Scenic 395 - The Official Guide 2026

2025 Scenic 395 27 Lone Pine 104 S. Main Street in Lone Pine • 760-876-4208 G ARDNER ’ S Gateway to Mt. Whitney & Death Valley 1008 S. Main Street Lone Pine, CA • 93545 www.bestwestern.com 760-876-5571 1-800-WESTERN FRONTIE R MOTEL Good dog, open country: Guiding pheasant hunts in the Eastern Sierra By Spencer Shepard Kern Valley Sun LONE PINE —On a clear Eastern Sierra morning outside Lone Pine, the moun- tains rise abruptly from the desert floor. The air is cool, the grass dry underfoot, and a German shorthaired pointer named Turner moves slowly ahead, nose low, tail steady, anticipating pheasants. When Turner stops, everything else does too. His handler, Adam, watches closely. Somewhere ahead, a pheasant holds tight. Turner doesn’t rush. He locks up, frozen in place, waiting. Only when the bird fi- nally flushes does the hunt move forward. That moment — quiet, controlled, and deliberate — is what keeps Adam coming back. “This will be my fifth year guiding up here,” he said. “There’s no place I’ve hunted that’s more beautiful than the Eastern Sierra.” Guiding through the club Adam guides exclusively through the Lone Pine Pheasant Club, a licensed game bird club operating on private land in the Owens Valley. He does not guide inde- pendently on public land. “To guide on federal land, the permits and insurance are expensive,” he said. “It would be cost prohibitive.” Instead, hunters book directly through the club, selecting a date and the number of birds they want released for the hunt. When making a reservation, clients can also request a specific guide. “That’s how I started getting return hunters,” Adam said. “They’ll call the club and ask if I’m available.” The club operates as a controlled hunt, See Hunts on Page 28 Turner the pointer dog delivers a pheasant retrieved for his handler, Adam with the Lone Pine Pheasant Club. Photo by Spencer Shepard, Kern Valley Sun