Starting a Pheasant Preserve

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WildcatHunter

New member
I own a plot of land in east Kansas in which I am considering starting a pheasant hunting preserve upon. I am a fairly experienced hunter and outdoors man, however, I do not have much experience with training dogs or the workings of running a pheasant hunting operation. I was wondering if anyone had any words of advice for me that would help with the start up of my company?
Examples of the things I am trying to determine are: What kind of legal documentation and permits are required to start something like this? How much land would be optimal for a starting operation? How difficult is it to raise the birds from eggs? Can you still make a profit if you buy the birds fully matured? What kind of crops or grass do you plant to hunt in? What are some potential risks associated with starting this preserve?

Any help would be much appreciated, I'll even give you a discounted rate on your first visit!
 
WildcatHunter said:
I own a plot of land in east Kansas in which I am considering starting a pheasant hunting preserve upon. I am a fairly experienced hunter and outdoors man, however, I do not have much experience with training dogs or the workings of running a pheasant hunting operation. I was wondering if anyone had any words of advice for me that would help with the start up of my company?
Examples of the things I am trying to determine are: What kind of legal documentation and permits are required to start something like this? How much land would be optimal for a starting operation? How difficult is it to raise the birds from eggs? Can you still make a profit if you buy the birds fully matured? What kind of crops or grass do you plant to hunt in? What are some potential risks associated with starting this preserve?

Any help would be much appreciated, I'll even give you a discounted rate on your first visit!
Click to expand...

My father in-law started one up a few years back in Southeast Kansas. I know there's some paperwork that needs to be done, call the KWWP. You then enroll your land in Controlled Shooting. I would say just jumping into it you need to not take on the burden of raising your own birds. Find a supplier and buy them as adults. You can run a preserve on any amount of land, my guess would be minimum 80 acres would be want you need, probably 320 or so would be ideal. CRP would probably be best, but we've released and hunted birds from feed fields as well. Get ahold of the Kansas Gamebird Association and they will answer any questions you may have.
 
go to an established preserve and talk to the owner or better call first and see if the owner would be receptive to a site visit and more detailed info.
best to talk to someone who has been in the business for a few years.
 
Suggest you check out http://www.huntkansas.org/. That's a trade association of preserves and related businesses.

I think you'll need to have at least 160 contiguous acres to create a "Controlled Shooting Area". You don't have to own it all or use it all, but you have to have that much land under your control (at least nominally under your control) to create a CSA.
 
You need to find a mentor or someone in the business who can teach you the ropes first. Find an established club and maybe volunteer some time to help out for a while. Pick their brain on how to handle the business side as well as maintaining a healthy bird population. There's surely more to running a game preserve than meets the eye and to succeed you will need to find these things out first.

Good luck.
 
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