For more than thirty years, Gary and Carolyn Dietrich have lived on the Interlaken property outside Cameron, South Carolina, and managed it for wildlife. Their efforts have produced a beautiful mixed landscape of mature pinelands, agricultural fields, and the headwaters of Four Hole Swamp running right through the middle of the property. Wildlife abounds at Interlaken.
This includes whitetail deer, raccoons, opossums, gray squirrels, fox squirrels, bobcats, wild turkeys, bobwhite quail, raptors, and songbirds. Interlaken is a place created to protect and preserve creatures and allow people to enjoy the natural world. Three years ago the Dietrichs decided to turn their private preserve into the Interlaken Wildlife Center. The mission of the new not-for-profit is to introduce people to nature through outdoor education and recreation and hunting and shooting sports. Through the Dietrichs’ vision and generosity, their property will be preserved in perpetuity as the Interlaken Wildlife Center with programs to fulfill its mission.
Because Dietrichs have maintained the Interlaken pinewoods for so many years with prescribed burning and tree thinning, the landscape is majestic pine trees spaced far apart with an open understory. A network of dirt roads and trails weave through the entire property. Food plots are planted throughout the center to sustain wildlife. The result is a beautiful terrain maintained for wildlife and accessible to people.
One of the principal ways in which people interact with the natural world at Interlaken is quail shooting. The open pinewoods are classic quail hunting lands. Indigo, love grass, and partridge peas are planted in strips throughout the four quail courses as food. Thickets and briars patches are maintained to provide birds with protection from predators. Wild bird populations are supplemented with large-scale, pre-season-released quail. We use only the finest young birds from Lance Foster’s Black Creek Quail Farm in Collinsville, Alabama. Our bird dogs come from respected North Carolina breeder and trainer David Barnes. Interlaken bird hunters are carried in a comfortable quail wagon that is pulled by a utility vehicle. The results recreates the wild-bird hunting experience.
By November 2024, Interlaken will have hunting lodges on the property available for guests to spend the night. Quail hunts are available from Thanksgiving 2023 until March 1, 2024 for a fee. Anyone interested in bird hunting at Interlaken or visiting the property should contact Richard Rankin, Interlaken Wildlife Center Director, at (704) 718-3100.
