There are 102 shares, so each shareholder owns slightly less than 1 percent of the property. The property consists of about 275 acres of land that border Route 30, an east-west route running through Gettysburg. There is a house, several outbuildings and bird pens etc. The commercial value of the property is probably in excess of $5 million. But it is tied up in a not-for- profit corporation and no one wants to sell. The club buys about 15,000 pheasants a year. The birds are not planted, but instead are released before each hunt. By the end of the first month it is awash with birds. The cover is maintained as a mixture of crops, planted cover and wild vegetation. We hire a full time gamekeeper. He releases birds 6 days a week during the season and mows and maintains the property in the off season. We hunt October 1 until usually the end of March, when we end with 1000 chukars. Each shareholder must pay an annual fee, which for 2023-24 is $2200. For this each shareholder may hunt two half days each week, three birds each hunt. In addition, Mondays are scratch days and two birds are permitted. There are also family memberships, where the birds are shared among the shareholder's family. This is as close to wild bird hunting as you will find in the East I hunted wild pheasant in the 1970s in PA and this is every bit as good. I bring guests who pay $100 for a half day hunt. I live in Tennessee, so they allow me to accumulate my hunts then take them at one time. I usually hunt two days, morning and afternoon. I have hunted Saturday and Sunday both days, then on scratch day Monday, which begins the new week, then morning and afternoon Tuesday and Wednesday. I'm usually a little tired by then. Anyway, my wife's health is slipping, and I don't like to leave her alone. If brokered by the club, a share sells for $18K. I want $16990 for my share, which would begin in October, 2024. Contact Allan at 423-262-9394.

My dad and I shot pheasants on this property in the early sixties. Our wild bird hunting was a few miles to the northwest of this farm. We would shoot our limits of wild birds and finish our day at this commercial operation. It has always been run by professionals, in the sixties by a retired PA game warden named Stipe. It is a little out of my wheelhouse these days, but some of my shooting friends are members.

It's called Straban and Mount Pleasant preserve now. For years they shortened that to S&M and had a sign out front so designated. The boys couldn't figure out for the longest time why weird people came to visit. People even posed for photos in front of the sign. The current game manager is a prize to have. The place has never looked better.

In the late fifties and mid sixties, it was known as Harris and Stipe. I don't know who Harris was but Stipe was a grey haired ex game warden who wasn't afraid to get his boots dirty. Birds were four dollars each for hens and five dollars for cockbirds. That is what I remember. My dad and I ran a pheasant wise Irish Setter, Rusty. Everyone I know who is a member is very happy with the management as far as I know.

We have a new president this year. A really nice guy and very fair. He and the gamekeeper Rick are a winning combination. Rick raises Brittany's and has a good group of dogs. He will take out members who don't have dogs or have dogs that can't find birds. I just hunted Friday and Saturday morning and afternoon both days. The cover is great and the birds are plentiful but wily. Friday morning was tough. Frost and no breeze. Got 2. Friday afternoon good scenting weather. I put up 6 birds and got 3. Saturday morning very foggy and no wind. Sam and I worked very hard to get 3. In the afternoon I put up two roosters and shot those. Not a true double but close. A third rooster sneaked off. Sam tracked him over 500 yards running through woods and sorghum. Sam pointed twice but he ran. The third time Sam caught him in tall foxtail. He ran around while Sam pointed then trailed him again. The bird made the mistake of running toward me, saw me and launched. Fatal mistake. 3 birds in about 40 minutes. Then I headed home to Tennessee to beat the rain coming in.

I have decided to offer the share at $12,500. That's way below the market, but I am motivated to sell. With my wife's health as it is, I won't be able to hunt next year. I know of only 2-3 properties like this where the shareholders own the property, and they are over $75K for a share. This is as close to wild bird hunting as you will find in the East. Call me at (423) 262-9394.

Allan