By Dan Burden, International and  Special Projects, Extension Value-added Agriculture and  AgMRC, Iowa State University, djburden@iastate.edu.

Written November 2010.
 

Getting Started
Just a note about me and the challenge of writing about this subject: I have written a lot about preserves, visited them and presently am an active member-client. I have never run one but have been involved in many other areas of marketing and agri-business development. Please consider the following a loose collection of ideas and guidelines for developing practices that work for your business. I encourage you to review your operation and to take a minute to look over the many business-development topics listed elsewhere here on AgMRC.

It is not that difficult to construct a game-bird hunting-preserve business. Just remember that no matter how long any of us work at this game, as either a business or a sport, there are always new things to learn and other things to improve on. With some attention to a few details, knowing your customers and delivering a quality package to them, it is possible to create an outstanding, sustainable and very enjoyable business venture.

In general, it has often been repeated in books, magazine, Internet articles and in university MBA classes that there are six basic steps to successful product marketing. Actually, it is better to consider them as stages or logical progressions within a formal marketing plan that is part of a dynamic (reviewed and ever-evolving) business plan:

• Define your market.
• Learn about your market.
• Know the benefits of your product to your market.
• Advertise to your market.
• Teach your market about your product (advertise the benefits of your product).
• Capture your customers and keep them coming back.

If you are a preserve operator, this game is about return clients who renew memberships and bring guests. If you have members who are obviously going out of their way to bring guests and other paying clients to your doorstep, be sure to find some way to acknowledge their patronage and assistance in sustaining or growing your business.

In this business, success depends on selling memberships and renewals. Before you judge that as commercially self-serving and blatantly capitalistic, consider that memberships, paid well before the season opener, guarantee a certain amount of operating revenue to cover pre-ordering birds, managing the habitat, paying insurance bills and similar overhead costs. Almost every decent preserve has a membership policy; it helps with business planning. However, membership rates and client services for the initial fee vary considerably from one operation to the next.

Consistent return-members are almost always gun-dog enthusiasts. Most, but not all, preserves also service “walk-in” non-member clients at roughly twice or more the going rate for members. Walk-ins tend to be non-dog-owners who have a dog-owner friend, or the casual bird-dog owner who wants a pre-season warm-up. 

Remember, as a preserve operator, you are marketing an environmental experience. For example, Michigan's game bird hunting preserves are preserving 72,032 acres of open space and farmland with high-quality wild game habitat. This is true of every state that has preserve operations and similar types of managed hunting ground. The natural and improved habitat not only provides food and cover for game birds, it is a valuable set-aside for all species of game and non-game wildlife.

Rick Ludt, president of the South Dakota Hunting Preserve Association, recently pointed out that preserves are valuable supporters of the overall hunting industry and valuable components of any state’s rural business agritourism mix. Ludt cites that more than $700,000 in preserve licenses were sold in South Dakota in 2008 (this does not include considerable revenue from nonresident small game permits and resident permits, valid on preserves, but sold by other vendors). No dollar amount for purchased birds was cited, but is estimated to have been well into the several millions of dollars. When considering your business plan’s mission statement, communications and promotions, or talking with local or state legislators, business leaders or the media; always keep in mind that you are important contributing members of your state’s rural-development, business and environmental communities.

Take a minute to look at yourself as a preserve operator.  Potts and Rourke, Nature-Based Tourism Enterprises, Guidelines for Success, Clemson University, 2000, suggest that before beginning an endeavor, one should ask oneself the following questions (parenthetical additions by the author of this article):

• Am I knowledgeable about the natural system (sport or sports) in which I plan to work?
• Do I like meeting and working with all types of people?
• Do I like to entertain strangers?
• Do I have in-depth (or the appropriate) outdoor skills?
• Am I skilled in the operation and maintenance of (the applicable) equipment?
• Am I willing to work long hours (or those necessary to: deal with the public, maintain birds and bird pens, provide clean rest-room and common areas, work with various suppliers) in difficult environments?
• Am I successful at managing and organizing expenses (undertake business planning and accounting)?

