Private Land Hunting Lease

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Mid-America Hunting Association's private land hunting lease operation we have found is unique to many hunters' prior experience. This article distinguishes this organization allowing comparison decision criteria to those seeking private land hunting or a hunting lease.

Not A Hunting Club and More Than A Business

One aspect that surprises many is we are a hunting business not a hunting club.

As a business we know full well the hunt quality hunters seek to insure their return hunts. A hunting club on the other hand has many ills associated with social connection. There are no social activities of meetings, focus groups, committees, issues control groups in this Association. The single objective is a good hunt for the average hunter.

And, this group is more than just a business exchange of money for service. We seek to make it more than that. This is a tough one as many hunters simply want the Association as a business exchange of money for service. For those hunters the basis and extent of the relationship between the hunter and the Association is the rules. For those that understand success comes as much from many intangible relationship exchanges as tangible there is more service to be gained from the Association partners. This requires illustration:

The hunter with the business exchange of money for service attitude may hunt in accordance with the rules of the Association. He will have the same access to all as all have absolute parity to the same online map library of all Association private land and the same telephone reservation as everyone else. The first time Association hunter will receive recommendations as a jump start his first year of the better spots in terms of eyes-on observation and landowner reports.

The hunter realizing the Association is much more than just a business does gain more based on simple courtesy. He is one that recognizes simple things like sending in pictures and hunt accounts have a response of our latest log book of what we have seen and where. Many deer hunters have had better hunts from these reports. Pheasant and quail hunters know they cannot judge the wide range of land in terms of reproduction success and cover quality. Duck hunters know that the difference between one wetlands and another on the same day can be extreme. For those hunters that seek to make their Association better there is a payback in the form of information that only the Association partners with their year round time on the ground can provide.

The distinction in this self guided hunts organization is the rules allow the hunts. No where in the rules does it say the partners need be the personal scouts for any one hunter. The scouting reports are an exchange of courtesy for those that extend the same courtesy to the Association.

It is a matter that manners count. Maybe more so in this business than elsewhere.

No Individual Hunting Lease

A key to success is often seen as a problem by those that first look at the Association. That key is we do not sub lease any land. All have the ability to hunt any of it. The advantages to this approach by hunting interest include:

Deer Lease
Deer lease of one spot is more likely to not have a trophy than to have one.

Most will agree that trophy deer must be sought out. To pick any one spot and believe the trophy will show up is a limited approach. One that is most likely to fail.

Most Association deer hunters scout easily 4,000 acres in a year's time. From that they will have 3 to 5 farms they would consider first choice. Most in a week's time will hunt hard 2 to 3 of those farms. By the time more scouting is done, a spring turkey hunt or the subsequent fall deer hunt, that same hunter will add a farm or two to his "to hunt list". At the same time dropping one or two from that list. By the third season most have found better spots than before that they are not likely to be hunting their first year farms any longer.

Contrast that approach to four guys leasing 320 acres and hope that a deer shows up. The choice is simple. The self guided deer hunter in the Association can make his own luck through effort. The single deer lease hunter must hope for a lot more luck than skill.

Tag availability makes a lease in some states problematic for those years not having a tag. The Association solves that as the land is available when tags are had.

Upland Birds
Upland bird hunters are all about dog on bird action. To expect good dog work from year to year on any one small regional area let alone a lease of 5,000 acres of less only works when the birds in that region had good reproduction success.

The Association with land ranging from Iowa through Missouri to western Kansas will have good bird hunting somewhere every year. Add to that having both pheasant and Bobwhite Quail to hunt on the same trip is a variety most seek. Add to that our easy to drive to private land hunting leases on relatively open flat land makes for some of the easiest walking bird hunts to be found.

Contrast this to snake and cactus regions, thick woods grouse states or hill country hun and partridge hunts. Most agree that a central mid-west wild pheasant and quail hunt gives the enjoyment of the hunt with fewer liabilities.

Turkey Hunting Lease
A turkey hunting lease only works if there is a roost on or near that hunting lease land. Just as in deer hunting to pick one spot and hope to have good turkey hunting each spring is just that - a hope.

Contrast that approach with the ability to scout out and hunt a flock. And, do so in three states on one trip if wanting to. It is a matter the self guided turkey hunter can make his hunt happen as good as he wants it. That is through skill, scouting, making a good hunt regardless of how many tags are filled.

Duck Lease
Now we are into big money. That alone is an economic decision criteria making this comparison easy.

Public wetlands duck hunting is as public lands anywhere. Physically appearing to be great habitat. The common during the season characteristic is over pressured.

Private duck clubs well available to those that can pay. Costs are higher than the average hunter can afford. They are so due to their limited availability and high demand.

Contrast this with the Association having multiple wetlands, blinds, wade-in and layout boat areas. A further advantage is combination wet and field set acreage. No one hunter is limited to just one blind or one wetlands for that matter. Ours is a case of going to the wetlands that has the ducks. Contrast this to a duck blind lease. When the ducks are in that single blind lease is great. When he duck are not in the area then its a good place to sit and watch water.

