Max is hot on the trail of ringnecked pheasants at Broken Spoke Game Ranch

Max was acting pretty birdy, so we instinctively picked up our pace a half step and moved closer. The three-year-old German shorthair seemed confident there was a bird hidden in the brush. He'd acted like that several times already that morning, but in most cases, it had been a false alarm. Unusually high winds were whipping scents all over the place, tricking the trained hunting dog into believing pheasants were in places they weren't.

But not this time. He was locked on.

With one finger on the safety, I crept in closer. This time I was at least going to get a shot, unlike a half hour before when Max scared up a bird. I'd been so startled I forgot to pull the trigger.

This time I was ready. "Come on Max, get him up," I muttered under my breath. He did.

Wings flapping wildly, the bird sprang straight up out of the brush. My 12-gauge was already nestled against my shoulder. Aim, shoot, pump — aim, shoot, pump — and again — aim, shoot, pump. Three shots in a matter of seconds — not bad. It was just like all those years of my youth hunting on my grandpa's farm. But I didn't bask in my quick-trigger glory long.

The bird fluttering away in the distance was a quick reminder that I'm no sharpshooter. As I've done so many times before, I'd just split the air with three shots.

"Good boy, Max," I told the dog. "Nice shooting, idiot," I told myself.

About 2,000 acres of lush wildlife habitat are just 20 miles southeast of Grand Junction in the shadow of the Grand Mesa. It's a big-game hunter's paradise.
Cliff & Judy Davis, and grandson Jason Douglass in the backdrop of the Grand Mesa at Broken Spoke Game Ranch There, at Broken Spoke Game Ranch, you'll find bear, coyotes, deer, elk, bobcats and mountain lions.

For three decades, Cliff and Judy Davis ran cattle on the land — until three years ago. Cliff was in an all-terrain vehicle accident and it affected his ability to work the ranch.

To hunt the land, all you need is $110 — no license necessary. The fee buys you four birds — if you're able to shoot them. It's $26 for each bird you shoot after that. If you have your own gun, bring it. Same goes with dogs. If you don't have a gun, the Broken Spoke Game Ranch has guns it can loan you. If you don't have a dog, Max, the German shorthair and Baby, the black Labrador, are there to sniff out the birds for you if you want their help. Douglass provides the guide service if you want it.

So far Cliff and Judy Davis are happy with their decision to convert what was once grazing land into a giant hunter's playground. They've come from throughout Colorado, Idaho, California and the Midwest to hunt the land in the two months they've been open.

"We've met a lot of really nice people and I think we've made a lot of people really happy," Judy Davis said.

There's a difference between killing and hunting.

Douglass says he's providing a hunting experience, as opposed to just getting out of the truck and killing a bird. "It's not like hunting a bird farm," he said. "This is just like the real deal. You can flush 10 birds at once or spend all day out here looking for them."

We discovered this last Friday, when three Free Pressers, Greg Reed, Bryan Gallegos and myself, spent about two hours stomping around the ranch — only seeing a couple of hens.

A couple of successful hunters (aka staff writers) with the roosters they bagged at the Broken Spoke Game Ranch

After a short break back at the staging area, we headed out again. Our perseverance paid off. Reed harvested a pair of birds, while I even managed to overcome my shooting disability to gun down two roosters myself.

Prior to our success, Douglass said many folks don't seem to care if they get birds or not.

"Some people are just happy to get out here and walk around," he said.

Who can blame them?

In addition to the wildlife, there's an array of plant life on the ranch, brought there courtesy of Douglass's efforts to irrigate the land. He does it the old-fashioned way, using rocks to divert water from the ditches.

"It's a pretty good feeling to be out here hunting this and knowing that I did it," he said.

Along with pheasant hunts, the Broken Spoke Game Ranch provides big-game hunting opportunities and 3D archery shoots. Douglass, who was never a big fan of cattle, couldn't be happier about his grandparents' decision to turn the area into a land of diverse hunting opportunities. To him, the area's special, and he's glad to share it with others who have the same appreciation for the land.

"There's not a lot of spots in the world left where you can just go out and have a good time like this," he said.