Hunting with Mid-America Hunting Association

Hunting within Mid-America Hunting Association is on 100% private land we lease for our foot hunters' exclusive use. It is all fair chase on wild game requiring compliance to all state and federal hunting regulations. We only allow self guided hunts for personal hunting pleasure. No commercial hunting activities of guiding, dog training, videotaping, corporate or otherwise. Our range of operation covers parts of Kansas, Iowa and Missouri.

Hunting is for Mule and Whitetail Deer; Eastern and Rio Grande Turkey; pheasant and quail, duck and goose. Plus fishing. No vermin, fur bearing or feral animal hunts permitted.

What we do is the work the hunter would rather not do. That is we live and work in the region where we lease hunting land knowing where the historic better production is for what we are after.

We then find the food source and protective cover in that region. We then lease active and fallow farms. Provide liability coverage to the owner, then control hunting pressure to insure good hunting through the entire season. All the hunter must do is spend his time hunting.

The hunter does not spend time checking in with landowners or knocking on doors. He simply coordinates his hunts with the Association. Drives from home to his hunting spot and hunts.

The hunter avoids locating the right farm in the right area. He avoids the effort required to track down that owner. He avoids the pitfalls of a handshake hunting lease contract. He has no need to check in to access that hunting spot other than a telephone reservation with this organization.

That telephone reservation will never deny any hunter the chance to go hunting. It is the means by which we insure no competition for hunts.

Best and Worst

The best condition the hunter can expect is he will get his first choice of where to hunt each time he schedules any trip.

The worst thing to be expected and it will come to pass for all is that any two hunters will do the very same scouting. Both will find the same cherry spot. Each will want to hunt the same day. Between the two of them it is a matter of who calls first. Eventually, the other guy will beat the other to the telephones. In such cases all will find not being limited to any one spot an advantage.

All should have knowledge of a good many places they would want to hunt with three to five being considered first choice spots. That is after some time on the ground. Typically not later than the third season. Until that level of knowledge is attained that hunter may rely on the two organization partners, Jon Nee and John Wenzel, for recommendations of where to hunt.

Both Jon and John spend their work year in the Association. They also hunt themselves. They have been on every piece of farm ground within the inventory frequently more than once. They will get that new to the group hunter to the point of where to park the truck, step out and hunt. This jump start typically leads to good hunt as that is the means by which to insure all will want to hunt with their Association for years to come.

Not Perfect Hunting Or The Right Answer For All Hunters

After some time, typically at the three year mark, most hunters have developed favored areas. These spots will serve them well until one of two conditions evolve. The first is the hunter will gain wonder lust. The second is land will be lost.

Wonder lust is the urge to explore new areas that seems inherent in most hunters. The transition occurs after establishing what seems to be a base of operation. This base is typically the number of spots in close proximity that allows for a full week's hunting. Once comfortable in any one area that hunter takes time to expand out to another region.

The second condition is land lost. We keep a cut list of leases that will be dropped once better ground is found. In any amount of dropped acreage it is common for the majority of that acreage to be less than desired while some minority acreage is exceptionally good. If that good ground is dropped it is often because its benefits are less than its consequences. Any one hunter that may have been hunting that one cherry spot in such a lease may find it gone for the greater good.

Lease are also lost due to owner death, retirement, disbanding a corporate farming operation and so forth. In such cases there is not much to be done than pick up and start anew in another location.

We have a proactive solution to manage acreage. It is a further advantage to Mid-America Hunting Association with its range of available ground. Each hunter on each trip should add at least one more spot to his personal inventory of "must hunt spots". By that effort should any one hot spot turn cold or be lost that hunter is never left without options.

One other condition that causes hunters to lose their cherry spot is that others find it.

This is caused by all hunters have equal access to all online maps and telephone reservations system. No seniority or differential treatment to any one or group. Under this condition one particular region or spot may be particular attractive. This draws in hunters to the area or spot that may not have before hunted it.

Deer hunters fall into a trap of aerial photo scouting ranking places as best by that which has the most woods. To do this is to fail to understand that big mid-west deer are so due to our rich food sources not large blocks of standing timber. This is the Great Plains, open ground, not forested mountains. Bird hunters follow forecasts of better bird hunts. Duck hunters gravitate to wetlands nearer any state or federal wetlands drawing more press than others for waterfowl numbers. And, so on.

Where big bucks roam, pheasants loaf, turkeys roost. It comes down to food first, grain farming, then the wildlife makes use of any protective cover available. Open views where much of the usage is in grain fields.

Duck hunts are different. This is the difference between Kansas Great Plains and that of the Lower Missouri River Basin. And, Iowa has no waterfowl in comparison to our other areas.

We start with the earliest seasons of Dove, Prairie Chicken and Teal. Carry on through the regular seasons. Ending with the late into spring waterfowl. Have a break. Resume with spring turkey. Summer time fishing. Then start over come September. More hunt than any one has the energy to hunt. That is the same for resident and nonresident hunters. No one spends as much time in the field as they may think they do.

We track all hunters by their primary and secondary hunting interest. Any one that tries to hunt more than two disciplines does not have time to pressure any one interest area. That is our management. Keeping under control the amount of hunter pressure.

We have identified the reason (hunting interest) each lease has that we spend money on. That overall lease profile drive the membership profile based on their primary and secondary interest. The idea is never to have too many hunters.

The results are that not only do we not want any hunter to see another when out on the land, we do not want any hunter crossing over boot prints of others. That does happen as simple bad luck. However, we have enough terrain per hunter discipline that everyone has a place to hunt and a choice each day of where to hunt. This above all else we do brings hunters back for years of hunts.

Mid-America Hunting Association's Tag Line Is:

"Spend your time hunting rather than hunting for a place to hunt."

That is what is offered. The opportunity to hunt with all the challenges inherent is self guided hunts or try, our private land hunting lease discussion.