A Last Best Dove Shoot At Claibourne Darden’s

Claibourne Darden holding court before one of his legendary dove shoots.

As it turned out, it was the perfect last time.

Having held his classic Southern opening day dove shoot for more than two decades, Claibourne Darden stood before the packed pole barn a scant mile from downtown Sharon, in Taliaferro County, for the last time.

In his weathered straw cowboy-styled hat and jeans, he looked his part, a fit farmer, and despite his corporate-suite past, he stood not as gentleman farmer; but as a hands-on perfectionist with great respect for the land and the wildlife that lives on it and the people that land has raised up.

Claibourne was, and is, always, the boss.

A son of South Carolina, he formed his own research and polling firm in Atlanta and he quickly earned a spot in the highest corporate bastions as he advised and guided, among many others, the likes of Coca Cola, the Southern Company and countless politicians. He was an active part of Atlanta auto racing and Ted Turner’s America’s Cup, and a longtime member of the boards of the Wild Turkey Federation and Quality Deer Management Association.

Now, entering his eightieth decade and having fought off a number of significant health incidents, Claibourne decided to pare back a number of his many responsibilities.

His annual charitable dove shoot is among those duties that are now history.

But the last shoot was far from the least; it was one of the better shoots we had enjoyed in the past several years.

As was the custom, at about 1 p.m., we all sat down on folding chairs from Palmer’s Equipment at tables dressed with red-and-white-checkered table clothes to dine on BBQ and stew and all the fixins. Every year, Fat Matt’s Rib Shack, Claibourne’s favorite BBQ spot in Atlanta, donated the meat. Every year.

With military marching music playing in the background, Claibourne dished up a dessert that included a history lesson of the legendary and historical figures that hailed from this part of Georgia. And then one-by-one, before we took to the field, each of the 70-plus participants stood to introduce him or herself to the group, and what a group it has been. Most notably, three past or current USA Olympic team shooters took their first dove on Claibourne Darden’s farm… a remarkable footnote to his simple effort to give back.

Over the years, that single day each year has funneled well over $100,000 into the hands of sportsmen’s groups across the nation, including the past 19 years to the benefit of Georgia youth through the SEEDS program.

This is just one of the many ways in which the world changed for the better because Claibourne Darden is in it. I count myself fortunate to have been a small part of it.

GON founder Steve Burch (standing) at the 2018 Darden Dove Shoot.