By Richard Simms

Correspondent

It begins on the Cumberland Plateau, near the town of Sewanee. On a topographic map you will see several mini-canyons in the mountains, all reaching like fingers into a rich valley running south through the Sherwood Community.

That’s the birthplace of Crow Creek.

Its heart, however, lies in Alabama, near Stevenson. Some of the first recorded descriptions come from the 1700s, when members of the Chickamauga Indian tribe abandoned their village along Chickamauga Creek in Chattanooga, believing it to be infested by witches. They established five towns to the south called Lookout Mountain, Nickajack, Long Island, Running Water and Crow Town.

With rich bottomland, wetlands and surrounding mountainsides, this little wildlife-rich corner of northeastern Alabama provided a good life for our predecessors. Now it is doing the same for Brent Blackmon, his family and his customers.

Blackmon is the owner of Crow Creek Hunting Preserve, providing traditional Southern quail hunts when such opportunities are becoming increasingly hard to find.

Five years ago when we first met, Blackmon said, “My wife, Gena, has a degree in poultry science from Auburn. She said, ‘Why don’t we, just as a hobby, raise some birds (quail) for us to use and see if we can sell some too?’”

They were shocked by the interest.

“Growing the birds was kind of her idea and doing the hunting preserve was mine — so it was a good marriage,” said Blackmon, pun intended.

For seven years they have worked to grow the business. Now they have 600 acres — nearly one square mile of land — all intensively managed especially for quail.

Blackmon said initially they farmed on part of the land, “but as our customer base grew, we started managing it all for hunting.”

“This is amazing,” Brent Brady exclaimed as three dozen quail burst from beneath the undergrowth, although it was hard to hear Brady over the whirring wings.

Shotguns spoke and Blackmon’s dogs quickly went to work sorting out the scent of fallen birds.

The occurrence is repeated many times on each hunt. Hunting a preserve is not the same as hunting wild quail, but without such preserves, Blackmon said, quail hunting would almost become extinct.

“More than half of our hunters are inexperienced,” he pointed out. “That makes me feel good. These days a man just can’t justify keeping bird dogs with the wild population as low as it is. It’s a dying sport, and it’s important that we get new hunters into it to keep it alive.”

In that spirit, Blackmon is offering special deals for parents and children.

The normal price for a half-day guided hunt is $275 per person. But Crow Creek now is providing the same hunt for a parent and child (under 18) for $325. You’ll leave the preserve with fully dressed birds ready for the skillet.

In February and March they will be hosting two special “parent-child” hunts with additional activities and other benefits, including lunch. A lunch at Crow Creek is no ordinary experience. The place has cooking awards on the wall among the hunting photos.

The Alabama Wildlife Federation sponsors several wild game cook-offs each year. The women who cook the meals at Crow Creek decided to get involved. Blackmon said their first time out did not go very well.

“We finished dead last. The girls got nailed and that made them mad,” he said. “They started practicing and went better prepared to the next one. They won best in division, best presentation and best overall. They went from dead last to winning it all. I was proud of them.”

One of their specialties is Crow Creek Jack Daniels Quail Poppers.

“I can’t give you the recipe or I’d have to kill you,” Blackmon joked.

Crow Creek also offers non-guided hunting for experienced hunters who want to bring their own dogs.

“It’s a great chance for hunters to get their dogs on lots of birds fast,” Blackmon said.

“Fast” is a key word in quail hunting. Researchers say quail coming off the ground go from zero to 55 mph in less than a second. It sounds like someone revving up a weed eater at your feet. It can fluster a veteran and send beginning bird hunters into near panic.

Blackmon said he has learned a lot during his seven years in business, much of it in hard-learned lessons. But it’s been a joy.

“Even though it definitely is a business, our customers end up being our personal close friends,” he said. “We go to their weddings, sometimes take trips with them. It’s people who share the same interests as we do, and we just make good friends.”