Okay, I have to say it. When did the North American Hunting Club become the North American Whiners Club? Where did all of the red-blooded hunting men and women go and how did all of the crotchity old hens get in here? I go through the forums and the vast majority of what I see is compaining and squawking old hens flapping around about how they did not get enough red on their lollipop! Are you serious?

I became a life member of NAHC back in 1980 and did so just to get the magazine subscription and the chance to read about some others hunter's experiences and maybe learn something. (I am also a life member of NRA from about the same time). The fact that I was offered a chance to maybe receicve some test items or participate in a contest or two or be offered a piece of gear with the club logo on it at group prices were all pluses. Since joining, I have received several test products, including a White Thuderbolt muzzleloader that I still use today. I have accepted and paid for some really nice items and have sent a few back. I have a collection of wild game cookbooks that I use and loan out and I have had to communicate with member services a time or two. But I got everything I signed up for and even some extra things.

The purpose of the club is not to be a clearing house for giveaways or provide thousands of test products every week to the membership, but to help spread the word about ethical hunting and sharing experiences that may enhance your next trip to the woods. To provide a conduit for exchanging ideas and maybe even foster some brotherhood and sisterhood. You get out of something what you are willing to put into it.

I am, like I said, a life member of many years in NAHC. I am also 61, retired military, retired law enforcement and nursing some chronic injuries and medical conditions that make it difficult to get out to hunt, but will not stop me from going out. I am grateful to this Nation and to the good Lord for allowing me to live and hunt in this wonderful country of ours. And I try to be positive rather than negative, although sometimes I do tend to get testy when I hear too much sqawking.

God bless you all and may all of your hunts be happy ones.

FRUlery Welcome on here .I became a lifer in 86 .And I feel the way you do .Come around and have some fun .

Absolutely, Holly.

Very well stated my friend. I have been a life member for about as long. I did not join the club for anything more then the magazine. I have a pretty nice Video collect that I paid for, and a few other things. I never got to field test anything and really never cared that I didn't. I just became a Trophy Life member and got my first field test item. I am just now trying to use the website a little more, so I hope to get to know a few hunters from around the country. Outdoors men and women seem to be a putting good group of people. 

Exactly the same reason I joined in 1977, hell back then there weren't any freebies other than the sign up gifts, so the only reason to join was for the magazine and the hunting lands that were being developed for the members.

Back when I joined they did have land in Krimlin CO and did get to hunt on it one year .then that went away .
RClark welcome on here .Join in and have some fun .

I would have to mostly agree. I joined back in the late 1970's and became a Life Memeber in the 1980's on a promotional campaign that applied all annual dues to the cost of a membership. I knew I would continue memebership because I liked the magazine and the values of the club so I took the plunge into Life Memebership. I have over the years received Test Items all of which were relativily small in value but still a treat to receive because I always considered them as gifts. I joined for the magazine and the information that was available such as the Guide directory that used to be sent out every year and then there was the added benefit of being able to contact memebers in various parts of the country regarding hunting conditions. I remember on one occasion I contacted someone in Montana regarding hunting a certain area and he provided all the information I needed.

With that said I do think the Club has become very commercial over the years, I remember when there were no advertisements in the magazine and the club sent out a notice to members asking for input about adding ads in the magazine. I also recall a time when I received unsolicited merchandise in the mail for evaluation and I had to return the item or pay for it after a set time. I hate when companies do that because I always forget to send it back, in fact I remember one item I wasn't even sure if I received it. To the Clubs credit after a few phone calls I was able to straighten out the lost item and I did get my name off the list of having items sent to me.

So to quote "that's the view from here".

Mitch

Thank you Holly. Hope to make lots of new friends here.

Mitch welcome to you to .Like seeing new and old members on here .

Holly,

Thank you for the warm welcome. I am trying to become more involved in the forums.

MitchR, are you a Charter Member, like I am? If so, I don't know if there are very many of us who are active on the forums. I became a Charter Member in 1977, there were less than 1500 members at that time, and everyone of us had our names published in the magazine as we joined, and there was a big board with all our names on it located at the Club Headquarters and every quarter they would publish the entire list in the magazine. Anyone else remember those days??????????

Yes I do RT .

I too was a Charte member for a bit then figured at the price offered to upgrade in 1981 to Life Member. I figured the magazine was worth the price if the club stayed around for awhile. Never expected it to be around this long. Was also hoping they would continue securing property for members to hun, especially in Calif., well that didn't pan out but still never have had any regrets. Have had a couple opportunities to field test products and consider it a bonus. Also enjoy the opportunity to rub elbows with other members on the forums, another bonus since I never figured on owning a computer, that was a real luxury in the early 80's..lol So all you whiners need to suck it up and enjoy what's here or pick up yer toys and go home...

