Membership

The third facet to our quality hunting success has been a limited membership.

Limited means that we will not have more members in the Association than we have land enough for them to pursue their primary and secondary hunting interest and not overload the Association's administration. The first point is obvious, the second just as important. Not only do we limit members based on their primary and secondary interest compared to habitat under contract we also do not allow our administration capabilities to be exceeded.

An example is the rifle deer hunter. For draw tag states of Kansas and Iowa deer hunter numbers are kept in check without any additional effort on part of the Association. However, Missouri with its deer tags available over the counter requires us not only to track the deer hunters in the Association, but also their preferred hunting method. The issue is clear, we will not allow more deer hunters into the Association than we have land or the office staff to support during the "crunch" periods of the season.

This is carried on that all members will have enough land for their primary and secondary hunting interest that they can hunt as many or as few places they care to in a season. It also means we have enough additional land we can close areas to settle and allow the game to return to a wild state and still have land for all who want to hunt to have good hunting.

We are also careful who we allow into our organization. If you are after the tranquility of a good day's hunt of watching your dogs work, count deer crossing below your stand or seeing how many turkeys you can call in during one day you are the member for us.

To be accepted as a member a hunter must participate in a telephone interview that screens the individual based criteria selected long ago by those that started the Association and through trial and error determined that which makes a good Association member and those that should be turned away.

Once a hunter becomes a member he continues his relationship with the Association based entirely on his election to renew his yearly membership and the Association's determination that member has enjoyed the hunt within Association rules.

Breaking ice to create an open pool of water made this hunt happen. As they walked back to the truck several flocks came in, but severe weather followed that night, which froze the lake solid.