Add to this our annual cost for a duck hunting slot is about the cost of one season's worth of pumping water on one wetlands. It is through our collective effort that each duck hunter has more to duck hunt than that duck hunter will have time in a season to hunt.

Private dry and wetlands goose and duck hunting for the self guided waterfowl hunter.

Flexibility

By now the concept of flexibility is established. The ability to pick and choose from day to day of where to hunt. To hunt any time during the season. All on private land. This is hard to replicate when compared to other hunting options. Add to this the ease of execution and the attraction of Mid-America Hunting Association begins to look better.

Ease of use is the self guided hunter's commitment is an annual fee and telephone reservations. Then it is a matter to get out and hunt.

No wasted time running down landowners. Elimination of finding the right region of the state with current good production for what one is hunting. No need to run an individual lease and try to enforce its obligations from long distance.

When comparing each consequence and benefit of any private land hunting lease option if there is a better choice then take it. If the evaluation is objective it is good. If not choosing the Association it is often more of an emotional choice. The common emotional choice is typically along the lines: "I just want my own spot." We understand this decision criteria is a different definition of what a good hunt is.

Size Does Matter

An advantage of the collective buying power of the Association that has immediate payback to the hunter is the ability to buy a corporate farm operation hunting lease.

Corporate farms in grain country typically run 8,000 to 14,000 acres. This type of corporate farming is different than a cattle ranch that may easily be 25,000 acres or more. Grain farms are the food source that makes for good hunting. Cattle country of pasture land has wildlife in much less dense numbers. It comes down to the quality of the hunt. We choose to spend the Association money where the best return is had. That is within grain farming regions, the larger to operation the better.

The payback to the hunt is this. A corporate farm operation is a commodity farm. Meaning they have equipment sets, storage and transportation of a limited range to grow the highest profit margin grains for that regional soil and rainfall. What they do not have is cattle. This means the wildlife areas, or that ground the tractor cannot travel, are left to wildlife.

Contrast the corporate farm to the small acreage farmer of anything less than 3,000 acres. The small acreage operator is diversified maximizing his acreage. He is likely to have livestock in the wildlife areas.

The payback to the Association self guided hunter is the acreage he has available through the Association is of a higher protective cover quality than that of the typical small acreage private land hunting lease.

The Association Itself

The length of existence of Mid-America Hunting Association dating back to 1965 is unmatched. Length of service has worked out the gigs, refined systems and made a better organization. That results in a higher, not perfect, hunt experience by the majority of the hunters.

The original four hunters that started the Association are all gone now. Jon Nee bought the Association from the last of them in 1981. Before that Jon had been the general manager. General manager at that time meant he did it all, land leasing, membership sales, reservation, accounting. It was a one person operation. As such he was limited and on the way to burnout.

John Wenzel came on board in 1995 as a second career after retiring from active duty Army. What this tells of the Association is that its staffing has had much longevity creating a stable organization not given to whims.

Both of the partners hunt. Between the two of them they are on every piece of land throughout the years. They are the direct line of responsibility for the quality of each hunter's hunt.

The simplicity principle holds throughout all facets of the Association. One annual cost for all land all seasons. No hidden fees. No daily fees. No Trophy fees. No birds fees. No special land fees. No nonsense.

There are also not any corporate options. No free hunts for magazine article writers, no video hunters, no pro hunters. Likewise no gratuities, no special treatment for any hunter. To attempt to secure favor is to insult their integrity. John Wenzel himself particularly enjoys humiliating anyone that thinks they can buy him. Jon Nee still is raising teenagers and has a less aggressive rejection presentation for the fools among us.

This organization exists for the average hunter. While not free it is typically less than other options. All the more so when contrasting resources available for what is being paid.

Down Side

We do not pretend to be perfect or the right fit for every hunter.

Some hunters seek to have a collection of farms in close proximity and only want to hunt that area. That is ok and doable. It is more doable over the short term of less than 5 to 10 years than longer.

The worst case occurs when the hunter chooses a spot to homestead to include as much as buying a local town house. Or, he has a favored lodging that he makes the lodging reservation before his hunt reservations. This fails due to the strength of the Association running hunting lease land going where the best return for the hunter is to be gained. This may mean we may cut back on acreage is an area should that locality get too much overall pressure. Yates Center, Kansas and Mound City, Missouri are actual examples.

Yates Center, Kansas was for a long time the whitetail capitol of Kansas. The area produced many trophy whitetail, small acreage outfitters blossomed. The pressure increased tot he point that in a relatively short time pressure brought down the deer quality. Concurrently, other regions in Kansas increased in trophy production. The Association reduced acreage in the one and increased acreage in the second. The end result more return for the hunter that travels to where the game is rather than picks a spot and hopes it shows up.

Mound City, Missouri is a waterfowl mecca due to large government refuge operations surrounded by many private hunting land operators. After the first week of the season the ducks and geese are well educated by calls, spreads and binds. Soon after the opener each morning flight from the refuges goes high and far to outlying crop fields and water. The Association response was first to reduce dry land, field set acreage then wetland acreage in the area developing more productive wetlands further away. The value to the hunter is to travel to where the better hunting exists than pick a spot and hope the ducks show.

