Like the start of any business, things started small in the late 90's with friends and relatives visiting for bow hunts. After a lot of success stories, the wheels began turning about aspirations of turning this in to a business. In Ohio, we are permitted to harvest one buck per season. What a better way to extend that season than being involved in many kills each year. There is nothing better than making lifelong friends and sharing their excitement when they harvest a trophy whitetail.
In the beginning my wife Lisa and I thought it would be best to provide the basics - a hunt. Half way in to the first season we quickly got the feel of what clients were looking for. People wanted a quality place to hunt, but most importantly, they wanted a comfortable atmosphere to feel like home. The majority did not want to just sit in a hotel room at night. The comradery and lodge atmosphere is definitely part of it.
The remainder of the first year, we actually took people into our home and provided lodging and meals.
We spent the summer of 2002 turning our 1600 sq. ft. walk out basement in to lodging with a full kitchen. Then, my Aunt Clara and her husband Hugh agreed to pull their fifth wheel camper up from Alabama to handle the meals. The 2002 season was definitely a big hit. From the meals to the hunting, everything cruised along quite smoothly. The return clients, around 85%, speaks for itself.
During the summer of 2003 we converted half of our 36' x 56' pole barn in to a hunting locker room/lounge for our clients.
Upon arrival, clients leave their hunting arsenal at their individual stall in the barn and take an overnight bag to their room in the lodge.
During the past two seasons the business has taken many different turns and directions:
- Farms have been added, some have worked out and some haven't.
- I have cut way back on the number of hunters. This is KEY to harvesting big deer year after year.
- I would rather kill 7 or 8 150 class or bigger for the season than 15 125" ers.
- We let a lot of 125-135 class walk during the rut. This WILL start to really pay off!
- To keep numbers low I unfortunately have to charge more to cover the high expenses of the business.
- One major downfall of this, is that taking so few does not leave room for many NEW CLIENTS.
I have a lot of RETURNS!
|
|
