COVEY RISE

BY KERRY LUFT CLUB CALL

IF YOU BUILD IT

JIMBO GEISLER HAS BIG PLANS FOR LOUISIANA’S COVEY RISE LODGE – STARTING WITH THE SOUTH CENTRAL REGIONAL

Covey Rise Lodge in south Louisiana is many things to many people.

Epicures know it as a specialty farm that provides heirloom produce for many of New Orleans’ finest restaurants. For others, it’s a weekend retreat from urban life. Hunters know it as a preserve specializing in quail, pheasant, chukar partridge and flighted mallards.

Above all, as one member offered without prompting, it’s a place where “they really take care of you.”

Sporting clays shooters are about to know it as something else—a premier destination capable of hosting some of the sport’s largest events, starting in September with the NSCA’s South Central Regional and American Field Sporting Gamebore Classic.

It’s a rapid and thorough transformation. Though it has hosted Louisiana state sporting clays championships, Covey Rise’s day-to-day clay target program has been limited to skeet, 5-stand and a small, scenic course nestled amid tall pine trees.

But six months before the regional, changes were afoot all over the property’s 600 acres. The framing of a new, 8,000-square-foot dining and meeting facility was in full swing, while not far away, endless loads of clay and gravel had been scooped from the land, creating and enlarging ponds and providing raw material for more than a mile of cart paths wending through fields studded with majestic live oaks.

At the middle of it all was owner Jimbo Geisler, a dynamo whose favorite phrase is, “I had an idea.”

JIMBO GEISLER AND HIS SOON TO BE 8,000-SQUARE-FOOT DINING AND MEETING FACILITY

Not content to concentrate solely on competition, Geisler wants the regional to be equally memorable for its hospitality. “I want you to spend the day here, not shoot and leave,” he explained. “It’s about the experience, and that’s what we provide.”

For local shooters, the excitement is palpable. Louisiana has not had a club capable of hosting a regional or similarly sized event since Cajun Elite Shooting Club closed several years ago.

“It just opens you up to so many opportunities,” said Dan Lavergne, president of the Louisiana Sporting Clays Association, who is working closely with state and local tourism officials to promote the event.

Those officials are “all excited about Covey Rise” and the regional, Lavergne said, adding that he hopes that the regional could lead to more signature events that draw shooters from across the country.

Though much work remained to be done, Geisler appears to relish the challenge. In a sense, it is a natural extension of the work he began 20 years ago to transform a thick pine forest into a sportsman’s retreat, clearing spaces for luxury cabins, a comfortable lodge for dining and overnight visitors, and his farming and hunting operations.

Louisiana shooters, hungry for more places to shoot, took notice and urged Geisler to think big. He did not need a great deal of encouragement.

“The association has been encouraging him (to apply for a regional), his friends have been encouraging him—maybe he just did it to get everyone off his back,” Lavergne joked. “We all see the potential out there, and we love to go there so much. Next thing I know, he’s going for it.”

Geisler said that once Covey Rise was awarded the regional, he began consulting with renowned target setter Neil Chadwick as well as club managers and owners who were experienced in throwing regionals and other big events, such as Anthony I. Matarese, Jr. of M&M Sporting Clays in New Jersey and Brett Seibert, general manager of Northbrook Sports Club near Chicago. He also traveled to Northbrook for the 2020 North Central Regional.

“His eyes were as wide as can be as he was walking around Northbrook,” said Julia Gilman, who worked closely with Seibert during the regional. “It was the first big shoot he had been to in years, so he hadn’t seen the evolution the sport (and big events) had been going through.”

Gilman explained her duties to Geisler, including her coordination of volunteer trappers and other support work for the regional. That led to an offer for her to do the same for Covey Rise, bringing her experience to an area that is critical yet often overlooked.

“This is a ton of work infrastructure wise,” she explained. “You can’t overlook the small stuff, as well as the things like parking and roads. The only thing I’m not working on is setting the targets.”

Besides the 200-bird Main Event, the regional will offer a 100bird preliminary, 5-stand, Super Sporting and FITASC side events, and 50-bird FITASC and sporting sub-gauge events. In addition, the 100-bird White Gold Cup will double as a qualifier for the American Field Sporting Gamebore Classic Invitational in December.

Most events will be held on Covey Rise’s land, except for FITASC. The parcours will be set on a property ½ mile away, which has been used for past Louisiana state sporting clays championships.

This year’s state championship, scheduled for May 13th – 16th, will be a trial run of sorts. Lavergne said he hoped to attract 250 shooters, about half of what might be expected for a regional. “You can plan stuff on paper, but when you have people running from station to station or event to event, sometimes it can get balled up,” he said.

Yet Covey Rise boasts the two most essential ingredients for a successful event: The necessary space, and the willingness to take on the work.

“The property is fantastic,” Gilman said. “Jimbo has done a phenomenal job. He’s made the most out of what he has, and he’s setting himself up in the best way possible to throw a great regional.

“Sponsors are jumping all over it.,” she added. “It’s like a shiny new toy. They’ve never been there, and they want to be the first ones there.”

One idea for hospitality stemmed from past World FITASC Championships. Struck by the “shooters’ village” at those events, the team developed a plan to carve out a spot behind the existing lodge and the new dining facility, which when completed will seat up to 200 people.

Vendors Row will be nearby, and Geisler would like to erect a giant screen TV to provide live broadcasts of Make-A-Break competitions and other side events. The goal is to encourage shooters to enjoy the atmosphere even after shooting has ended for the day.

And of course, given that the regional is in Louisiana, the food promises to be spectacular.

“Jimbo wants to do it right, and he doesn’t want to cut any corners,” Gilman said.

If You Go

Covey Rise is in Husser, Louisiana, just over an hour’s drive from New Orleans’ Louis Armstrong International Airport. That makes a stay in the Crescent City an appealing option before or after the regional. The marshes south of New Orleans offer terrific fishing opportunities, as do numerous offshore charter boats operating out of Venice, at the mouth of the Mississippi River.

Those who want to stay close to the tournament location can find lodging and food in Hammond or Covington, each about a half-hour away. There also are RV facilities nearby.

The Louisiana Sporting Clays Association is working with tourism officials from the state and Tangipahoa Parish to develop suggested itineraries for out-oftown shooters and their families. “We want you to be able to tap into good restaurants, sporting goods stores, and point out places you can take your family while you’re shooting,” said Dan Lavergne, president of the state sporting clays association. n

Registration for the 2021 South Central Regional and the American Field Sporting Gamebore Classic, as well as the Louisiana state championship, is at www.scorechaser.com