If so, then you may have what it takes to be successful in this business. If not, well, you can work on the weak points and have some fun doing it. Also, with respect to shooting-sport operations, larger or more active venues or events will require trustworthy employees who have knowledge of the sport, equipment, operational risk-management and emergency plans, and are trained to work well and respectfully with clients. If you have people working for you, please take a minute to review the AgMRC insurance and liability issues pages.

There are some universal business-development ideas that are expounded by successful entrepreneurs, business schools and top leadership teams. I’ve summarized and highly adapted a few of them based on a 2009 aquaculture publication, A Guide to Marketing Small-Scale Aquaculture Producers, Purdue University; although it targets aquaculture, the concepts are applicable to game-bird preserves and many other agritourism ventures:

• The 4-Ps of Marketing: Product, Price, Place (distribution) and Promotion.
• Produce what you can market and grow the market. Traditionally, marketing has been viewed as selling what you have. This is backwards. Modern marketing focuses on producing what you can sell. Find where the market is, understand it and develop it.
• Your market is probably more competitive than you think. Quality service and quality product demonstrates that you care about your customers and win customer loyalty. A quality product sells itself. Your quality product is a quality experience.
• Little extras (recipes, personal contact, newsletters, putting the customer first) matter.
• See yourself as a marketer selling your operation. Assess the needs of potential “new buyers” and existing customers; communicate with them how and why you deliver a quality product that meets their needs. Do some market research, it can be as easy as asking a few questions of your clients.
• Think about making money from as many levels of the supply chain as you can. For a preserve business consider “levels” as all the steps from raising birds, guiding the hunt, cleaning birds for the customer, and then retailing a souvenir shirt, cap, locally-produce bottle of wine, sausage, or pre-packaged smoked gamebird when they leave to go home.
• Have a marketing plan. This should be part of a comprehensive business plan. Neither need be elaborate, but should be road-map documents that change as your business changes.
• Do your best to develop the “slow times” of your season.
• Look for and develop the un-serviced or poorly serviced market (-consider novel ways to reach your audience, or introduce your operation to potential clients who would not normally go out of their way to try it).
• If you realize that you have a niche, exploit it.
• Diversification is a great thing; however never lose sight of strengthening and ensuring the success of your core business. View “diversification” as a form of risk-management that can come in the form of changes in marketing, production, or income-generation.
• Increased scale does not mean larger profits. Profitability of a business depends on a number of factors. A smaller complimentary enterprise can be more sustainable and profitable than a huge stand-alone venture.
• Price yourself according to the value of the product that you deliver and your accessibility to the market. Attempt to deliver above-average to outstanding value-for-the dollar.
• Be sure to have a secure restrooms and changing areas where women and children can feel secure. After a long drive to your facility, it is no big deal for most men to “run back around the grain bin.” It is a bit more of a hassle and quite a bit more emotionally and physically uncomfortable for women and children to do so. Also, it is great to have a place to change out of overly warm, dirty or cold, sweaty clothes. Encourage your clients to bring a comfortable change of clothes for the after-hunt visit to the local restaurant or the ride home.

Quality Habitat
Agriculture in almost every form is about the land and developing an appropriate crop on that land to ensure successful production. The same is true with a “preserve cropping system.” In this case, it is all about the habitat. If you have a dull place for hunters to run dogs, the preserve will be viewed as a dull, artificial environment. If you have an interesting and challenging place to run dogs, the preserve will be viewed as a quality and fulfilling outdoor experience. One is about going thought the motions of a hunt; the other is about creating the setting for a quality hunt.

Good habitat means bird cover and food plots, as well as edge habitat that usually take the form of mowed paths. One of the best preserves that I have hunted has a grid of mowed paths through grass of different heights and varieties. Running across this grid and intersecting with one another are food plots of sorghum, millet or corn. These food plots not only provide food and additional cover, but like the mowed paths, create escape routes for birds not ready to fly, but more than willing to test dogs with evasive ground tactics.

I encourage potential clients shopping around for a preserve to take a day before the preserve season opens, call ahead, and visit with owners or managers of a few operations in their area to look over the cover. As the owner or manager of the preserve, this is your chance to put your best foot forward, have brochures on hand, get the clients contact information and make a note to return a follow-up call. If the potential client has decided on a different preserve, politely inquire as to what factors went into their decision and then encourage them to stop back to visit and consider your preserve in the future. Keep both active and potential-client mailing lists and think about how to use these as off-season marketing tools. Few preserves take the time to do even a simple newsletter, yet a quarterly E-mail, especially with a few nice photos, can be a very effective communications tool.

