New Association Hunter Jump Start
All new hunetrs to Mid-America Hunting Association will receive assistance their first season by being recommended where to hunt for their hunting interest and habitat preference. Typically, after the first season do it yourself hunters will have gained sufficient experience within the Association and on the land to have confidence at knowing where to hunt for what they are after and will act on their own accord.
Later, when an Association hunter decides to hunt a new region or another state than where he has been before that member will also receive recommendations on where to hunt. As in the case of the first season hunter once moving into a new region or state and having gained some experience with the habitat in that area that hunter will be expected to conduct his own scouting and hunt preparation.
When the staff recommend a hunting property it is based on first hand experience with that particular piece of land. These recommendations may be accepted or not once the hunter scouts that property. If the hunter likes the recommendation he will be welcome to hunt the ground and if it does not appeal to the hunter he may go to any other land under lease in accordance with our reservation system.
First year members on receiving the Association map online issue frequently begin map scouting and typically highlight the largest contiguous acreage leases or the units with the most acreage. Deer hunters often believe the larger the property the more likely for hunting success. The contrary may occur as several new members using the same approach will pressure the larger acreage properties with additional scouting and hunting trips while smaller farms remain untouched through the season.
A condition is illustrated with the picture below and the farm it was taken on.
This picture were taken by game cameras placed on a small farm with what appears from the road to be limited habitat. This farm holds a spring and fall turkey flock and at least one trophy whitetail. While this farm has been recommended to over a dozen hunters in recent years only two have hunted it. They both harvested spring turkeys and one did deer hunt it without success.
The other hunters rejected this ground for several stated reasons such as no habitat and it being small. While the acreage is limited in comparison to many of our properties the habitat is very good. The difficulty of this property is that from the road all that is visible are crop fields. The two hunters that now hunt it took the time to walk over the ridge and found the "golden nugget" this farm possesses.
The same ridge that shelters the habitat from the road also covers the wildlife from road activity. A key point for anyone wanting to maximize their hunting potential for deer and turkey.
The picture was taken in August. The buck picture was cropped wide to show the time of 2:41 PM. The reason the deer picture is blurred is that this particular game camera charges a capacitor to fire the flash. During the charging period of about one to two seconds before the picture is taken the camera issues a high pitch whine that alerts the wildlife in the immediate area. We have seen this startled deer behavior in other photos with this camera, and after having paid good money for it we decided it was still better to use it than not in spite of its early warning to the deer.
The summary is that deer and turkey hunters often forgo the smaller farms thinking they do not have potential. This is opposed by the upland bird hunter that does walk his dogs on every farm that has even the minimum of a fence row and it is the bird hunter that has harvested some of the largest deer in the Association. These pictures should start to dispel the idea that only large farms hold large deer. If the Association land managers recommend a place to hunt it is based on its habitat quality, its game carrying capacity and first hand scouting experience and never based on its acreage. The hunter's confidence in the Association's recommendations is assured by two points. First and foremost, we gain a great deal of personal satisfaction and appreciation for the hunter every time a trophy or youth photo is sent into us by one of our hunters. Second, our only assurance our hunters will want to renew their memberships each year is if they have good hunting they will want to come back. With a high retention rate the Association's staff remain land/hunting managers and do not have to become salesmen.
Waterfowl hunters were ignored in the above discussion as they have the state conservation agencies scouting for them throughout the season over the entire state wide area. Both Kansas and Missouri offers frequently updated waterfowl reports by region and significant wetlands areas published on their web site. These links are posted on our waterfowl page. Essentially, the duck hunters have it made as the state tracking reports are provided by many conservation officers during the actual migration and they do a far better job at covering vast regions than the Association's three land managers could possibly do during their busiest time of the year.
Hunts to the hunter's standard...
A highly detailed account containing jewel's of information. We also accept the criticisms as well. All feedback is welcomed and useful.
John, my name is [name deleted] and I hailing from the state of SC. I've seen MAHA's web site and thought I would send a synopsis of my first experience hunting on MAHA properties. After a couple years of wavering whether to buy into MAHA, I finally bit the bullet and joined earlier this summer (2007). Unfortunately I was unable to pre-scout for my first hunt, instead I rested my hopes on a little luck and past experiences hunting farm lands in Georgia. My trip was planned for November 1st thru November 9th. My goals were centered around a bow hunt hoping to take a mature animal in 130+ inch range. Here is my account.
Driving from SC to [location deleted] was a grueling trip to say the least. I arrived at my [location deleted] location around noon on the 1st of November. After checking into a local motel, I headed out to look over a parcel I reserved with no idea of what I might find. Internet hybrid maps in conjunction with MAHA maps were all I had to go on. Immediately I was disappointed in my first selection which was a small sliver of land behind a white farm house mainly consisting of a 30 foot deep ditch encased in a heavy mass of tangled locust and cottonwood. I did see some positive sign, but since I was bow hunting, I decided to forgo this parcel and search several other options I printed out. The parcel next to mine was inviting, but after calling in, I found it was already checked out, so I drove to look over a couple neighboring parcels with the last being what I considered bow friendly. I changed my reservation and started scouting. The parcel would easily have been overlooked from the highway because it looked like a huge field reduced to corn stalk nubs by recent combining, but a short walk to the crest of the hill revealed a virtual whitetail paradise consisting of about 30 acres of wood line lying in a hidden valley. I suddenly felt much better about my situation.
