Bird farms target younger huntersBy David V. Graham, Flint Journal, found at MLive.com
January 04, 2010OTISVILLE — The pheasant hunting wasn’t too hot last October and November in Iowa, so it was a real pleasure when I got to hunt the colorful birds with my two sons and daughter-in-law last weekend at a game farm near here.
We hunted 80 acres owned by Ron Gutchak and his wife Diane at their Gamebirds Farm & Hunting Preserve in Forest Township, a couple of miles south of Otisville.
We had a great time with birds that were good flyers and stayed put for our three pointing dogs instead of trying to outrun them, which is a common problem with wild birds.
We, including John, 30, and his wife, Julie, 27, both of Iowa City, and Brent, 25, of Austin, Tex., hunted in Iowa last fall in some of our best places, but we didn’t see many birds because that state had a cold, wet spring after a harsh winter with a lot of snow and cold weather. We only got five roosters in three days of hard hunting, far less than we usually get.
We hunted the same kind of habitat that we found in some of our favorite places in Iowa, but this time we saw a lot more birds without having to walk miles to flush them. Of course, we had paid for them to be placed in the switchgrass and the weedy thickets where we found them, but since it was only $17 per bird, it wasn’t an outrageous amount.
In fact, it was a lot less than a trip to Iowa would have cost.
We got a good workout and so did our three dogs, John’s two Brittanies and my English setter, Bonnie. We took home seven birds, one less than what we paid for.
The Otisville game preserve is one of the more than 300 hunting preserves or bird breeders that are members of the Michigan Association of Game Bird Breeders and Hunting Preserves. There are at least nine other game farms in the five counties around Flint, Saginaw and Bay City.
Gutchak, a retired General Motors employee, said he keeps his bird prices low because he wants to serve the kind of “average” hunters found in Genesee County. He said he knows many people here can’t afford a Cadillac game farm experience.
Gutchak, who has owned his game bird farm for nine years, said his business took a big hit in 2008 with the declining economy, but that it recovered fairly well in 2009.
“We are up more than 40 percent over what our situation was a year ago,” Gutchak said. “I think people are starting to feel better about the economy.”
Gutchak said he is more concerned about the long-range prospects of game farm hunting because so many Baby Boomer adults are getting too old to hunt as much as they once did. Many of them go south for the winter, he said, which cuts into his prime market.
He said he is worried about the future because the younger generations aren’t as interested in bird hunting as their elders — they didn’t grow up with the bird hunting tradition.
Gutchak said he recently hosted a party of six young men who came to his game farm for their first bird hunt. They hired a guide with hunting dogs and had a great time, he said.
“They were all deer hunters who said they couldn’t believe how much fun bird hunting was,” he said. “They said they get bored sitting in a blind all day while deer hunting.”
Ed Sutton, an outdoors writer who does public relations work for the state game bird association, said the Department of Natural Resources and various conservation organizations such as Pheasant Forever are trying to encourage more interest in bird hunting by hosting youth bird hunts and other introductory events at game farms.
However, that kind of experience only works if there is an adult willing to take a young hunter bird hunting again, Sutton said. Most kids won’t take up bird hunting on their own if they only try it once, he said.
The DNR has had some success in encouraging shooting and archery programs at schools throughout the state, but some parents and school officials are leery of programs that promote firearms or the shooting sports, Sutton said.
Bird hunting is not a skill that can be picked up in only one hunt at a game farm, just like skeet shooting is not something that can be mastered by one visit to a shooting club.
It takes some time to learn how dogs work birds, where to find birds and how to mount a gun in time to make a good shot.
And, of course, it is very difficult to even find pheasants in Michigan or to get permission to hunt private land that has birds. Making a trip to Iowa or South Dakota is not something most young people can afford to do, either financially or time-wise.
Game bird farms are getting to be the best alternative for those who like the thrill of seeing a cackling rooster lift out of the grass right in front of them. There really aren’t many things as exciting as a good pheasant hunt.
http://www.mlive.com/outdoors/index.ssf/2010/01/bird_farms_target_younger_hunt.html