Bird Quality and in-the-Field Bird Delivery
Finding “hard-flying” birds is always a potential problem for preserve operators. Attention to age of the bird and time in the flight pen is extremely important.  Schooling helpers to make sure they select good strong birds, or do not overly dizzy birds when releasing them is especially important early in the operating season.

Dogs catch birds on the ground. It happens on preserves and occasionally with wild birds; however, if the client’s dog catches half or more of the birds on the ground, it is a definitely a “lousy preserve day,” and hardly an experience that anyone would wish to repeat.

Preserve habitat is about cover for birds and dogs. Hard-flying birds are great, but unless the birds are absolutely lousy, they are really only a small part of the total equation. Well-managed habitat that is a great challenge but not impossible to hunt, and services for dogs are what quality preserves deliver. That translates into exploiting your releases by using varied cover with ample edge habitat (mowed trails and food-plots) in which dogs can work their magic noses and birds can show off their escape and evasion skills.

The mechanics of how birds are released and the weather (rain, dew) can make a big difference on how birds fly. Just sticking them in cover may not do the trick. With pen-reared pheasants, the stronger and more mature the birds, the better; with quail and chucker partridge, how the birds are released into the habitat and attention to the day’s weather can make a huge difference in the quality of the hunt experience. Sometimes chuckars and quail just need habitat with some space in which to move. If you release these birds by burying them in heavy wet cover, there is a very good chance that they will not flush and fly when they would normally blast out of the cover. Having the releases adjacent to lanes, or within the rows of a food plot, will give the birds a chance to dry off, move from the release point and at least have an opportunity to escape a dog’s nose that suddenly appears right over them.
If the fields are large and conditions are tough (warm early season, tall and thick grass); or if beginner hunters or young or inexperienced dogs are part of the mix, it is wise to discuss the logistics of release and tactics of the hunt with the hunting party. Feel free to suggest placing the birds in the central area of the field where they can be found, then flushed on to other habitat included in the hunting area. This is common with chuckars and quail, but is not a bad plan with pheasants too when working a pup (and don’t release too many birds) or a child (remember their limitations and choose the cover accordingly). You as the preserve operator are there to ensure that your client has a quality day afield. This is different for a child than for an adult. Talk with the parent about how they would like the child’s hunt to progress. Later in the season, challenging releases of pairs and singles across the habitat will make for tired, but happy and contented hunters and dogs.

Know your Client
I’ve found that there tend to be two types of preserve operators: bird-hunting enthusiasts who manage preserves for investor-owners (who also may farm), and farm families who have developed a preserve operation, but are not necessarily into the “bird-dog thing.” The later tends to approach a preserve business and the product they deliver (which they tend to see as birds) as yet another crop they produce, only in this case crazy people with money from town come out to pick it themselves. This is a dangerously misleading attitude to have since it completely misses the big idea: This business is predominantly centered around dog freaks and their dogs.

I am a preserve client. I like hunting preserves and have a family membership for the exact same reason that most people have one: I love working my dog. Don’t get me wrong, I live for wild bird hunting, but in many states, there simply is not the length-of-season or number of birds to properly introduce beginning dogs or hunters to upland field craft. I also believed that a regular “touch up” to the dog-handler skill set is never a bad investment, and preserves allow my dog and me to extend our field season and share it with family and friends.

As a bird hunter who came to dog ownership later in life, I never saw myself as a potential preserve client; but when I sent off the deposit check for our German wirehaired pointer puppy in the face of Iowa’s disappearing bird habitat and dwindling pheasant population, I knew a preserve membership would be a necessary part of the training kit.  I wanted my pup to see birds, a lot of birds.  He would be a tad over five-months old about the time the September-first opening of the Iowa preserve season rolled around, and it would be time for him to sniff a few feathers and for me to gauge the fruits of the countless hours of training and encouragement.

Here are a few things to think about why your client comes to you and what constitutes a quality experience.

