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There are no corn or beans anymore on Greg Club's farm near Ivanhoe, but there are plenty of pheasants.

The Pheasantville Hunting Preserve has been open for hunting for about a month now.

Club said the preserve is for "people who don't own their own land - it gives them an opportunity to hunt."

He's got 160 acres of farmland that really aren't good for farming - "too hilly and clayey," he said.

The land is signed up with the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program, which is "a voluntary land retirement program that helps agricultural producers protect environmentally sensitive land, decrease erosion, restore wildlife habitat, and safeguard ground and surface water," the United States Department of Agriculture's Web site said.

"It can never be farmed," Club said of his acreage, "but I can do what I want with it as far as hunting rights go."

To make the preserve more amenable to hunting, Club has planted more than 12,000 trees, including Common Lilac, Black Hills Spruce and Red Osier Dogwood which provide cover for the pheasants.

"The habitat here is unusual," he said. "There is grass protection, cattails, trees. The pheasants hide under them."

For cover and feed, Club introduced various grasses to his land with the help of Prairieland Management.

"I planted Bluestem, Indian grass, switchgrass - a lot of switchgrass - Western Wheatgrass and Canadian wild rye," he said.

Club said the pheasant population on his land is "very good." The previous mild winters have been a boon to growth and "last spring provided two hatches."

In the past month, the hunters have all bagged their limit - two each.

Jeff Davis of the Buffalo Ridge said preserves are an excellent venue for people who don't have the opportunity to hunt elsewhere or have the time to go out in the field.

"In southwestern Minnesota we're blessed with quite a few acres of public hunting land, but if someone doesn't have the time a preserve could be useful for that," he said.

Davis added that Pheasantville might bring "a good awareness of hunting and we hope it's a place that's safe and has good sportsmanship so the hunter will get a good picture of the sport."

Club wants to be sure the hunting preserve is open to everyone; he bought a trackchair for the use of the physically impaired. A trackchair is a wheelchair that has tracks instead of wheels and can go on all kinds of terrain.

The trackchair "is run off electricity so it's not considered motorized and can be used to shoot from," he said.

Club also wants to encourage young people to hunt and that shows in his pricing - youth younger than 16 can hunt for half price.

Club will also rent out hunting dogs - German Shorthair Pointers - for hunters' use.

"Or they can bring their own," he said.

Kennels will be available for the dogs, he said.

Having the use of trained hunting dogs is an asset, said Brad Heidel, an employee at the corporate headquarters of Pheasants Forever in White Bear Lake.

In addition to flushing out a bird, dogs can retrieve birds.

"If you shoot a bird and wound it you don't have a lost bird," Heidel said.

In addition, Davis said preserves are a great place to "brush up your dog's hunting skills."

Also, Heidel said, with a preserve there is the opportunity to extend the state season.

Club is working with the Department of Natural Resources to obtain a gaming license.

"The season is from Oct. 10 to Jan. 3," he said. "With a gaming license it will run through March 8. I'm talking with the DNR on that."

The pheasants that are on Pheasantville are wild, but "I will be implementing chukars next year which are quail or partridge," Club said. "I have a gal from Henry, South Dakota, who will raise them for me."

Pheasantville is located on the Club family farm. Club bought the farm from his grandfather, Frank Club, in 1979. The family name used to be Chlopkowiak, but was shortened to Club, he said.

"I've been hunting since I was 18," he said. "I started out with my father (Leo Club)."

Club said he is an avid outdoorsman.

"Hunting is my passion and has been all my life," he said. "I look forward to the fall every year."

The land has been in CREP since 1999. Club said he has been planning this preserve for 10 years.

"I want to give others the excitement of the hunt," he said.

Club said running Pheasantville is "not a job - it's a way of life."

He hopes to pass on Pheasantville to one of his children.

"I hope they carry on the preserve," he said.