Managing a hunting club a weighty responsibility
Serving as president of the Old Belfast Hunting Club has been quite an education.
I was minding my own business at OBHC’s annual meeting in Grant County. I was enjoying a freshly grilled hot dog, a little bag of Dorito’s Cool Ranch chips and a cold Mountain Dew while our former president, who also served as treasurer, read the annual financial report and various announcements.
After we elected our slate of board members, our president/treasurer dropped the bomb and announced he was stepping down after decades of capably running the finest hunting club I have ever known.
I had just taken a bite of hot dog when someone nominated me as president. Somebody else nominated P. J. Spaul as treasurer. Before we could object, we were elected unanimously. Our predecessor handed us the books and documents and wished us well. He was going out into the congregation to enjoy life as a civilian hunter.
Had I an inkling that such a plot were afoot, I would have skipped that meeting. Spaul and I had big shoes to fill, and we had zero experience in our new roles. We were, to put it mildly, initially overwhelmed.
Immediately, I got calls from a couple of members that wanted to adopt more focused quality deer management practices. We have long followed statewide regulations for deer. The 3-point rule applies for bucks. If you want to shoot a limit of does, you are welcome to do so.
We tinkered with antler spread width requirements and beam length requirements for awhile, but we cannot overcome the limitations of leasing an industrial pine plantation. Our deer do not have the genetics or the proper forage to attain the body weights and antler mass that deer achieve in other parts of the state. We don’t have enough openings to grow big food plots, and we don’t have enough money to cultivate food plots even if we had the space.
Old Belfast is a blue collar working man’s club. Our dues are very affordable, essentially making us a convenient place for people in Little Rock, Benton and Bryant to kill a deer after work and on weekends.
Spaul and I had to establish a new bank account. We implemented safeguards to ensure financial integrity and transparency.
Then, we had to address some sobering existential realities. Old Belfast Hunting Club has experienced a lot of turnover the last three years. Some people aged out of hunting. A couple of members died. Others didn’t hunt enough to justify the expense. Nine more members did not renew for 2023.
We lease parcels from four different timber companies. We knew our lease fees would increase this year, but we didn’t know how much. Spaul and I made a calculated guess based on previous increases.
We like to keep about 60 members, but that number is increasingly harder to maintain. We exhausted our waiting list. Spaul and I recruited some high-quality individuals. We especially sought people with children. We don’t have any kids in our club anymore. Without youth, any organization will die. Our recruits brought our membership to 50.
We calculated individual dues based on 50 members divided by our projected cost of our leases. We had to raise dues a significant amount, but we believed we could also maintain that price per individual longer than usual too. While nobody likes a dues increase, it would provide a bit more stability.
The company that brokers leases for the landowners sent our new lease agreements in May. We guess on the price was precise, with a small amount left over to cover mailings and other incidental costs.
Spaul and I met at the broker’s office last week to sign the lease agreements and hand over the checks. We sighed with deep relief when the broker’s agent signed the papers and said, “You’re good for another year!”
The club’s success depends on maintaining a good relationship with the broker’s agent. Communication goes a long way to eliminating misunderstandings that can jeopardize your lease. It is weighty to be entrusted with something that means so much to so many.
It’s an interesting position, administering something as seemingly simple as a hunting club. I’ve learned very quickly how to balance the needs of a tightly focused special interest group with the requirements of landowners that can and will replace you at their convenience.
It’s a continuing exercise in the art of survival.