Preserves are great for working gundogs. They constitute an extended hunting season and a dog that sees a longer season, works more birds, and has more points and retrieves is a far better dog.  People who do not have dogs usually are left out of the preserve equation. This is a huge gaping hole in the preserve’s potential client base. I encourage people who do not have dogs, but like to hunt and perhaps do not have ready access to good hunting land, to consider splitting a preserve membership with a friend who has one. This should be a marketing tact when preserves promote themselves to local outdoor groups, at outdoor shows and to similar audiences.

I tell my friends, that if they are considering a preserve, to call around to their friends who actively work dogs and ask them about the preserves in the area; then consider what they like and dislike about the operations. Usually when they say they are thinking of joining a preserve, an invitation to be a guest on a friend’s membership usually follows. Again, there is an opportunity here for the preserve to expand their member-with-guest traffic, which of course results in far more overall business activity.

If the preserve develops a promotion for members, for example, a punch card, computer file, etc. where each non-member visitor is recorded, and when a given number of visitors have been tallied the member is credited with a few free birds “in special thanks for spreading the word about our great operation.” This and similar promotions result in the preserve seeing new faces, and the member is thanked for his time playing host and client wrangler. Introducing people to the experience also goes a long way toward dispelling negative preconceptions about preserve hunting.

If you talk to hunters in general about preserves, you frequently get the “those preserve birds are too easy,” and “where’s the fun in that, heck, it’s like shootin’ fish in a barrel” opinions. Let’s face it. Most of these folks are far too cheap to spend a day at a preserve and are not dog owners or serious dog owners. If you actively hunt behind a great pointer or flushing dog, you will have easy birds and difficult birds; some birds the dog will catch on the ground. There are times when this will happen on a private farm or ranch, public hunting area, or preserve. My toughest and most enjoyable day with my dog was a solo early-season pheasant hunt on a preserve; my easiest and least fulfilling was along an amazingly productive road ditch during the regular season when two of us limited-out in about fifteen minutes behind a badly handled flushing dog. Every day afield, preserve or otherwise, is a unique outing. Like all outdoor experiences it will have its ups and downs, perfect days and less-than perfect days.

However, one thing is certain; when a client arrives at a preserve and his or her party is warmly received as welcome guests and given an exclusively secure area of prime habitat in which to work dogs, in this day and age, that constitutes immediate and considerable value.

Special Early-Season Considerations
You have a limited season for your business, it is important to try to get clients to your business when the weather is less-than optimal. Usually in the Midwest, September, the first month of preserve operation, may have the same or less than the attendance of the final week of the season at the end of March. An important consideration for any preserve-hunting business model should be to enhance the preserve experience for the least-popular times of the season. This means increasing client activity, when clients are most hesitant to hunt.

During September and early October, the main reasons folks don’t come out to play are: (1) fear for the dog’s safety when the weather is hot and (2) heavy, green, scent-killing cover. An option would be to offer early season specials and similar promotions, but a far more effective strategy is to simply concentrate on delivering a quality experience. That translates into creating a safe and quality situation in which to work dogs.

Preserves open well before the regular season when the weather is warm and the grass is very green. These factors can make early-season preserve hunting challenging and problematic. They are the reasons why many casual handlers in the northern and eastern states never hunt their dogs in early-season situations. Heavy, green cover, especially if it is wet from rain or morning dew, masks bird scent; even the best dog needs to be right on top of a bird to pin it down and have excellent tracking ability to unravel a runner’s convoluted scent trail. Hot weather quickly drains a well-conditioned dog and absolutely obliterates the fat canine couch potato.

Two of the better preserves I’ve hunted make a point to send e-mails to their clients reminding them that they are open for the season and that some fields are “managed for early-season training.” This is best underscored by a reassurance that these training fields have cover appropriate for working pups. These operators also have remote-controlled spring-operated bird-thrower (launcher) units for quail or pigeons on hand for use at no extra charge for clients training puppies to hold point and be steady-to-wing-and-shot (where the dog holds steady at the flush), and note this in early-season communications.

All conscientious handlers carry plenty of water for their animals or plan hunts around returning at intervals to the vehicle for water and a little down time to rest or rotate dogs. A good preserve gives the client a safety briefing and will have water, a lot of water, especially during hot weather, in the form of wading pools, or five-gallon jugs and pans placed around the field. Black-plastic 24” x 34” concrete-mixing pans, large enough for dogs to immerse themselves, are available at most hardware retailers. They are an inexpensive, durable and an extremely effective option.

