Many experts say that the best hunting preserve in the country is Highland Hills Ranch. That’s a pretty strong claim, but it is not a claim that Highland Hills makes itself. It is a claim made by many who have hunted all over the country. What better testimonial than from experienced hunters? What is the reason? Habitat.

Highland Hills is a 3,000-acre working farm in north central Oregon. But whereas most farmers utilize every square inch of tillable land to maximize profits, Highland Hills discovered it could make a better living by farming wild birds. The farming here is done with agricultural practices that offer food and shelter for wildlife, edge cover, water, and grains.

Gary Lewis, an outdoor writer from Oregon, describes it this way:

As we drove onto the ranch, I was impressed with the habitat. Corn and barley stood unharvested. Milo and sunflowers grew along the creek. Native grasses stood thick and tall. Best sign of all, pheasants ran out of the grass and up the road in front of us. A covey of quail flushed as we drew near.

The Macnabs harvest very little of the crops on their property. Corn stands seven feet high and barley reaches to your shoulder. Instead of planting in rows, the corn and milo is sewn by broadcast. Alfalfa is growing volunteer beneath the standing grains, creating tangled understory.

Wild pheasants, chukar, Hungarian partridge, and valley quail live along the creek bottoms, and up on the flats and high benches. Mule deer filter down out of the draws and onto the fields, nipping the heads of the standing grain.

Combine these practices with a beautiful 10,000-square foot log lodge, extraordinary cuisine, a world-class wine cellar with wine tastings that are evening events, and you have one of the best experiences one could hope for with a shotgun.

There are a number of opportunities for wing shooters. The bottom lands offer pheasant, quail, and chukars, while the hardiest of hunter can traverse the steep hillsides for Hungarian partridge. But what makes this so appealing is that the shooting is unlimited. Extraordinary game management allows this gunning preserve to continue to offer such quality hunting from August through March.

A new twist added recently is British-style driven pheasant shoots in which the shooters are stationary and the pheasants are flying high and fast overhead in a the classic European style. This takes a great deal of skill, and the lodge offers a full day of instruction in this type of shooting prior to the hunt. It is the crowning touch to what is hailed by many as the best in its class.

Layne Simpson, an outdoor writer and a Field Editor for Shooting Times, a man who has seen a lot of hunts in a lot of places, put it this way. “The only thing I could find to complain about was our stay didn’t last a month.”