Most hunters that hunt with the Association for more than three seasons hunt longer than 10 years. Those that quite before the three year mark are in the category that self guided hunts are more than can be handled. Those that quit after 10 years do so more often for reasons other than bad hunts.

The Association does not accept all that have the ability to pay its fees. We have a good experience level that filters out those that will hunt well from those that will not prosper within a self guided private land organization. We seek those that will do well and seek to avoid those that would be problems.

Not always prefect in that all hunters at all times do get to reserve their first choice spots each day. Most do. However it will come to pass that by bad luck that two hunters will both find the same cherry spot, both will want to hunt the same day. Between the two of them the one that calls first gets the reservation. On the converse any one that is so set that he has only one spot to hunt has failed to develop the Association's private hunting land resource to enhance his success. No need to place all of ones eggs in one basket. Success comes from having more than one place to hunt.

On Deer
Modern gun non-resident deer hunters have the highest turnover. Common among these hunters are those that chase tags or are trophy room collectors.

Those that chase tags hunt wherever and whatever they have draw a tag for. Trophy room hunters that once securing a good whitetail mount are on the hunt for another animal.

Archery deer hunters and waterfowl hunters have the highest retention rate. This seems to be resource driven. Both categories of hunters once experiencing the availably of private hunting land through the Association find it hard to be replicated elsewhere

Non-resident deer tag distribution usually is not a problem. Every so often one of two conditions exist within any one Kansas deer management unit or Iowa zone.

The first is the one that hurts. This is when the state issues more tags than typical to one specific unit. Or, when by bad luck a larger than average number of Association hunters apply to the same unit/zone. It has happen last in Kansas where the Association has land in 8 deer management units. In one unit several years back a combination of Kansas issuing more tags than previous years and more Association hunters did apply for and receive a specific unit tag than we had ever had before in that one unit. It was more than twice the hunters that we previous had. That year hunter pressure management in that one unit was tough.

It has also gone the other way and thankfully more so than the previous example. We have had units and zones be woefully under hunted due to competition of that units/zones tag.

Waterfowl
A common frustration. On any one season a single wetlands that worked so well on any one particular hunt rarely repeats itself the next hunt. Ducks move and so must the hunter. The local layover and overall migratory patter is that great. We have multiple wetlands and field set areas. The hunter should go where the ducks are rather than go to any specific wetlands due to his knowledge of that wetlands.

It is that each new wetlands explored requires scouting and attention to migration reports, wind and shooting pool or duck blind location. It never comes easy. To develop an understanding of any one wetland and its advantage for any changing condition of wind, migration and hunting style means days loss while learning. This is the self guided aspect that makes for the less satisfying days on the marsh.

The next conflict occurs at the wetland's parking lot where hunters collect before and after the hunt. There are always those that have ducks bagged and those that do not from the same wetlands. Those that do will tell how the hunt worked. Those that do not often seek reason other than their calling, decoying, camouflaging, blind or setup location or shooting skills.

The wetlands is one locality where the Association staff may easily hunt without notice from others. It is often the observation that some hunter's have their hunt effort well reflected in their bag counts. What all must agree is that within the self guided hunter community we all gain to the level of our personal skill.

Pheasant and Quail
Upland birds hunters that are local stick with the Association longer than any other hunter. They amount to just over half of all the pheasant and quail hunters. The traveling upland bird hunter on the other hand sees a steady low level turnover. When running this one down it is that traveling bird hunters are willing to travel to where ever the best bird reports may be.

A reason for failure at self guided bird hunts comes from one of three facets: dog power, willingness to walk or shooting ability.

The hardest aspect to get hunters to agree on is that of dog power. Emotion drives most to love their dogs thinking they are the best. Ignored are bumped birds, wild flushed birds and blank points. The emotional response is the birds are pressured or not there. The refusal to believe that the dog in question does not possess the specialized skills to hunt wild pheasant or quail is often ignored.

Contributing factors to failed upland bird hunts include the hunter traveling in from non-native bird states. Their dog being one of planted pen raised bird training.

The next common contributing factor to failed bird hunts are those with limited dog training or hunting experience. The worst case is the midlife hunter having his first bird dog ever. These hunters report the most dissatisfying hunt experiences.

The last to discuss is the spoil factor. This is the case when the hunter experiences very good hunting be it several trophy deer in short time or great bird hunting in one area, then that success stops. The emotional response is the Association land has gone bad, the Association has too many hunters, the Association gave away my spot to others. None of that is true. All must agree that hunting with its high degree of variability requires luck and skill. Neither of which works well all the time. Compounding this is the Association's approach that is credited by many as the base cause for success allows all hunters to explore all hunt options and locations. Eventually that will cause overlap. It is when this overlap is the focus of attention rather than developing opportunity through preparation and effort that a problem is perceived.

The confidence the hunter has in the Association that he will have the best hunts as the organization can make happen is the Association recognizes its continuation is that very result.

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