Mike turned his hunting hobby
into a business
Pheasant hunting
popular in Scugog

“I made my hobby my business,” says Mike Pollotta with a proud and contented smile. “I always loved hunting, outdoor living, and dogs, and here I could combine them all, plus make a living.”
Mike owns Pineridge Game Preserve, a tract of 145 untamed acres just north of Seagrave where enthusiasts come to hunt ring-neck pheasants and chukar partridge.
“It’s become a leisure-time sporting activity for people of all ages and levels of experience,” he explains. “Our hunters treat a day here the same way others think of an afternoon on the golf course.”
Before he owned the Seagrave property, Mike Pollotta enjoyed the same activity – but as a customer.
“I worked for 11 years as an appliance service technician while living in Toronto. On weekends, I’d often hunt at a game preserve in Ashburn, and got to know the owners quite well. When they decided to close in the late 70s, I took over.”
In 1980, he moved his family and his fledgling business to its current site in Seagrave. The location offered ideal conditions for game-bird hunting: gently rolling hills, with a stream (the Nonquon River) meandering through wooded areas. After obtaining the necessary governmental approvals, Pineridge became
a reality.
Initially, Mike raised the birds from eggs – for his purpose, but also for the Ministry of Natural Resources, which released them in other regions. The process, which he has since discontinued, required a year-round commitment and demanded almost half his working time.
So Mike sold his breeding stock to a producer in southwestern Ontario, from whom he now purchases the “wild strain” of bird he developed. He keeps no less than 1,000 birds at his hunting preserve at all times.
The process of hunting on a game preserve, as Mike explains it, does justify its comparison to a round of golf.
“We accept reservations from hunters seven days a week. When they book, they pick out a ‘package,’ meaning how many birds, and of what kind, they want released, and they can choose among our seven different fields. There can be as many as 30-40 hunters on the property in a given day.”
The popularity of the hunts is evident when Mike reveals that they go through between 4,000 and 6,000 birds a year.
Safety, naturally, is paramount.
“Definitely,” Mike agrees. “All hunters need a valid small game hunting license and must wear an orange vest out in the field. In my experience, hunters are sensible people who respect the need for everyone’s safety. We’ve never had an accident on this range.”
Admitting my own inexperience with the sport, Mike gladly explains the process of game-bird hunting.
“We drive the birds out to the appropriate field with an ATV, and gently place them into cover – a bush or clump of trees – an hour or two before the hunters’ scheduled arrival. Pheasants prefer open fields, while partridge hunting’s done in underbrush. The birds will start to wander a bit after they’re released, but basically stay in the same area. They are able to fly, but prefer to stay on the ground unless they’re distracted.
“That’s where a hunting dog becomes important. You need one of two kinds of dog for this kind of hunt: either a pointer to guide you in the right direction, or a breed such as a labrador or springer spaniel, whose job it is to flush the birds from their cover. Your dog will also locate and retrieve any downed birds. It sounds easy, but believe me, it’s not like shooting fish in a barrel!”
Mike supplies hunters with the quarry and the range, but his services don’t end with those elements.
“We rent dogs to those who don’t own one, and will even provide a guide for less experienced hunters. We can also take a pup and train him for hunting.”
Pineridge includes, in its list of offerings, training for the spoils of a successful hunt as well.
“We put on seminars – how to process (pluck and skin) and prepare the birds.”
Mike produces some ready-to-cook breasts from his own refrigerator to illustrate their comparative sizes.
“A partridge is an all white-meat bird,” he says, holding up a chunk smaller than an average chicken breast. Then, after drawing a much larger piece from a separate bowl, “A pheasant breast, you can see, is twice that size. Because they’re bigger, you can use the whole bird, and you can satisfy four people with just one.”
“Both birds are very good eating – barbequed, oven-cooked, sometimes stuffed – and taste quite different from chicken. There’s a wide variety of recipes available, including soups and stews.”
Hunters relax after their time in the field in Pineridge’s “Club Room,” the game preserve’s version of golf’s “19th Hole.” Its hunting facilities are available year ‘round but according to Mike, they open and close themselves.
“Not many people want to hunt in extreme heat or cold. Fall is our busiest time.”
His clientele, he explains, is quite different now than when he opened the preserve.
“When I first started, we mainly attracted dyed-in-the-wool hunters, and it was rare for us to rent a dog. Nowadays, I see business people arriving in suits. It’s become popular, and also more socially-acceptable now, as a corporate event, in the same way you might arrange a company golf tournament.”
And while he understands there are members of the public who might not agree with hunting in general, he says in all his years on the farm, “it has never been an issue”.
Mike’s cut back his activity level with the elimination of rearing his own birds, but clearly has no plans to give up his business. While its operation certainly demands daily effort, his commitment to the game preserve is undiminished.
Having made his lifelong hobby his business and earned a comfortable living for almost 30 years, he now savours the pleasure of sharing his passion with hundreds of like-minded visitors.
It’s a job, I’m sure he’d tell you, that rarely feels like work.
If you’d like to know more about Pineridge Hunting Preserve you can reach them at - www.pineridgehuntingpreserve.com/ .
By Scott Mercer
Focus on Scugog