Ok, first a little background. Though it has been a couple of years since I've actually gone, and even longer since I killed anything, I still consider myself a deer hunter. I also go turkey and bird hunting almost every year. Since I got married 8 years ago, I have not been a member of any hunting club since I have had access to 85 acres of my wife's famult land that is easy to access and game plentiful.
Before I got married I had been a member of 2 different hunting clubs. The first was a small group with access to a couple of hundred acres and had no improvements. You paid and went out and hunted. I quit them when they stared letting folks hunt with dogs. Nothing against except it it doesn't play well with tree stand hunters to have the dogs bellowing and running away all the deer. The other was a bit more formal. Monthly fees and you could camp if you wanted. They had a cleaning shed and a range of sorts but, the old man that owned the land died and his family sold it off.
Weel, to make a long story even longer, I have been invited to join a new club. This one is about 140 miles from my home and is VERY expensive to join. It's on almost 1500 acres that is bordered on the west by the MS river, on the North by a small stream. The east and south is fenced with 8 foot chain link. They have a contract with a conservationist who visits three or four times a year and manages the deer population by advising howm many bucks a nd does can be taken each season. There is ample turkey, some wild hogs, dove, quali and small game. The creek, the MS River and the several ponds and one 46 acre lake (old oxbow) apparently provide great fishing. There's a good road system and great trails. Some of the guys hunt by horse other by atv or 4x4.
There are plenty of permanent blinds, stand and shooting houses. 3 large dove fields and, they claim, good duck hunting in the marshes.
In the center of the northern section is the lake mentioned above. There, just up from the lake, is a cleaning shed, shower room, bunk house and covered pavillion with grills and such. There are currently 8 small cabins and 13 permanently affixed mobile home (all nicely spaced and well upkept) scattered around the clearing. Thay have 30 members and are trying to get to a max of 50.
Membership details: The yearly mebership dues are high. Roughly equivalent to buying a new truck every other year or so. All of the members I met yesterday seemed very well off. All business owners, doctors etc. If you join, you are granted 1/2 acre in the "village". There you can build a small cabin (no more than 1250 sq ft) or place a single wide mobile home or just use it as a slip for the camper. There are no lines coming into the property. Watr is provided by wells (3) and there are four wind mills (I assume driving the pumps). The cabins I saw seemed to be very advanced solar powered but I also saw a lot of generators. Sewage is a combination. Some have septic, others use compost and chemical.
After taking the tour and leaving the place with my buddy (the member that asked me to join) I couldn't help but think of the possibilities of this palce as a survival BOL. It has great game, good farmable land, fresh water and pretty sustainable power. It's very defensible. Out in the middle of nowhere. Then I started thinking that maybe I had been asked to join more than a hunting club. Maybe a Survival Group.
There limit of 50 memebers seems arbitrary for that much space unless you want to keep the #s low for after SHTF. The granting of personal use land inside the club (though only a lease in reality) seems like a way to give people a BOL with a bulit in excuse. Some of the shooting houses and stands seem placed to give as much of a view of the fence lines and perimeter as the hunting areas inside the club. More like observation points than deer stands.
So, if they are a survival gropu, what kind? The friend that asked me to join is not a religious nut. He's not a racist, leans republican but hates Bush. He's well off and I have had discussions with him about prepping before. He seemed receptive but didn't act like he was into the prepper mentality much.
The othe guys I met are all well off self made men. All seem to have familys and they told some good jokes. No body mentioned, SHTF, ETWAWKI or anything like that. Nobody told racist jokes or tried to save my soul. Just a bunch of guys that like to hunt and fish.
I wouldn't join if it was just for hunting, too much money. But, if these are a group of guys with a real plan and this set up.....I might be much more interested.
What do you think? Hunting Club only or Survival Compound disguised as a hunting club? Do I just ask? If I do and thay think I'm nuts?
Sorry for the long post. If any of you guys are the ones who entertained me yesterday, thanks and you can PM me (that'll answer the question).
Before I got married I had been a member of 2 different hunting clubs. The first was a small group with access to a couple of hundred acres and had no improvements. You paid and went out and hunted. I quit them when they stared letting folks hunt with dogs. Nothing against except it it doesn't play well with tree stand hunters to have the dogs bellowing and running away all the deer. The other was a bit more formal. Monthly fees and you could camp if you wanted. They had a cleaning shed and a range of sorts but, the old man that owned the land died and his family sold it off.
Weel, to make a long story even longer, I have been invited to join a new club. This one is about 140 miles from my home and is VERY expensive to join. It's on almost 1500 acres that is bordered on the west by the MS river, on the North by a small stream. The east and south is fenced with 8 foot chain link. They have a contract with a conservationist who visits three or four times a year and manages the deer population by advising howm many bucks a nd does can be taken each season. There is ample turkey, some wild hogs, dove, quali and small game. The creek, the MS River and the several ponds and one 46 acre lake (old oxbow) apparently provide great fishing. There's a good road system and great trails. Some of the guys hunt by horse other by atv or 4x4.
There are plenty of permanent blinds, stand and shooting houses. 3 large dove fields and, they claim, good duck hunting in the marshes.
In the center of the northern section is the lake mentioned above. There, just up from the lake, is a cleaning shed, shower room, bunk house and covered pavillion with grills and such. There are currently 8 small cabins and 13 permanently affixed mobile home (all nicely spaced and well upkept) scattered around the clearing. Thay have 30 members and are trying to get to a max of 50.
Membership details: The yearly mebership dues are high. Roughly equivalent to buying a new truck every other year or so. All of the members I met yesterday seemed very well off. All business owners, doctors etc. If you join, you are granted 1/2 acre in the "village". There you can build a small cabin (no more than 1250 sq ft) or place a single wide mobile home or just use it as a slip for the camper. There are no lines coming into the property. Watr is provided by wells (3) and there are four wind mills (I assume driving the pumps). The cabins I saw seemed to be very advanced solar powered but I also saw a lot of generators. Sewage is a combination. Some have septic, others use compost and chemical.
After taking the tour and leaving the place with my buddy (the member that asked me to join) I couldn't help but think of the possibilities of this palce as a survival BOL. It has great game, good farmable land, fresh water and pretty sustainable power. It's very defensible. Out in the middle of nowhere. Then I started thinking that maybe I had been asked to join more than a hunting club. Maybe a Survival Group.
There limit of 50 memebers seems arbitrary for that much space unless you want to keep the #s low for after SHTF. The granting of personal use land inside the club (though only a lease in reality) seems like a way to give people a BOL with a bulit in excuse. Some of the shooting houses and stands seem placed to give as much of a view of the fence lines and perimeter as the hunting areas inside the club. More like observation points than deer stands.
So, if they are a survival gropu, what kind? The friend that asked me to join is not a religious nut. He's not a racist, leans republican but hates Bush. He's well off and I have had discussions with him about prepping before. He seemed receptive but didn't act like he was into the prepper mentality much.
The othe guys I met are all well off self made men. All seem to have familys and they told some good jokes. No body mentioned, SHTF, ETWAWKI or anything like that. Nobody told racist jokes or tried to save my soul. Just a bunch of guys that like to hunt and fish.
I wouldn't join if it was just for hunting, too much money. But, if these are a group of guys with a real plan and this set up.....I might be much more interested.
What do you think? Hunting Club only or Survival Compound disguised as a hunting club? Do I just ask? If I do and thay think I'm nuts?
Sorry for the long post. If any of you guys are the ones who entertained me yesterday, thanks and you can PM me (that'll answer the question).