RThomas,

I had totally forgot about the names being published in the magazine, which if I remember correctly only came out 9 times a year. I have all those old magazines stored away. I have been racking my brain trying to remember when I joined and I think it was either 1978 or 1979. I remember I had transferred to Narcotics Division, which was in October 1977, and one of the guys told me about this new hunting club and he got me the application forms, I remember the guys name but can't recall when we talked about the club. I sent the application in and the rest is history.

I have belonged to so many different hunting groups throughout the years I may be confusing the NAHC with something else, but wasn't there and annual get together held somewhere on the East Coast?

Originally there were regional member meetings, but there was never one close enough for me to attend, nor did I ever get to hunt the club lands. BTW, you are correct about the number of magazines per year.

I became a life member in 2000, after my wife died and I moved back to my home town. I've been a member now, for over 35 years, and now that I'm disabled and on Soc. Sec., I can't afford the member hunts and really regret not ever doing any of them back when I was a productive member of the working society!!!!!!!!!

Hey Ron, next time a bunch of of us from that other site get together, you can come help QM, TWERTH and me guard camp----shorter shifts that way...

I joined in the late 90's as a regular member and in 2000 went to LM. I got all the welcome gifts as promised and even had then boz arrive opened and someone along the way had taken out the knife and belt buckle as well as the wooden plaque. I called the Club and explained what happened and they sent another complete box. Was sent a few things that I sent back and after calling the Club and explaining that I was on a fixed income I have never recieved another thing period. I enter the contest and use the BB daily along with getting the magazine. Some folks expect to join and immediately start getting things for free and when they don't they start whining, pizzing, and moaning. I enjoy the BB as I have met ( in person a couple ) some good people who are always willing to offer advice and help. There are some poeple you just can't please and those are usually the ones doing all the whining !!!

RThomas,

I was never able to attend one of the regional meetings. I always thought after I read the recap of the meeting in the magazine that it would be fun to attend but they were just to far away. I also could never afford the offered hunts they were out of my price range. I vaguely remember when the club obtained the land and the
news release that it was the first and more were to come. I guess that didn't work out so well. I also remember when the magazine published the membership numbers after the each drive. The club has certainly changed in many ways since those days.

Good to see some positive feedback for a change. Mitch, Holly, RT, Tom, Big Dawg and the rest are good to go. I also remember the names being printed in the magazine and forgetting to send back some items before the deadline. (They would up as gifts for family hunters). I have been very pleased with NAHA as a whole and hope they keep up the good work.

Tom, I guess since I don't drink anymore, I'd make a pretty good camp guard, huh!?!?!?!?!

Tom if you pay my way I will show up and shorten the guard time .But I do like beer .

Need someone to guard the beer? 

This is the same reason I joined the club. thanks for your words of Wisdom.

tcouron, something got lost in the translation. Would you mind providing an explanation???????

I'm With Holly I'll gaurd the BEER.. LOL .. That is the only way to go..

wait a second you need a camp gaurd? for what? to gaurd the beer from whom? i am sorry never heard of that 1 i have heard of camp cook! i used to share that 1 but never had need of a guard tho! well wait i remember my neighbor had his camper broke into 2 years ago! but he kinda knew who did that!!

rt i think he means all the good comments and offering to hunt togather! just a guess

Okay i will go i will go in too...Ill go in and guard the beer....Just wanna help my fellow club memebers....lol

I'll guard the beer!!!!!!!!! But who's gonna guard me FROM the beer. In my eyes, the only safe beer is the beer that's in my belly. Now THAT'S the proper way to guard beer!

I offer my services as a beer guard since I am not a beer drinker and even I was, I never mix alcohol with firearms ( among other things ). Now if anyone would want to pay me with a few moments of range time with various firearms or some good stories of your past hunting escapades I would be mighty happy

OK, I will sacrifice and guard the guards who are watching the beer. Hint guards, I can be easily bribed....LOL

Me thinks you have it backwards... you're the one who needs to do the bribing. There seem to be a bunch more of us...

i am still trying to figure out why you guys gaurd your beer? don`t you just bring a keg? thats enough for a 3 day hunt right? ROFL!! the guys i used to camp and hunt with, it was the hot chocolate that needed gaurding!!!

Joe, I got beer!
The rest of y'all have never hunted with Quailman....beer guard required!

I don't think I wont any of that nattylight though.

I figure on a collective whole.. that we can all agree on these two things....We like beer... and we all wnat to guard it as well...lol

Posted By mwalton7 on 15 Oct 2012 12:41 AM
I figure on a collective whole.. that we can all agree on these two things....We like beer... and we all wnat to guard it as well...lol

A truism for sure, Jack Daniels isn't bad either.

 yeah and jim beam aint a bad  option neither   lol

That hard stuff don't like me .

