunting preserve hope their work will lead to more fowl play.

Mark Scruggs and Don Jones started Covey Hollar Hunting Preserve last year and say they have been pleased with the response to the effort as it winds down to the end of its first season.

The preserve is on 150 acres of private land in Deep Gap, donated for use by the landowner who is a hunting enthusiast and supportive of the duo’s efforts to restore feathered prey to the area.

Jones has operated hunting preserves before and found out that Scruggs was interested in starting one in the county.

The partners prepared the site and now bring adult bird species such as pheasant, quail and chuckar to the region. The effort is popular with hunters and also helps replenish wildlife numbers because such birds are increasingly difficult to find in the wild.

Scruggs said ruffed grouse and wild turkey are about the only prey species in the region and, like many grassland and woodland birds, their habitat is threatened by increased development. Hunters also are finding access to available land more difficult, so the preserve helps provide outdoorsmen with hunting opportunities.

“There are almost zero quail up here,” Scruggs said. “Unless we do something to protect habitat and protect quail, we’re going to lose all the hunting out here.”

The preserve’s customers order a number of adult birds which are raised in large pens that allow them to exercise. Jones then spreads the birds around the preserve and the hunters later arrive and work with Jones’s dogs to flush the birds from cover.

“I’ve been bird hunting all my life,” Jones said. “I started my first quail preserve in 1990. It just got where there were no birds anymore.”

Scruggs said, “I’ve always been fascinated with wing shooting. I’ve been wanting to do a hunting preserve so my kids would have something to shoot up here and a reason to get outdoors.”

Dennis Fletcher of Zionville, who was with two friends on a hunt in the preserve Friday, said, “We hunt everything that moves. We find plenty of places to hunt, but we come here because there aren’t any birds anywhere else.”

The preserve’s main hunting area is on a series of grassy hills surrounded by forest. The site was inspected by the state and falls under state regulations, and has a definitive season from October through March, one month longer than the wild-bird season. Safety is a key consideration in the hunts, with all hunters given a presentation on expected behavior and use of the dogs, and one or both partners are present for every hunt.

Jones planted milo and millet, which produce both seed and habitat for birds, but last year’s drought inhibited the growth. He estimates about half of all the released birds get away from hunters and in turn help boost local bird populations, assuming nature’s other predators don’t get them first. Coyote and foxes sometimes catch the birds, and hawks often soar above the hunting site.

Scruggs said hunting is a cultural pursuit as well as a recreational activity, and all his customers eat their prey.

Shortage of available food sources also limit wild bird populations, so the partners are active in a number of wildlife preservation organizations such as Quail Unlimited, which is joining forces with the North Carolina Christmas Tree Growers Association to bolster quail populations. Christmas tree farms have grassy habitat suitable for quail, and more than 11,000 acres will be dedicated for the effort.

“Christmas tree farmers are some of the biggest environmentalists and conservationists I know,” Scruggs said, noting that the annual association meeting on Feb. 29 will have a booth sponsored by Quail Unlimited. He’s also involved in Ducks Unlimited, Pheasants Forever, the Elk Foundation and other groups.

Scruggs acknowledged that some people consider hunting preserves inhumane or unsportsmanlike, but said his effort is critical if there is any chance for birds to return to the wild.

“People do think that,” he said. “I would love to say we wouldn’t have a hunting preserve, but it’s the only way we can hunt birds here.”

Customers order birds and schedule their hunts, and the preserve also sells memberships for $700, which provides each member 100 birds. Jones’s bird dogs, which can cost several thousand dollars if well-trained, sniff out the birds by running in large circles across the fields. Scruggs says watching the dogs work is one of the pleasures of the activity. Hunters typically stand spaced apart, one on each side and one behind the dog, and the hunter closest to the side where the birds emerge from cover is the one who will shoot first.

Bird hunters use shotguns with shells of various gauges. Scruggs said aiming for birds is a little different than rifle shooting because hunters use both eyes and lead the target. Skilled hunters must understand the flight patterns of the birds to be successful.

The preserve also has females among its customers, and Scruggs said one man recently brought his two young daughters to hunt, with the 11-year-old showing a proclivity for the sport.

“This is for guys like me that want their kids and their friends to get outdoors,” Scruggs said. “I want to do something with my children and have them remember it. If I can give my kids memories of getting outside and hunting instead of playing video games, that’s what I’d like to do.”

“This is definitely a preservation effort and there’s the historical aspect,” Scruggs added, noting the first European visitors to the area were hunters who came on extended hunting trips. “There are no wild birds anymore and people can get meat in the grocery store. A lot of our hunters are those whose fathers or grandfathers hunted birds.”

Despite the tastiness of the prey and the cost of bringing birds to the preserve, Scruggs is pleased when he hears reports that some of the preserve’s birds have escaped and are seen in the area. “We want to do everything humanly possible to bring quail back to the area,” he said.

The price for hunts vary, based on number of birds, and also are combined with local lodging packages. Half-day hunts usually take two to three hours and include a vigorous workout of hiking. The preserve’s Web site is www.coveyhollar.com.