Being in any business for 25 years these days is no small accomplishment. We are thankful and blessed to have been able to be of service to so many fine guests over the years. Over these 25 years, upland hunting has changed in Iowa. The farm economy, price of feed grains, the demise of CRP acreage, very vicious winters, extremely wet conditions during the nesting/hatching season, and a great increase in the number of predators have all taken their toll on Iowa's native bird counts in many areas.
Fortunately, for you and for us, we have been able to maintain high native population counts due to our impressive CRP land acreages and extremely favorable upland habitat that we cultivate. No, we are not cashing in on our CRP contracts and planting our 1500 plus acres of prime hunting land to feed grains. We have no plans to "sell out" and go into crop farming even though that is exactly what our neighbors all around us are doing. Actually, we are becoming a "hunting oasis". That's good.
As we plan for the future, we want to go back and analyze what has given us cause for success:
In no way do we want to deviate from our foundational principles. They are:
A) Provide safe, high quality, private hunting fields for our guests. Do not mix hunting parties with other hunting parties in our hunting fields. Assure all guests of their privacy
B) Encourage guests to bring their own hunting dogs and allow them to hunt in a preferred manner.
C) Create a lodging and hunting environment that is very family friendly. Continue to encourage the next generation of hunters to pursue their passion of sport hunting, male and female.
D) Present a well organized facility and hunting agenda for our business groups. These groups desire a successful hunting experience. We must be flexible in meeting their needs.
E) Truly, we must offer a hunting program that "Is like the old days". In doing so, we must farm for our birds, while keeping the hunting conditions suitable for our guests.
Thank you for your part in our past 24 years of quality hunting. We plan to continue our "stamp of quality" in this, our 25th year and for many years to come.
Jan, Larry, Kirk and Ben Statler