Game Farm Keeps Bird Hunters Close to Home

R&D Game Farm in Huntsville is keeping local bird hunters from flying north for the winter.

With the public’s desire to hunt exceeding the land available to do so, a Madison County man solved multiple problems when he and a friend decided to turn his small cattle farm into a hunter’s paradise.

Roger Case turned 122 acres he and his wife, Debbie, own just east of Huntsville’s Governor’s Hill area into R&D Game Farm. Four years after it first welcomed upland game bird hunting, R&D has become a popular and somewhat convenient vacation destination, or just a day away from the daily grind of the business world.

R&D, which has access to more than 400 acres, offers hunts for Ringneck Pheasant, Chukar Partridge and Bobwhite Quail. There are also limited wild hog hunts available.

Bird hunters had been forced to head north to Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska and even South Dakota looking for upland bird hunts.

But now hunters can choose from a variety of hunting options at R&D, including half-day and overnight lodging with meals.

Case was visiting Huntsville friend Rick Cartmell a few years back when the two began discussing Case’s cattle dilemma. He only had 25 head of cattle due to the terrain of his land.

Cartmell told Case about a recent hunt he’d been on in Missouri and suggested Case turn his land into a game farm. So Case sold all of his cattle in April 2002 and opened R&D Game Farm on Oct. 2, 2002.

Case is trying to raise R&D’s birds, but due to the constant demand he’s forced to purchase many fully-grown birds. An order of 500 pheasant runs R&D about $4,375. And an order of 500 chukars costs about $2,750.

“It’s much more profitable in the long run if we can raise the chicks,” said Debbie Case.

There are believed to be anywhere from 5,000 to 7,000 pheasant on the land.

R&D has had luck with finding a customer base. Television, radio and newspaper advertising has helped spread the word across Arkansas, and Roger Case visits several trade shows with brochures showing off the Madison County hunting farm.

Hunters have come to Huntsville from as far away as Colorado, Pennsylvania and Illinois. A couple from Minnesota recently moved to Northwest Arkansas with their bird dog. They enjoy coming to R&D to allow their dog to work its talent.

A standard hunt is $125. It includes a half-day hunt and the hunter has the choice of killing four pheasant or five chukars or 12 quail.

That option includes lunch, and R&D will clean and package the birds. For $195, hunters get a half-day hunt with several possible combinations.

A $325 hunt is an all-day excursion that includes several combinations of kills, three meals and one night lodging at the cabin that sleeps as many as eight.

Unguided hunts sell for $40 less, but it does not include lunch and hunters have to clean their own birds.

Roger Case, Cartmell, Danny Reed and Case’s sons Henry and Seth are the guides. Case also has several bird dogs, but hunters can bring their own.

R&D is open from Oct. 1 through March 31, seven days a week, except for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

While most groups visiting R&D are much smaller, Cartmell said one business from southern Arkansas brought 32 people, breaking up their hunts in the morning and afternoon.

“Everybody talks about how good the meals are,” Cartmell said. “It’s worth it to get Debbie’s cooking.”

(Kyle Mooty is the editor of the Madison County Record in Huntsville.)