As I walked to the timberline I immediately saw good sign. On the far left of the timber, I could see a patch of corn which was not entirely mowed to the ground and I decided to start there. It wasn't long before I jumped two doe bedded near the edge of the small corn field. They leapt down a trail which led into a deep and wide trench containing a considerably sized drainage pond. I caught glimpses of a rub line following the timber's edge leading to where I was standing. I decided to look no further, luck appeared on my side.
I returned around 3:30 with my climber and scaled a tree some 35 yards from the corn and 15 yards from the trail where the doe had escaped earlier. Around 5:30, I looked to my right in the adjoining cove of the field and watched three young bucks cross the open field. Twenty minutes later, I had 6 doe pushed by a decent 7 point in the corn plot before me. I grunted the young buck over to within 14 yards, after closer inspection revealed he was much larger than I had anticipated. He had a really nice rack with at least a 17 inch spread, his left G3 was just forming and his right G3 was missing. I watched him lick a sagging branch and eventually walk back to his harem. To say the least, my blood was pumping with anticipation of the upcoming week.
The following 2 days allowed me to hang another stand and to hunt several other spots on this parcel. I saw deer every day with a couple mature bucks presenting themselves, though not in bow range. A local farmer started combining a corn field just adjacent to the land I was hunting, I was amazed at how the deer were immune to his presence. After 3 days on this tract, I decided to look over another parcel and try my luck elsewhere, keeping in mind I wanted to return after I let the deer rest a couple of days. I sensed the deer were starting to catch onto me as I was seeing less deer each succeeding day.
My next reservation was on a tract about 12 miles away. From the road, it looked very deerish. A violent windstorm cropped earlier in the morning, so I decided I could probably get away with some slow moving scout hunting. I immediately had an opportunity to take a young 8 point who was doing some scouting himself. He was working a shallow ditch lined with large cottonwoods and covered in knee deep green grasses and bordering a uncut plot of corn. I saw him coming before he saw me, so I jumped into the ditch and clamored up a large stump. Nose to the ground, he trotted to within 10 yards of me with no clue I was there. Not quite what I was looking for. The next 2 days ended with me seeing several young bucks and a few does but the weather turned colder and sign of rut was more prevalent. I was now ready to return to my other tract. I pulled my stands and headed out, but as I neared my truck I did get to view a mature buck working a ditch line which lead directly to where I was parked. He was a really nice buck and would have been an easy target if I were a rifle hunter, unfortunately I'm not.
I tried changing my reservation back to my first lot for my last 2.5 days, but I was informed I could not have the tract for my last day since it was adjoining a section checked out by a firearms hunter for the first day of rifle season. I was unaware this was a MAHA rule and was a little miffed because it would cut my hunt down by one day leaving me the current evening and the following day. During the week I had passed on 4 eight points and 1 really nice seven points and now my time was nearing. I grumbled all the way to where I was going to hang my stand, grumble being a polite word for what I was really doing. The good news was the rut was picking up.
My first evening at my old location resulted in a nice, but young, eight point who passed directly under stand. Again, nose down and cutting trails. The next morning started with a young six point early in the morning. Around 9:00 AM a doe came barreling in followed by a mature buck hot on her trail. I could not guess his points as I was too busy trying to stop him, but he had a really nice rack which I imagine was at least a 135. He chased her directly under and around the tree I was sitting in and I failed every attempt to slow either of them down. I bleated out loudly about 6 to 8 times with no avail. They ran up and down the bottom two times, but I couldn't stop them. After they finally skirted off, I immediately commenced to bleating loudly and often hoping to lure any surrounding ears. At 10:30, I noticed movement in a grassy field next to the bottom I was in, which was where the six point came from earlier that morning. I picked up my call and bleated two times, and what happened next is more of a blur than reality.
The approaching vision quickly covered the hundred yards and his heading was straight toward my stand. He slowed to a trot and immediately turned on the trail which lead to the bottom I was in. He stopped once thrashing his adornment in a young sapling no more that 22 yards away. I salted the bottom with doe estrus and he was taking the bait. The trail turned and came straight toward me and he followed right in. I waited patiently knowing he would come directly under stand, which is not my favorite shot but it would have to do because I had no chance at a shot once he passed. Then, like a Disney fairy tale, he turned left about 17 yards away presenting a great opportunity for a broad side shot. I drew, centered, aimed and released resulting in a distinct splat as the arrow penetrated the backend of the shoulder. He leapt forward and stopped 15 yards away directly behind a mesh of locust clutter, seconds later I heard the rewarding thud as he dropped to the cold ground without another hint of movement.
Minutes later, I lowered my bow and descended the tree. I walked over to the locust clutter and marveled at the stately brown ruminant laying upon the ground. I worked hard all week for this one shot and my reward lay directly beneath me. He was truly a mature animal on his downward slide, but a fitting end to my first MAHA hunt. I'm enclosing a picture, though the picture does him no glory. He had a double brow tine and a double G2 on his right beam. His left brow was broken and his body was marred with scars from previous encounters. I finally ended my hunt and satisfied my goal, now I had to get this big boy out by myself, which is another story in itself. I'm looking forward to many more hunts in the future, thanks for the opportunity.
Great feedback and congratulations on a fine deer. Thank you and good luck.