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Hunting resort owner turns what he loves into what he does
by Pat Underwood

With the spring Turkey season well underway, Bob Barr wants to make sure other people — especially kids — have access to what he remembers from his own youth as "some of the best of the good life Nebraska has offer."

For him, that has always meant hunting. Now it means hunting in fine style, with an ever-increasing number of customers and friends.

Like many others who are now developing successful rural enterprises, Bob is finding that turning what you love into what you do is a winning business strategy.

Bob and his wife Natalie own Turkey Creek Game Farm near Republican City.  The 2009-10 hunting season marked their second year of operating the farm as a commercial hunting resort.

Popularity has soared as word has spread among hunters, not only about the great hunting available on the land, but especially about the unique accommodations the game farm offers, Bob said. Some bookings are already coming in up to a year in advance, and even non-hunters have started staying at the farm just for the atmosphere.

Rustically luxurious

Designed first for family enjoyment, the lodge at Turkey Creek is a rustically luxurious refuge from the outside world. Reminiscent of some of the better African safari travel packages, the Barrs have given careful attention to the sort of details luxury travelers have come to expect for a comfortable and enjoyable excursion.

Special touches offered at the resort include cleaning, packaging and shipping bagged game for customers who desire that level of service. Professional hunting guides are available, and guests can be picked up and dropped off at their choice of area airports.

Upon arrival at the lodge — which sits at the end of a long access road meandering through a wildflower-festooned and sparsely wooded prairie area — guests will notice immediately the well-maintained landscape and thoughtfully planned main staging area.  There is an outdoor hot tub and an artist-designed campfire circle near the multiple grills outside the lodge.  

Steak and all the trimmings

Inside, individual bins have been built in for each guest to store personal hunting gear, and a comfortable chatting area with cushy chairs and an open bar are to be found on the lodge's first floor. There is a slightly more formal but still comfortable seating area upstairs, along with a large, well-organized kitchen from which the Barrs serve hearty Angus steaks, gourmet trimmings and homemade desserts.

The lodge can sleep up to 12 guests in a cozy but not cramped setting which includes an inviting loft bedroom, all built into a creatively and tastefully refurbished 36 x 26 foot historic barn. There is a second story deck on the east side of the lodge, perfect for soaking up those stunning prairie sunrises.

Outdoor details on the property are no less appealing than those inside the lodge, with heated and cooled kennels for Bob's well-trained working dogs, a skeet range, and fish and game cleaning stations.

Turkey Creek Game Farm offers package trips for hunting pheasant, chukar, quail, turkey and deer. There is a controlled shooting area fully sanctioned and regulated by the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, with no-limit hunting allowed for some species.

Habitat game birds love

Bob keeps about 500 chukar and 1000 pheasants in state-of-the-art flight pens on the property. To keep quail, turkey and deer on the farm and available for hunting, Bob says he simply creates the type of habitat game birds and animals love. He has planted plenty of native prairie grasses, wildflowers, and even certain weeds game animals seek out and eat in the wild.

There are no guarantees, though, as to the number of birds or game, if any, a hunter will be able to take.

"Mainly what I was trying to do here was to re-create the golden days of my own youth," Bob Barr says. "I have seen over the years that less and less land is available to the public for hunting, and I wanted to be sure my family, and then others, would still have the opportunity just to experience the fun and camaraderie of going on a family or group hunt."

The property on which Turkey Creek Game Farm sits, about five miles north of Republican City, has been in Natalie (Carlson) Barr's family for over 100 years. Natalie's grandfather, William Graf, owned the property when she was growing up in the local area.

"We wanted to be able to share this beautiful area and especially the traditional family feeling of the land with everyone," Bob said.

Who To Contact...

Bob Barr
Turkey Creek Game Farm, LLC
912 Iron Road
Papillion, NE 68046
Home: 402.537.4623
Farm: 308.567.2205
Cell: 402.699.9610
e-mail: rbarrn1@cox.net
www.tcgamefarm.com/

Pat Underwood is a resident of Alma, Nebraska, where she does grant writing, fundraising, and other development work for non-profit organizations and serves part time as Harlan County Tourism Director. She is also a regional reporter for the Kearney Hub. She is a former resident of California, Hawaii, Guam, and Florida and can be reached at 308-928-8992 or underwoodpat@ymail.com.

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