The Wilds of Emily Creek- 6,500 Acres in Kentucky

Creating a large-scale hunting operation is an ambitious project that can provide edge-of-your-seat excitement and deliver attractive returns. Spending days out in the woods, setting up hunts for clients, and creating a place where like-minded hunters can come together and share in the feeling of accomplishment is a gratifying use of otherwise unused land. However, it also requires specific sites and can include many operational and ownership challenges, especially in the initial stages.

With 15 years of land experience, I have spent the last several years working with and advising the owner of The Wilds of Emily Creek. This 6,500-acre tract offers world-class premium hunting opportunities in Eastern Kentucky. The results of this work are satisfying, and ownership is taking the next steps toward developing a hunting club.

Here are some things to keep in mind about this process and lessons learned from my time with Emily Creek. 

Get to Know Your Property

The first step to establishing a premier hunting destination is to locate geographical regions that offer this. Hunters seek certain species, offsite and onsite access, and natural beauty. 

The Wilds of Emily Creek offers premier deer, turkey, bear, and small-game hunting and holds a significant wild horse population. It is also a very unique eastern Kentucky region where elk have been returned from the Western US and thrived since 1997. The prior use of some of this property as coal mining operations has left a mix of ideal land for elk with a mix of cleared parcels, meadows, and dense forestry.

Being in the mid-Atlantic region, the owner had to examine needs and options among hundreds of acquired parcels and work with surrounding towns and communities to pursue clear ownership rights as well as operational, leasing, and, selling opportunities. Months were required to map and understand this land.

Here are a few important tasks to address before acquiring land and offering hunting opportunities!

Title and Deed Research

Do complete research into the title and deed records of your property. Complex ownership issues like mineral rights or access easements could impede the ability to use your property as you want.

Establish Property Boundaries

Clearly marked boundaries will prevent legal disputes and save your hunters from getting themselves into trouble with the neighbors. Be sure all of your boundaries are clearly marked and maintained.

Identify Wildlife Patterns for Infrastructure Development

Study your property from a natural standpoint. Trail cams are a great asset for identifying common travel corridors and taking stock of the wildlife already living on your property. This information will help you decide where to clear trails and roads, place food plots, and develop stands, blinds, and other important infrastructure.

Tips for Managing Leases

Once you’ve got a good understanding of your property and what it offers, it may be time to start offering annual leases for hunters in your area. Longer-term leases build an operational reputation and a loyal client base to start generating reliable income.

Set Restrictions

Implementing rules and restrictions for your hunting leases is important to protect your hunters, yourself, and your property. These could include tighter bag limits, minimum size requirements to ensure that your game species have a chance to grow and flourish before being harvested, hunting areas and boundaries, hunter limits within boundaries, and penalties for any of your hunters who fail to follow these restrictions.

These kinds of restrictions need to be clearly outlined in your lease terms to protect yourself and your hunters. Writing a good lease can be tricky, which is why it’s a good idea to work with a knowledgeable Land Professional with experience in leasing hunting land!

Site Improvement and Maintenance Requirements

Developing hunting land requires initial site investment as referenced, and ongoing maintenance work to keep the property in good condition.

A benefit of hunting leases is having extra hands and eyes onsite. In many leases, there are requirements for hunters to perform some necessary site work like cleaning out blinds, mowing ditches or trails, and more.

These requirements create a deeper connection between hunters and their land and can increase the likelihood that they’ll join an onsite club or resign their lease when it comes to term.

Reinvest Proceeds into Infrastructure

While primarily doing short-term leases, use a large portion of the income generated from those leases to finance improvements like additional hunting blinds, more encompassing implementing roads/trails, and enhancing existing facilities. 

When switching from a leasing to a membership model, income or commitments can be used to establish features that will expand your member base and drive club development. These pursuits can include building cabins, clubhouses, and sites to experience and enjoy your property’s natural features and views.

Marketing Your Leases

Early on, marketing your leases and positioning your property as a high-quality destination for hunters is crucial. This requires hi-res photos, maps, and records of successful hunts to convince hunters that your property is a great opportunity for them to spend their time and money this hunting season. 

Growing From Leases to Club Membership

As your property grows in reputation and value, you can begin to move from leasing and short-term hunts toward a more stable and profitable membership model. The hard work you’ve done up to this point will make this transition more realistic than if you had tried to open or sell a premium hunting club on raw land at the outset. Here are a few things to keep in mind.

Membership Fees

Establishing what it costs to join the hunting club and how many memberships will be available are critical financial components to both income projections and interest in your property. Value factors are property size, location, hunting opportunities, game populations, comparable clubs, and topography. These will all need to be analyzed and researched before marketing can begin.

Leverage Client Lists for Membership

Your early lease clients are likely to be your best prospects for ground-level club memberships. These are people who already know your property and have hopefully enjoyed their time hunting it, and good word-of-mouth marketing can work wonders for any business starting out.

Ownership at The Wilds at Emily Creek has followed this path and will soon be one of the most sought-after hunting clubs in Kentucky. It’s been a long journey to get to where we are today, but every step has been worth it and allows us to do what we enjoy doing with land investment.

While looking to acquire raw land, establish a hunting opportunity and club, and enhance the natural offerings of your property, I hope some of the tips in this article can help.

If you’ve got more questions about developing, owning, and operating a hunting club, feel free to reach out to me directly at Jmcloughlin@NationalLand.com or get in touch with your local Land Professional!

Happy hunting!