Tomorrow I go for orientation at a nearby Archery Club that I have tried to get into for seven years. The club has a heated indoor range out to 30 yards and a 50 yard outdoor range plus a 28 target outdoor 3-D course. It will cost me a whopping $85.00 a year and I can bring friends for $5.00 a day. The clubhouse has a kitchen and all the amenities and the club has numerous 3-D shoots with other clubs throughout the year. What is interesting is how I got in and shows that sometimes having a heart pays off. Last fall my buddy got us permission on a 1200 acre farm with small woodlots and vast corn and bean fields. When we scouted it we came upon a guy hunting that quicky assumed we were trespassing. He advised he has hunted the property for 15 years and knew the old owner and had permission from the Farmer who had land rights for hunting. We knew that there was no agreement but after talking with him decided we would let him stay with the agreement that we could hunt his existing stands and he could hunt the ones we were to put up. The first day I went out with some ladder stands I called and asked him if he wanted to meet, much to my surprise he showed up with his Polaris 6 wheeler and helped me lug the ladder stands saving me a couple of very long walks. He also answered the call when I shot my doe and helped me get it out in no time flat. While having a beer at his house one night I was telling him that I wanted to get into the club and asked if he knew anyone. Apparently he was the Vice President back in the 90's and has been an active member since it opened. Two weeks ago he called me and told me they were letting in 15 new members this year and he could sponsor me in! I got the email today that I was accepted and realized that hunting might just be more about building friendships and sharing the hunt instead of fighting over land and kicking people out. I have lost a couple of spots because we took the wrong approach to other hunters, but the last few years I have taken a different approach. I might also have the opportunity to hunt a property two miles from my house next year due to letting another hunter hunt my stands at the Raceway. That hunter in turn got permission and I helped him scout out the property and in turn he advised I could hang some stands this year. If all goes well I might have a practical chance to get a crack at a very, very, very large deer that has well known 5 point sheds I look forward to meeting some new people in the club and now realize that be open to negotiating pays much larger dividend then being an old greedy bastard:D
Congrats Jason! You're a good dude and you deserve it. Let me know what you think after you've been a member for awhile. I definitely want to check out one of their 3-D shoots this year as well.
They try to keep their members at a certain amount from what I understood. You have to have a member sponsor you in and they were taking 15 people this year from what he said. They keep the member total around 200-225 people I think.
Congratulations, you greedy old bastard. :D It sounds like a neat club with lots of good things going on.
Thanks guys, I made it out yesterday for the orientation with the Vice President. All I can say is that everyone I have met has been awesome. Almost everyone I met shoots a Hoyt and I found out the club is open year round, 24 hours a day! I got invited to shoot the course this Sunday with the Vice President and his crew. Found out the crew is actually Mary Zorn-Hamm's mother Nancy Zorn and her guy Randy Rutledge. There are also a few regulars I met tonight when I went out to shoot for a couple of hours. Hopefully I will get my butt out there so I can shoot well by the GTG
