From its humble beginnings in 1906 when John W. Webb and wife, Elizabeth Crouch Webb bought the first parcel of land, The Webb Farm has evolved into an exceptional wingshooting experience. “J.W.”, as John was known, and wife built this farm through the first half century by prospering as a farmer, sawmiller, and mule trader with a local livery stable located in nearby Ellerbe. The farm under their tenure grew primarily small grains and tobacco and continually expanded.

In the early 1950’s the two sons, J. Elsie Webb and Ralph Webb, took over ownership of the farm. Each had developed a true love of the outdoors, bird dogs, and the pursuit of bobwhite quail.

They began to plant feed patches for quail over all the farm, and during this twilight period of the “sharecropper” or “tenant” system of agriculture, Fall on the Webb Farm was a patchwork of fallow corn fields, pea patches, broom sedge edges and strips of bi-color lespedeza Here, it was truly the golden age of quail through the 1960’s.

The 1970’s brought change to The Webb Farm. Serious illness struck brother Ralph Webb, and brother J. Elsie Webb died in 1972. The tenant farming system was gone, and many fields simply grew up as only limited tobacco acreage was tended.

After graduation from law school in 1978, Bill Webb, son of Ralph and “Johnnie” Webb, returned home from Wake Forest to practice law in Rockingham. He rekindled the love for dogs, quail, and the outdoors instilled by his family, and on weekends, preferred riding a tractor to a golf cart. He continued the family tradition of quail management. Following a 1986 hunting trip to South Georgia on some private plantations, the younger Webb took what he gleaned from the plantation management, combined it with input from the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, and upgraded conservation practices and introduced prescribed fire practices to improve quail habitat.

Much hard work was carried out through the 90’s and quail numbers improved but failed to come close to the 25 covey days of the 1950’s and 60’s. The snow of 2000, where 23 inches of snow stayed on the ground for almost two weeks, was a knockout punch for resident quail populations.

In 2001 and 2002, with the blessing of family matriarch “Miss Johnnie” Webb, an extensive program of timber thinning and aggressive prescribed burning was implemented. Habitat drastically improved and with the implementation of surrogator raised quail here on the farm covey populations markedly and dramatically improved.
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By 2004, planning was begun to share this unique hunting experience with others searching for the ultimate wingshooting destination; and on January 1, 2006, The Webb Farm Quail Grounds and Lodge was officially opened.

Today, our focus is and will remain to strive to preserve out North Carolina Wingshooting Tradition in a setting and manner second to none.

Your support of this endeavor is greatly appreciated.