Those in search of a new adventure this year will want to make plans to visit a special place in Botetourt County, just north of Roanoke but south of Covington near a town called Fincastle. The Preserve at Crooked Run awaits those outdoorists that thrill at the flush and bend of the rod.
Imagine 475 acres of rolling field and forest where if you look west will have your breath taken by a mountain vista some three miles distant and when the sun sets behind those peaks, you will thank your God for the visit.
While we haven’t yet had the time yet to visit The Preserve at Crooked Run, we did catch up with owner Tommy Spellman to find out what visitors can expect during a visit.
We found out that The Preserve is part of an Orvis Endorsed Hunting Ground that also offers a five-acre stocked trout pond, overnight accommodations, meeting spaces and a swimming pool all built to curate an experience that celebrates the outdoors with spectacular views, design elements that highlight natural materials and vibes and nearly unlimited activities.
While most W2 readers will go for the hunting, Spellman notes The Preserve does offer an exclusive venue for weddings, corporate retreats and private group outings.
“Our goals are to provide unique experience for all of our guests, whether they are outdoorsman, brides, or CEOs.”
For those of you lamenting the end of the traditional big game seasons, bird season is often the only remaining option. While there are a number of shooting preserves around the state, The Preserve at Crooked Run sets itself apart with the Orvis endorsement, the nearly 500-acre facility, the accommodations/food and of course, the hunting.
“We offer half-day, full-day and split-day hunts with custom packages for overnight guests. All of our meals are prepared by a private chef farm-to-table in our Grand Lodge overlooking our trout pond. Our half-day hunts begin with a warm-up at our 5-Stand followed by a three-hour guided, no-limit upland hunt through our managed quail habitat,” Spellman told W2. “We continuously stock our fields with quail, chukar, pheasant and occasionally Hungarian partridge. And all of our half and full day hunts include a fireside lunch in the field or in our lodge.”
We told you this hunting preserve experience was different.
Another difference is the sincere effort to create an experience that closely resembles an true hunt at The Preserve.
“We pride ourselves on providing the most natural preserve hunt possible. With our varying terrain, mountain views and purposefully managed habitat, we strive to provide a truly authentic experience,” says the 36-year-old Botetourt resident. “We manage our fields beginning in mid-March each year with prescribed burns, followed by selective herbicides and food plots. We feel that by creating a habitat that gives our birds the upper hand, we experience larger coveys and better flying birds.”
For those seeking a continental bird hunt The Preserve at Crooked Run also offers Blue Ridge Tower Shoots. The tower is located on an elevated knoll in the middle of the hunting grounds. Spellman maintains eight blinds in a full circle surrounding the tower. Each blind can hold two gunners, for a total of 16 shooters.
“We begin our tower shoots with a breakfast at our General Store. From there we load into golf carts and head out to the hunting grounds. After a safety briefing, we allow shooters to warm up at our flurry which consists of four traps throwing off of a hillside to simulate the birds flight out of the tower.
“The tower shoot consists of eight rounds with 40 birds being released in each round for a total of 320 birds. After every round, shooters will move clockwise around the tower to the next blind.
“Early in the season we offer a mix of Hungarian partridge and pheasant. After round four, we take intermission with fireside chili or Brunswick stew and hot apple cider. Following intermission, we resume with rounds 5-8.
“After the shoot our staff will begin cleaning and packaging the harvest while shooters are invited back to our Grand Lodge for a ribeye steak lunch, bourbon pours and cigars. Many will choose to spend the night with us and enjoy a field hunt the next morning.”
Whew! Now that sounds outstanding, right? Now that we have you daydreaming, let’s find out more.
The Preserve’s sporting clays course was designed by Orvis and offers 13 stations throughout a two-mile course. Visiting shooting enthusiasts looking for even more can enjoy the 5-Stand with a Wobble-Trap. Spellman notes he and staff change the trap presentations frequently to provide an enjoyable experience for both novice shooters and master shooters.
Many hunts are repeat customers or those that repeat customers have told about The Preserve. Bookings are generally made over the phone.
A visit to The Preserve usually begins with hunters checking in at The Preserve’s General Store, where they can buy gear, ammo and choose from a variety of Caesar Guerini and Fabarm rental shotguns. From there, the on-staff guide will bring them to the 5-Stand for a warm-up round and safety briefing. Following their warm-up, they will head to the fields for a three-hour guided hunt. After the hunt they offer a plated meal either outdoor next to a cowboy cauldron or in our lodge.
Ed McCoy is the head guide at The Preserve at Crooked Run. He’s spent 55 years hunting with bird dogs, 20 years as a shotgun instructor with certifications from 4-H Shooting Education, the NRA, the National Sporting Clays Associations and as an Orvis endorsed wing shooting instructor. McCoy is an English setter fan and has been guiding with them for 20 years, in particular the Ryman line of English Setters, bred primarily for ruffed grouse hunting, while being great on quail, chukars and pheasants.
McCoy told W2 that he remembers when 20 ruffed grouse flush days were not uncommon in the Virginia mountains; and when wild bobwhite quail coveys were plentiful in fence rows, overgrown farms, briar patches and mountain clear cuts.
“That’s why I like how we handle the habitat at The Preserve at Crooked Run—we want it to be a more natural upland bird hunting experience,” he said.
McCoy noted he started helping at Crooked Run when Spellman was looking for a certified shotgun instructor.
“The years of experience with my Setters and informal guiding meshed well with the upland hunting we now offer at Crooked Run.”
If you’re interest has been piqued and your sense of adventure stoked, it’s definitely not too late to make plans to visit The Preserve at Crooked Run. Spellman and McCoy will hunt through March or until the weather reaches a point where it’s too warm to work the dogs. There’s even a tower shoot coming up soon.
“We have one more private tower shoot on the books for February 8th (I expect one more to book before the season’s out). Then we shift gears into wedding/corporate event season with Virginia Tech Clay Target Team’s Invitational shoot on April 13th and various weddings/corporate events through the spring and summer,” Spellman said.
If you are interested in wingshooting/hunting/shooting but haven’t been introduced to shooting traditions, The Preserve offers lessons.
“We offer the one- and two-day Orvis Wingshooting Schools, which can be booked directly through Orvis. Guests are also able to add on lodging and meals to those packages.”
So, what is the true unique essence of The Preserve at Crooked Run visits? We asked Spellman to try and put that into words.
“Our hunting grounds are unique because we put the birds first. We structure and manage our grounds for the birds. Many of our guests that come for the first time say: ‘that was as close as you can get to a wild bird hunt’. We pride ourselves on being authentic and guiding our guests through the natural cover.
“For our events side of the operation, we create custom packages for a exclusive experience. Our events are exclusive in the sense that we only rent to one group at a time. You don’t have to worry about a stranger from another group keeping you up at night or hogging the best fishing spot on the pond; each group gets to have their own exclusive experience.”
So, for those bird hunters curious about the cover in the hunting areas Spellman had this to say.
“We have a variety of cover throughout The Preserve. Our eastern side of the ridge features pollinator habitat that works for both the wedding groups in the growing months and the hunt groups in the dormant months. Once you travel to the western side of the ridge it gets pretty wild. Many of our fields are covered with native broomsedge, with pockets and borders of transitional cover and woodlands. We have a few planted food plots near our creek crossing but the majority of the hunting grounds is simply maintained with fire.”
If you daydream of long mountain views and dog pointing before a flush, of a warm fire after a sumptuous meal and perhaps some sipping time afterward and a good cigar with friends, The Preserve at Crooked Run is ready to make the dream a reality.