I know one preserve operator who drives out halfway through the hunt on an ATV with a cooler of non-alcoholic beverages and chilled dog water. The hunters and dogs are encouraged to take a break. The operator also collects harvested birds so that the hunters can lighten their game bags. If it is warm, the birds immediately go on ice in his ATV’s cooler. It is a nice touch. Due to service like this, this owner-operator seldom advertises for new clients and has all the loyal members he wants to run his operation at a comfortably efficient and financially-viable level. Another excellent preserve, at which I have held a membership, makes a point to provide fresh centrally-located water resources in each field before the day’s hunt, and to make sure that clients know exactly where these are located. If you have heavy cover, marking them with a flag would not be a bad idea.

A good rule-of-thumb is that for every five to ten acres there should be a water source. In the average-size field, I like to see water in the middle and at either end of it. Preserve operators who really know bird dogs often will tactfully mention to clients the importance of keeping dogs hydrated, then show the client where an emergency reserve of rubbing alcohol is located, and finish by providing a handout with maps of the hunting area and to the nearest vet’s office. Ideally, information packets will include both canine and human-related emergency numbers. It is always a good idea to have additional posted signage with the same information and additional emergency numbers in or near the office or clubhouse building.

The alcohol is an old veterinarian and hot-weather bird-handler’s trick. If a dog is in serious danger of hyperthermia (elevated body temperature due to failed thermoregulation when the body produces or absorbs more heat than it can dissipate) the result can be acute heat stroke then death. The solution is quick and simple. The handler rolls the animal over and pours alcohol on its belly and the insides of the rear legs (where there is less coat and more exposed skin), taking care not to get the alcohol in contact with the genitalia (alcohol stings tender tissue, cuts and abrasions). The radical evaporative cooling of the vaporizing alcohol immediately lowers the dog’s temperature. If a dog is clearly unresponsive or exhibits other signs that it is in serious trouble, it needs to be rushed to a vet to be iced-down and immediately rehydrated with electrolyte-balanced intravenous fluid.

I absolutely love early-season preserve work because of the challenges it presents. I don’t always collect the number of birds I release, but my pointer can hone that magic nose and tracking-intercept ability under the toughest conditions. If I know there is a released bird in the cover, I will work and rework the cover to try to find it. The dog learns that he needs to be thorough. He learns to anticipate the evasive tricks of running roosters and how to untangle the deceptive scent fields they weave. The dog also gets used to me directing him to likely coverts and develops trust in me as I understand more of his behavioral nuances. As fall progresses and the grass dies back, each hunt gets better and easier for him. By the opening of the regular season he is coffin-nail tough and sharp as a tack. He anticipates my whims, works off my little whistles and hand signals; and at a glance, I know what he’s thinking. After this kind of tune-up, a wild-bird outing is usually a fantastic day afield for the two of us and our guests.

Some hunters who have tried preserves may have had early-season birds that did not fly because it was hot and the morning grass was wet with dew. Chuckars (Asian red-legged partridge) and quail are notorious for not flying when released in wet grass. They are reluctant to flush and tend to run rather than fly. This is disappointing for pointing-dog owners. For this reason, on hot and heavy-dew or rainy days, I talk with the preserve manager and ask for a field with shorter cover, and if wet or heavy cover is the only option, I’ll skip the chuckars or quail and release pheasants, then give them some time to recover and acclimate before I begin to work the dog.

Don’t feel bad about suggesting alternatives release strategies to the client. You are there to increase the quality of their experience, not keep your mouth shut and ensure their failure. This can be best summed up by a few simple practices:

• Make sure there is abundant available water for dogs (and perhaps hunters).
• Gauge the difficulty of the habitat and accordingly plan the bird release (need to be on top of this, weather (dew) can make a big difference on how those birds fly).
• Make sure that the birds are “strong fliers.”
• Ask if there are any special “needs” in the group. (Children or beginning hunters should not be assigned the most challenging cover; young children should have a non-gun handling adult as their personal safety officer. Call that person their “guide.”)
• Keep groups small, unless it is a driven shoot or the group has a preserve guide to ensure safe large-group staging.  If possible, split large groups and stage them in different fields or at different times.

