Readers & Writers Adventures 2011-'12

It’s been 16 years since Shooting Sportsman’s first foray afield with our Readers & Writers Adventures—to South Dakota’s Paul Nelson Farm in 1995—and we continue to be thrilled by the success of the program. That first hunt sold out two times over, and there was a waiting list beyond that. Since then we’ve honed the formula and have included a wide variety of SSM writers and editors as our hosts. We’ve visited an “A List” of wingshooting destinations that define the sport, including some of the top spots in the upper Midwest, the deep South, the wide-open Western prairies and the wild North Woods.

Though we’ve shared these hunts with many readers and friends, perhaps we’ve not yet been joined by you? Consider our Readers & Writers Adventures for 2011 . . . .

This will be our fourth year hunting the expanses of Firesteel Creek Lodge, in northwestern South Dakota, where our groups have had fantastic shooting for sharp-tailed grouse, Hungarian partridge and a mix of wild and released pheasants. Host Bruce Buck wrote of the 2010 trip: “Firesteel isn’t as artificially fancy as some hunting lodges. We are always made to feel a part of something very real. The Shooting Sportsman crowd is a ‘been there, done that’ group. They know what good is, and this is good.

“Hungarian partridge were cooperative this year, but the sharptail grouse were a little more standoffish. As always, there were pheasants galore. Some of our shooters got all three species. I saw one flush that contained pheasants, Huns and a sharpie, but I was so busy gawking that I didn’t shoot.”

Firesteel is owned by the Lindskov family, and the ranch is more than 100,000 acres, much of it managed for wildlife. Our group will fly into Bismarck, North Dakota, on Saturday, October 29, for the shuttle trip to the lodge. We’ll have a three-day hunt and depart on Wednesday, November 2. The cost of $2,795 includes ground transportation, hunting, lodging, meals, licenses and ammunition. The only additional expenses are taxes, tips and the cost of shipping birds home. 

In early December we’ll return to one of the most popular destinations in the history of the program—Highland Hills Ranch, in north-central Oregon—for four species of upland birds. Guests hunt 3,000 acres of stunning rolling hills, rimrock canyons, creek-fed bottomland, grasslands, cropfields and open range. The hunting and natural beauty are rivaled only by the luxury of the 10,000-square-foot peeled-log lodge and the quality of the chef’s creations.

Highland Hills Ranch is among the first lodges to earn recognition in the Beretta Trident Program. It also was selected as the Orvis Endorsed Wingshooting Lodge of the Year.

Our group will arrive in Portland, on Thursday, December 8, hunt December 9 through 11, and depart Monday, December 12. The cost is $4,650 per person based on double occupancy, and the price includes everything but taxes, tips and bird shipping.

Our host will be Roger Sanger, founder of the California Side-by-Side Society, a frequent contributor to Shooting Sportsman and the author, with Silvio Calabi and Steve Helsley, of Hemingway’s Guns.

It is the iconic South Georgia plantation experience for bobwhite quail: hunting from mule-drawn wagons and from horseback through forests of longleaf pine and wiregrass, walking in on points as flushing dogs work to root out the birds. Our visit to Pine Hill Plantationis our first with readers—although we did visit through a feature story in the July/August 2009 issue. And the lodge is both Orvis Endorsed and a Beretta Trident Lodge. This is a true gentleman’s hunt and about as close to a private-plantation experience as one could hope to have.

We’ll fly in to Tallahassee on Thursday, February 16, 2012, hunt three days, and depart on Monday, February 20. The cost is $3,950, and it includes everything but taxes, tips and bird shipping.

For more information on joining our 2011 Readers & Writers Adventures, contact Associate Publisher “Terry” Bombeke, 207-594-9544; tbombeke@shootingsportsman.com.