FRUlery, thank you for saying that. When I joined and then became a lifer I got to reading these threads and started thinking I may have screwed up! But that has not been the case. Never had any major problems with the club, and what few small problems I had got handled quickly with 1 email, and no questions asked. Now I'm meeting a lot of great people on here and I really enjoy being a member.

hi!!! everybody i am new to this forum. recently got a computer. i have been a trophy life member since 8-19-2008. i also got all the club promised. i have got books and videos that i payed for. and have sent things back too. i love the magazine. i saved everyone of them since becoming a member. i have gotten a couple things to field test. but don't worry to much about that anything they send me is a bonus. i like reading the mag. and can only hope to make a few friends here. i would like very much to do one of the member hunts someday. the  $$$$$ just not there right now. anyway i would just like to say that i am very happy and proud to be part of the N.A.H.C.   I WISH EVERYONE THE BEST OF LUCK ON YOUR NEXT HUNTING ADVENTURE. NO MORE WHINING PEOPLE.

Guess I am a yungin’ as my Grandpa would say. I have only been a life member since around 1998 or so and a few years ago sent in a few bucks to get the “trophy” life membership.

I enjoy the banter and the plethora of information on the forums and also enjoy reading the magazine.

bigrig they had land in CO. by Craig and some by Kremling also .I hunted on the land in kremling one time .Hunting was not very good .I was told they still had some in Craig ,but members can't go on it anymore .

Holly and Joe and bigrig, you can come hunt the backyard of my 3/4 acre lot anytine....four turkeys, two deer and a bunch of squirrels this morning!
TiT, LM 11/87.....

I don't recollect when I enrolled but it was in the '80s sometime. Back then one of the big drawing cards was the land to hunt. Didn't last long though and vanished before my piggie-bank said I could go try it. I heard it wasn't anything to write home about anyhow. I "vanished" for few years after becoming disillusioned with the "Club" but then came to realize that THIS was the best perk of being a Lifer and mosied on back... Some went screaming into the night when that happened...

I am still waiting to be advised of a Members hunt on land just for us.....

The elk that I killed in CO was by Craig ,and not on the company land .About 40 miles north of it .That land was always logged up .Never got on it .Yes I lived there then .Then I think it was in 87 that I was told it was closed to members .Happy life member sense 86.

When I joined the club in 1977, the plan was for there to be regional properties that would be available for members to hunt. The Burkes already owned land in Colorado and I believe Minnesota. Unfortunately, as far as I know they never managed to purchase any other properties and when they sold the NAHC, the program was scrapped.

Anybody remember the NAHC flag that a member designed & sold back in "the day??" More importantly for me, does anyone have an extra one "hanging" around. Lost my flag & my garage to fire last Tues!!

Shoot me your address Jeff, I'll send mine out to ya!

Hey Mitch, a bunch of us East Coast folks began a "Get together" function which became an annual event for awhile.  We would hook up in Ohio, NY, or Virginia, basically anywhere we could get folks to agree upon.  Heck, we even had folks from as far as Michigan come out.  We would camp, hunt, fish and every evening was pot luck dinner, good eats and stories!  You may be thinking of that?  Those were fun club days, yep.

Damn Jeff, sorry to hear about the fire.

I had forgotten all about the NAHC flag, I guess because I had never bought one.

Tom: I'm a member, have some land and have been advertising to get other member to stop by. I have gotten three to stop by. I just to visit, and two to hunt. Just don't drag RHen(not ready for him yet)

Sorry to hear about the fire.

WOW Jeff, Sorry to hear about your garage! What happened?

Sorry to hear you lost your flag too! Don't I recall you donating a flag to a widow of a board member back a few years? I think you were actually in my home town then, not sure if you still are....

Sorry to hear about your loss .

Wow. sorry to read about your garage burning down Jeff. I didn't know the club had a flag at one time. Before my wife was transfered to Dallas. We had GT's every so often to hunt coyotes or dove in Az. It was a lot of fun getting together with other members to hunt and just shoot the breeze in the evening. Don't see much of that anymore. Used to see it a lot a few years ago all over the country. Wonder what happened. Even took a member from Co. out for a combo hunt of dove and gambels quail one time. He was asking for a good outfitter. I wanted to go out myself. So said I would take him.

Thanks everyone...everythings covered by insurance & no one was hurt! Yep, Steve, I had bought 2 of the flags, then donated the one.

You still in the Pok area?

I didn't get no flag, didn'tt get no leather jacket, just a promise of hunting land that never materialized and some zipperr pulls......but made a lot of good friends on here....some I have met and some just internet buddies...it has been worth my LM payment!

Ya had to pay for the flags Tom. I did get the jacket though...

I got my jacket ,but still waiting for my knives and cook book .LOL.

About 4 years ago the club was getting rid of jacket inventory and sending them to your door for $40.00. I got one of them. Anyone else?

Yep , my original I gave away to my son . Those original ones are nice , so I got one for myself for that price it was a steal .