About
Premier Wingshooting
The People
This is a family gig, Jon Hubble and his wife with another partner have preserved a pristine Texas Hill Country grassland ranch for wingshooters from all over central Texas to enjoy.
Jon is a land and ranch broker who has trained his eye over hundreds of transactions in the past decade. When he stepped foot on this ranch, he couldn’t believe no one had yet seen what he was looking at, traditional Texas grassland blended with the hill country topography. It takes a little history lesson to realize that 200 years ago, most of Texas looked like this, but through overgrazing, draught and invasive species, things have changed dramatically. Having grown up in Midland/Odessa with with a local, wild quail population, Jon’s love for bird hunting, dogs, shotguns and now land just about gave him a heart attack (not really, but he was pretty excited!)
After seeing the land for the first time, he ran home to Linda, his bride, who has been as supportive as anyone, and Premier Wingshooting was born. She has been an essential organizer for the project and shares Jon’s desire to see this sport passed on to the next generation. Including their Son Preston and Daughter Hannah! Jon Hubble founded and is the president of Central Texas Quail Forever chapter. He shot his first quail with a BB gun during the season in West Texas when he was nine. He has served on the board for the Hill Country Quail Coalition Chapter, is a Life License holder with Texas Parks and Wildlife and is a member of the Texas Wildlife Association as well as Back Country Hunters and Anglers.
Why Can't we Share it?
Public hunting lands are becoming scarce in Texas, but private operations like Premier Wingshooting can stand in the gap. Here, old friends can reunite for a yearly hunt, father’s can bring their sons and daughters to teach them valuable skills and a respect for nature. Girls groups can get together for a quick and easy Line Drive on a saturday, and young and old shooters can share what they’ve learned.
The goal is to support the community of bird hunters in Texas and provide a platform for the next generation to become engaged. That’s why we offer youth hunts, upland 101 weekends and father/son shoots. What so many non-hunters don’t realize are the awareness and responsibility we teach through these sports, valuable lessons in a time when the big city culture pushes us further from the smell of grass and dirt. We need a place to get grounded sometimes.
Guiding stewardship
To have a great day of wingshooting, you need a great gun, excellent shoes and a well-trained dog and a Premier Guide. With Jon on the land and guiding himself, its easy to see his want for clients to learn and enjoy themselves. And to be a Premier Wingshooting guide, the requirement is simple- Treat our guests as Jon would- teach them the land, the dogs, the birds and safety, and ignite a fire for the uplands. Our Head Guide-Chris Loudermilk lives up to this requirement best of all. Chris and his whole family have been on the ranch for 3+ years and started as guests themselves and have made themselves invaluable to our operation. But rest assured, no matter who guides you, our guides are eager to teach, laugh and make sure your experience is second to none. And a Premier Wingshooting success means we’ve gained a friend and will be seeing you again in the future.
The Stories
A good quail hunt always ends up with a few stories. To us, this captures the “spirit” of our ranch and the vision we have for everyone who comes.
The Frank Gore Memorial One Box Hunt is a staple event here at Premier Wingshooting. The late Frank Gore, our dear friend and advocate, has hunted with his best friend Jim in our tournament from the beginning. After Frank’s passing in 2018, Jon told Jim that Frank will always have a spot in the tournament for their team and that the tournament was named after Frank. Jim asked Jon to take Frank’s spot in the 2019 tournament as they had always hunted with Jon and behind his dogs. Jon was honored, but knowing the skills of Frank and Jim, he was a little nervous. In the tournament you only get one box of shotgun shells for the team, and the goal is to hit and retrieve as many birds as possible in one hour. In a charitable spirit, Jon bought 3 mulligan shells for a total of 28 shells and off Jim and Jon go! The dogs were perfect (Biscuit was especially on point, pun intended) and the day was fine. After a heated hour of shooting, feathers and panting bird dogs, everyone got back to the judges station. They first counted the spent shells as you’re docked a bird if you don’t come back with all your shells. And as it turned out, Jon had a shell in his pocket that he did not shoot. Knowing Jim would raise hell, he quickly named the extra shell as “Frank’s Shell”. They had a total of 27 shot shells. Then they started counting the birds…One bird, five birds, ten birds….Twenty Five birds out of 27 shot shells! That’s a hit rate of 92.5%, which is unbelievable to anyone who has hunted quail. Jon said, “Man, Frank was with us today.” The guide and Judge said it was the most amazing thing they ever saw. Everyone teared up a little, then cheered, then laughed, and after about 15 slaps on the back, they settled down enough to accept first prize for the tournament. With a parting handshake, Jim said “my friend would have been proud of our shooting today.”
That’s the joy of hunting. The memories, the friends, the “impossible”, and all the stories.
THE LAND
“You have to see it to understand it,” Jon says.
Native grasses that are knee high or taller wave in the gentle, dewey morning breezes. Premier Wingshooting is located near Adamsville, Texas on 3000. Small mesquites stand abnormally solitude in the wide open fields. The sun rises and sets over the low-slung hills with all the brilliance of that Texas sky, something we all know and love.
Here, the Texas Hill Country meets the rolling plains of North Texas, a quail Mecca. The topography and elevation change are capable of challenging anyone’s fitness level. Guest Hunters have to shoot well, or will spend the day watching missed birds sail down any number of large draws and basins to light sometimes over 400 yards away. Remember, it’s 95% native grass, and the long site lines are more reminiscent of the High Plains of Kansas and Nebraska, it’s just way closer than the 15 hour drive north.
We are in the process of building a few primary structures so people can sit down and spend an evening with us. Fires and sunsets are a natural pairing to a day out in the field. We’ll post more as construction is completed.
You can map your directions here
