2025–’26 Readers & Writers Adventures

From our March/April 2025 issue

With our hunting stories, we try to create visceral experiences. You can see the blur of flushing birds. You can hear the beating of wings around you. You can smell the scent of spent shells and feel the weight of game in your vest.

With our Readers & Writers Adventures, these stories come alive. This year we’re hosting trips from Wyoming to Georgia at a variety of world-class destinations. Year after year these trips fill up with hunters eager for great experiences. Following is our 2025–’26 lineup of can’t-miss events.

We begin with a bang: our first organized hunt at Sweetgrass at Thunderbasin, in Weston, Wyoming. Shooting Sportsman Director of Wingshooting Terry Bombeke will host the trip, and guests will arrive at the huge and secluded ranch on September 17 for three days of walk-up hunting for pheasants, Hungarian partridge, chukar and sharp-tailed grouse. Also included is a Continental shoot for pheasants and chukar. The price of $7,988 includes single-occupancy rooms as well as all hunting, meals, alcohol, ammunition, licenses, bird processing, ground transportation and gratuities. (The only things not included are taxes and the cost of shipping birds home.) Hunters will fly into Gillette, Wyoming, and spend four nights in deluxe accommodations while enjoying one of the finest culinary programs of any hunting lodge in North America. Guests depart on September 21 with a game bag filled with Western memories.

Clockwise from left: classic quail hunting at Pine Hill Plantation; premier bobwhite habitat at Wynfield Plantation; and exclusive accommodations at Joshua Creek Ranch.

Just after Thanksgiving we head to Joshua Creek Ranch, in Boerne, Texas. This legendary wingshooting destination is located in the heart of Hill Country and has countless awards and accolades to its credit. The trip will be hosted by Terry Bombeke, and hunters will fly into San Antonio on December 4 and enjoy four walk-up hunts for pheasants, bobwhite quail, chukar and Huns as well as two high-bird Continental shoots before departing on December 8. The $9,950 price includes 14 boxes of shells along with single-occupancy lodging, meals, most alcohol, licenses, taxes, gratuities, bird processing and ground transportation. (Super-premium bar selections and the cost of shipping birds home are extra.)

We launch into 2026 with a trip to Wynfield Plantation, in Albany, Georgia. SSM Editor in Chief Ralph Stuart will host this hunt, which promises hot-barreled action and plenty of fun. With more than 2,000 acres of premier bobwhite habitat, this South Georgia plantation offers classic quail hunting behind well-trained pointing and flushing dogs. Hunters will fly into Albany, Georgia, on January 11 and depart on January 15. The cost of $5,140 is for single-occupancy lodging and includes everything except taxes, gratuities, birds over the daily limit of 35, ammunition beyond eight boxes, and shipping birds home.

We wrap up the season from February 22 to 26 at Pine Hill Plantation, in Donalsonville, Georgia. This will be our tenth year in a row visiting Pine Hill, which offers bucket-list bobwhite hunting from mule-drawn wagons as well as fantastic food, first-rate accommodations and genuine Southern hospitality. Terry Bombeke will host this trip, for which hunters fly into Tallahassee, Florida. The price of $6,695 is for single-occupancy accommodations and includes everything except taxes, gratuities and the cost of shipping birds home. If you’ve dreamed of hunting hard-flying quail in the time-honored way in classic Southern habitat, this is the adventure for you.

For more information on all of our Readers & Writers Adventures, visit the “Trips” page or contact Terry Bombeke at 207-594-9544, ext. 478, or tbombeke@shootingsportsman.com. We’d love to have you join us!