Northern Cold-Weather Issues
Like any conventional farming operation, preserve operators are at the mercy of the weather. There will be times when extreme cold or heavy snow will impact the business, perhaps for weeks. This is where promotion and targeted e-mail communication may generate some traffic. Snow may be dealt with by using an ATV to break some trails creating a lot of small blocks of cover. A warming house or clubhouse is a great respite from the weather, helps to make up for hardship in the field, and can add to the ambience of the outing. Of course, if it is dangerously cold or there has been a massive snowfall, operations obviously are out of the question.

Check your average weather pattern and see when you should try to schedule use of some of your other assets for things other than serving your hunters. This may be a time of year when your clubhouse, full-service accommodations, food, corporate meeting area or overnight accommodations can help to pick up some of the income slack. How about groomed cross-country ski trails so that you can consider yourself a multi-use facility? Consider some kind of “hard-core” “polar-bear” promotion, for example a snowshoe hunt or a one-hour challenge type of hunt competition where the releases are localized in the same area for each team.

Risk Management
Standard operating procedure throughout the industry is to offer a safety briefing, require some orange clothing, a signature on an activity waiver (examples available on AgMRC: Example-1 and Example-2) and either a small-game license or single-day preserve license. 

Statistics show that hunting preserves and clay-target shooting venues are extremely safe operations. They usually are attended by seasoned shooters who consider safe gun handling the hallmark of a true sportsperson. The average shooter is well versed in range-safety procedures and will routinely correct others if any unsafe behavior is observed. Of course, nothing should be left to chance.

With respect to risk management, it is important to consider all safety and liability issues and plan for them with a written risk management plan that has been reviewed by your insurance provider and your attorney. There are many insurance providers who handle the specialized insurance needs and risk-management planning associated with shooting venues and hunting preserves. They can be found on-line and through printed directories. Of note are The National Shooting Sports Federation (NSSF) and The National Skeet Shooting Association (NSSA) and similar industry advocacy groups who have associated insurance providers who work with their affiliate-members at reasonable rates. These include The North American Gamebird Association (NAGA). Established in 1931 NAGA is the non-profit professional industry organization. For more than 76 years, members have led the way in improving methods of gamebird production and hunting preserve management. Information is available on their website.
Indemnification release forms should be backed up with highly-visual prominently displayed temporary (event) or posted (permanent venue) signage. For example, verbiage should include:

• Eye protection required and with hearing-protection also required on clay-target ranges.
• Firearms should always be pointed in a safe direction.
• When transitioning between hunting zones, clearing any obstacles or when around vehicles or loitering parties, all firearms should be unloaded with the actions open so that they can be visually checked as "safe." All guns will remain open and void of cartridges at all times, except when the shooter is actively working birds.
• Encourage clients to have the gun out-of-the hands and unloaded when taking a retrieved bird from a dog.
• Continually reaffirm that the gun’s safety is engaged in the ON position while moving within the field.
• Finger off the trigger and alongside the trigger guard until the bird is flushed.
• Any client who acts in an unsafe or discourteous manner as so deemed by preserve staff or fellow hunters, or is observed using drugs or alcohol, may be asked to leave the preserve, potentially forfeiting fees.
• Responsible post-hunt alcohol use for non-drivers permitted in designated areas after all firearms have been unloaded, cased and stored for transit.

Additional risk-management safety planning should include perimeter “no trespassing, shooting range” and “licensed shooting preserve” signage, and employee training should include emergency equipment and procedures. Fire-suppression equipment and first aid kits should be visible and readily available with the nearby posted emergency and non-emergency numbers for local emergency services and law enforcement. All training should include first-aid and CPR training. Shooting accidents are highly unlikely; however, with our aging population heart-attack and stroke are all too common, as is dehydration and heat-stroke at any warm-weather event. For these reasons, any agritourism venture of any type should have risk-management plans that include first-aid and CPR training for managers, operators and field staff.

