Are Hunt Clubs Just A Substitute For The Real Thing?

Ive heard it over and over again by many hunters who despise the idea of an upland hunt club. Whether its because of the pen raised birds, the lack of vast rolling plains, or just flat out cost. 

Trust me when i say I wish northern illinois had a better population of wild rooster pheasants. Its just not getting any easier for them. More nest predators such as raccons and opossums wreak havoc on the populations. Rarely are coyotes catching birds for prey as many people think. these same folk rarely consider the damge a raccoon can do by eating a half dozen eggs. 

The other side of their demise is lack of habitat and were losing it far faster than it can be replaced or replicated. Those wide fence rows in between agricultural fields harbor alot of wildlife. It breaks my heart to see a pile of brush where a row of second growth hardwood trees once were. These strips of land are crucial for the birds. They can seek shelter and safety in the thicket while staying close to food and water. Fencerows arent just for pheasants though. Rabbits, Mice and other small mamals live here too. So do song birds and the bugs they eat. It could be argued that the rusty barbed wired lanes are their own ecosystem. 

So what does that leave the hunter with? The answer may be hunt clubs. With plenty of birds and enough land for the average hunter to roam, Hunt clubs are reluctantly the best alternative we have to the real thing here in northern illinois. It can be very costly though, understandably the property needs to be maintained, the birds need to be either bought or raised, among other operation costs that and orginized facility will have. The birds aren't just walking around at your ankles waiting to be shot.

Its the closest a northern illinois resident may get to the real thing and Im glad the alternative is there. Otherwise i may have never found the love I have for hunting upland game birds.

Maybe someday ill have the privilege of hiking through the rolling plains of Kansas catching up to a dog on point or walking a logging road in northern wisconsin hoping to flush a grouse from the brush. But until then im happy to excercise my yellow lab in a small plot of Planted millet waiting for wingbeats.