Kansas City Hunting Clubs
Kansas City hunting clubs is the search folks execute for land access in the Kansas and Missouri region. A common search starting point that leads to a better option. Namely us, a private land, self guided hunter group.
Mid-America Hunting Association offers land access and more without being a club.
Association Hunter - Staff Relationship
We evaluate our Association staff effectiveness at taking care of member requirements. It is measured by the members' willingness to take the time and effort to send in their pictures and hunt accounts.
What we offer is deer, turkey, upland bird and waterfowl self guided hunts. It is on private land. We do not share with any others that are not Association hunters.
Not A Club Really
Avoidance of public lands hunter mentality. That is what folks seek when searching for clubs. Not the chance to have social evenings and group activities. That is why we are an Association. A business. Not classify ourselves in the category of clubs.
Why
The phrase: "hunting clubs", has long been used to reference any grouping with any form or structure of common interest individuals. Strength of leadership character and some degree of group consensus rules the club's operation. We are similar as our structure is set. However, our non-negotiable rules separates us. The value is that all gain equal benefit for equal cost regardless of individual influences inherent in clubs.
Surrounding Kansas City
Why Kansas City seems the center of our organization is three fold. It is based on ancestry, geography and operational reach.
Ancestry
Our ancestry is based on four local businessmen. They were also hunters who like most of us grew weary of knocking on doors for a place to hunt. They soon began to pay landowners for exclusive season long access. Their goal was to spend more time on the hunt rather than looking for a place to hunt.
As businessmen they took a business approach to solving their challenge. That later grew into a structured organization to include a paid manager, land acquisition person and membership salesmen. Three positions all in one person to run the private land access availability for the four founders. That organization grew with additions of friend and others of similar mind. That is, being in the field than knocking on doors. What started in 1965 of a four person group has grown in size and organization to today's Mid-America Hunting Association.
What happened to the four originators? Back in 1965 when they were in their 30's and 40's they enjoyed life until like all of us that enjoyment comes to an end. Their legacy has and is carried on by Jon Nee, who was the manager of the founders, and John Wenzel.
Waterfowl Shows A Difference At Our Operation
For waterfowl advertising most would expect piles of drake greenheads and smiling hunters. We do have those pictures. Readers will glance over those pictures as are all pictures of successful hunters. This picture series below is more informative. A snapshot into what makes our duck hunters successful. These are the type of pictures that will be repeated throughout the web site. That along with hunter success photos shows one of our distinctions as a Kansas City area hunting club. That is one that operates without a hunting club typical mentality.
Everything pictured is the kind of routine summer work required by one or more wetlands each year. All to keep the during the season flooded area huntable.
This particular work on a levee is an example how all work cannot be completed in just a couple of years.
A levee extension. This work adds a second pool to the wetlands.
We have been offered more than a couple of times the chance to build wetlands for others and have refused all. Part of that refusal has been due to our mission and work life is for MAHA. Part of the refusal in terms of wetlands is that those asking for wetlands to be built simply do not understand the need for money to be spent on apparatus that fully controls in/out flow. A seemingly simple statement that makes wetlands work life easy or hard. An illustration of this point are these two pictures of both ends to a single pipe. Those that understand the functions of three gates on one pipe know full well its value. Those that do not, should not attempt to build wetlands. At least a wetlands that support waterfowl hunting. Meaning a waterfowl hunting wetlands is an entirely separate set of requirements from a wetlands that simply holds water.
Geography
Geographic limits our land lease effort around Kansas City for different reasons in different directions.
To the west the Great Plains of Kansas yielding to the High Plains is a barrier. The land use changes from row crop to cattle. To have the better hunting means to be where the food is. Cattle pasture has little value. The difference is really rainfall. Any further west than were we operate does have row crops. However, the type of crop and the lack of rain producing good cover is degraded. West of our leasing operation does have good hunting on many years for some wildlife. Just not consistently so from season to season.
To the south, climate changes of too dry and warm. A frustration for some as the quail hunting to the south on some years is much better than ours. For all other hunting nothing else compares.
East we lease until reaching the Upper Mississippi River Basin. From Kansas City east and north of the Ozark Mountains we range from 45 to 55% agricultural land use. Heavily into large grain crops of corn and soybean. However, once crossing over into the Upper Mississippi River Basin the land form changes. Too much farm land driven by the quick draining watershed and broad flat valleys. Or, not enough wildlife cover and decreasing densities.
North, our efforts have proven very successful. Mostly due to our remaining and continuing with the success of the Grand River Watershed.
Bow Deer Hunter
This type of recognition from our hunters to voluntarily send in their success pictures is what we work for. When we can achieve this we know the hunter is satisfied.
John I had some luck opening day of the archery season here are some pictures. This is a real nice 8 pt still in velvet. Thanks for the work you do. Daryl
Reach
This last point is operational reach. That distance from an operating base of which we can influence.
This is why Kansas City has become the central point of our acreage maps. That is true in spite of St. Louis being our largest metropolitan source of hunters.
The two Mid-America Hunting Association partners live in the Kansas City area. They both work full time for MAHA. They both have a set amount of hours per day. Like most self employed folks those hours are greater than when working for others. Within those available days are a set limits of motel bills, road miles and landowner meeting hours. It takes all the time and energy that Jon and John have to sustain the current land levels that have existed since the middle 90's. Meaning we are in the continual quality control mode. No expansion is possible.
Why is their a limit is largely due to that land does not remain the same. Land use changes with each owner. Improvements and economic ruin degrade or enhance land. It all requires through the year monitoring. A seemingly simple system to write about how the worst land is deleted from inventory replaced by better.
Failing to keep a constant effort to find better land would result in a decline in the organization.
What Is In A Name
For those that lump us into the category of Kansas City hunting clubs we do not argue the point. What we will tell is that in spite of our hunting business location centered on Kansas City we have hunters from in excess of 37 states. More than half of the Association hunters travel in from out of state. They do so for reasons other than the presence of Kansas City.