Finally, the Little Things
A few details can help you cover a few bases to turn a bad day for your client into the reason that client will be a repeat customer:

• Communicate that you value your client.
• Have ammunition in several gauges and loads available for those who forgot their ammo at home, as well as have some extra “loaner” safety-orange vests on hand.
• Have simple on-site handouts for the hunt and quality printed brochures about your business for clients to pass on to friends.
• Have an area for hunters to relax after the hunt, bird-cleaning facilities, and changing rooms.
• Many preserves host dog trials and training workshops. Discounts on these events usually are extended to all clients on the operation’s mailing list.
• Warm beverages or soup, free or for a reasonable price are great for a little post-hunt relaxation.
• Have cool stuff to sell, yours and from other local businesses. You are part of the buy-local scene, support businesses you like and encourage their staff to support you.
• Consider a thank-you event, post-season communication, or a thank-you drawing for a gift where each visit by the member or client counts as an entry into the contest. Some preserve operators have events like a pre-season summer client-appreciation grill-out and clays shoot; a spring open house, perhaps with a speaker, food or similar “pull” to bring in clients to mix and talk. Well done, this can be a solid incentive for your clients to renew memberships.
• Some preserves offer hunter-safety classes, Becoming an Outdoor Woman programs, off-season outdoor-education workshops, and host clay-target shoots and tournaments. Consider partnering with Pheasants or Quail Forever, Safari Club International and similar organizations that have funding for educational outreach.  Local hunter-safety instructors are another underserved group. Many preserves offer off-season member access for dog training and summer pond fishing. These are all great ways to generate interest in the business and provide additional value to your clients.
• Put in a good word for the little local eatery, and be sure to have your clients mention that the preserve recommended the restaurant. Restaurants are great places to start and magnify positive local word-of-mouth buzz about your business.

I like preserves for accelerating the learning curve when new canine or human hunters are introduced to the sport. A private environment where there is game, and the client can concentrate on developing the charges in his or her care, is well worth a monetary investment compared to slogging miles of public ground before finding the first and perhaps only bird of the day. Often overlooked by preserve operators is the fact that their businesses usually help to make mediocre dog handlers into far better handlers who become more enthusiastic about participating in the sport.

This is an important selling point for any preserve operation. If clients are aggravated by a particularly serious dog-training problem, you can offer them a list of contacts and services provided by local professionals. If a handler is willing to ask for and be open to advice, the preserve is a great place to meet new friends, learn about training clubs, and get a lot of free and very useful handling tips.

This also is true for preserve operators, experienced guns and handlers like to talk about what they know. They share their thoughts because they honestly want you to enjoy the experience at the level they have devoted much of their lives and a good portion of their income to attain. Listen to them and consider what has worked for them on your preserve, what they like, and seriously consider any problems or inconveniences they experienced.

As a preserve operator, these handlers are your specialist “field salesmen.” They sell your operation by word-of-mouth at their local gun clubs, place of business, or when they bump into a friend at the local hardware store. If they are active in Pheasants or Quail Forever, are hunter-safety instructors, or prefer certain breeds of dogs, these are all things you should note in your records. If the person is a gun or gundog-writer for national or regional magazines, works in the agritourism industry or state rural-development, is an officer with one of the conservation advocacy organizations, works for a major local or regional sporting goods store, or is one of the hot-shot trainers or clays shooters in the area, this is really your person. For example, active clays shooters are especially poised to sell your operation. They are present at one or more venues every week for most of the non-hunting year, they talk shooting and hunting every day, and usually have a wide range of friends who know them and respect their judgment.

Most preserve operators don’t even realize that they have a ready staff of “field salesman” just like managers in the seed, veterinary-pharmaceutical or implement business. Consider gifting your active and enthusiastic members with an embroidered shirt or hat with your logo, these generate questions and conversations about your preserve.  Your active member can then sell your operation by telling a good story about a memorable hunt. Keep good records of what you do for promotions, and be sure to check with your accountant to see what expenses you can legitimately claim at tax time.

There are few things as fulfilling as operating a safe, sustainable, profitable business that gets people outside and enjoying life. The more we learn, the more deeply we appreciate the dogs, birds and every other wonderful aspect of upland-game hunting. After all, any upland experience is not really about birds, it is about spending precious moments with friends and family and enjoying the outstanding performance of a great-working gundog; something a great preserve-operator never forgets.