Frequently Asked Questions

1.) Who is AWA?

AWA (American Wildlife Association, Inc.) is the creation of Daryl Traylor, who also created Hunting Sports Plus in 1989, which became the first AWA club, of 300 more to follow in the next few years. AWA was originally established as a Missouri based LLC, but in 2007 was restructured as a Missouri Corporation.
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2.) What is AWA?

AWA is an organization created to provide training and guidance and cohesiveness to 300+ independently owned and operated AWA clubs to be developed throughout the USA. Each AWA club owner has the advantage of owning his own business, but is not without hand holding by experienced mentors, training and affiliation with other like minded, clubs, sharing the same objectives. AWA enables entrepreneurs to be in business for themselves, but not by themselves. AWA does not franchise or license AWA clubs, nor control many aspects traditionally controlled by franchisors. AWA does not control the name you choose, use of Logos, where you will place your office, or what signs you can or must display on your office, hours or methods of operation, pricing, etc. AWA clubs have a great deal of freedom, but aren't left on their own to figure out the best way run their business. AWA will be looking over their shoulders, and offering suggestions.
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3.) Where is AWA?

AWA shares 3000 square feet (the entire main floor) of an office building with Hunting Sports Plus, Inc., based in Blue Springs, MO, 20 miles east of Kansas City, on the West side of 7 Highway, just one block South of I-70. Our roof sign is visible from I-70.
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4.) Why do you need AWA?

The alternative is to start your own club from scratch, which you can do, but why reinvent the wheel, and spend hundreds of thousands of dollars and years of your life, learning the best way to build your own club? You will not only realize instant savings and success from the beginning, by following our proven successful methods, but you will have the advantage of our state-of-the art Online reservation system, which you can use immediately, and you will be a link in our national chain of clubs, which enable you to make money from members of other clubs all over America, as well as be able to sell memberships to sportsmen in your area who want to use the land leased by other clubs throughout the USA which will offer them opportunities which can't be found in your local area. You make money from your land, whether used by your members or other clubs members, and from your members whether they are using your land or other clubs land. AWA is the link to all other AWA clubs, and the central hub for all reservations, both online and offline with AWA staff assistance.
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5.) Why does AWA exist?

In building HSP, it became apparent that the farther away we expanded from our base, the more difficult it became to maintain control of land, and rapport with land owners. While HSP can and does lease land in numerous states, it does so only out of necessity, to satisfy its members demands, until AWA establishes clubs to cover the country, then HSP can reduce it's territory to just a 100 mile radius of its office, which will greatly improve its control, and profit. A 100 mile distance is the optimum stretch for efficiency and profitability, which is the maximum area we recommended for all other AWA clubs. HSP has members throughout the USA, most of whom would prefer to join a local AWA club in their own area, if one existed, which would be better for both the member and HSP as well as the out of state members future club, which could be yours.
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6.) How does AWA work?

After your initial club owner application is approved, you will be invited to our headquarters so we can spend a day getting to know each other better. We will answer your questions, and we will be evaluating you to make sure we feel confident you have the necessary skills and abilities to be successful building a club of your own. If we both wish to move forward together, you will be presented with the two agreements which cover your training, and reservation system use. You will be scheduled for 2 to 4 training sessions to enable you to build your Charter Membership base within 3 to 6 months, after which you will begin leasing your land which we will train you to do. We will make two trips to your city to help you and show you how to conduct your first Charter Membership recruiting seminar, then we will return to help you conduct your Charter Membership organizational meeting, which will include adopting the bylaws, rules, electing your advisory committee, and voting where members want land and for what purpose. Members numbers will be assigned, ID photo's will be taken, and instructions for use of the club and online system will be discussed and provided. We are always available to answer your questions during business hours, just give us a call.

Once you have your land leased, AWA will prepare your aerial photos, directional maps, topographical maps, GPS coordinates, which will all be shown on the online system. Your members can then start to make reservations nationwide either through the online system or by toll free phone calls to our office. The system works well, and has been tweaked and fine tuned since 2004 when the system was first introduced.

You can be up and running at 100% within much less than a year. Figure 3-6 months to get your 100 Charter Members, and another 3 or 4 months to lease the land you will need, then you're on your way. Just keep leasing land and selling memberships, and keep your focus on the goal of building a club with 1000 members paying $1000 or more a year. Then you will have a Million dollar a year business.
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7.) What can AWA offer you?

Training, knowledge, mentors, experience, full use of the online reservation system, all the forms and form samples and examples you will need, contacts for insurance, credit card processing, nationwide affiliation with other clubs like yours, in other parts of the USA. Strength in numbers, the opportunity to share the cost of expensive land with other clubs if desired. You will have 300 allies supporting and protecting your club. AWA offers convenient terms to make it easy to pay for your training.
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8.) When can you be a part of AWA?

Now is the best time to get in on the ground floor, while the prices are low, area selection is greatest, and you are still able to grab the area you want before someone else speaks for it first.
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9.) What do you do as a club owner?

Your two primary responsibilities are to sell memberships and lease land. We teach you the easiest, best, and least expensive way we know of (based on our 20 years of experience) to do both. Of course, you will have the usual responsibilities every business owner has, such as maintaining books, paying taxes, hiring and managing personnel, advertising, paying bills, billing members, etc. AWA will even prepare your maps for you for a nominal fee, and provide you with suggested forms for your membership applications, indemnification agreements, lease forms, addendums, offer forms, and virtually all other forms you will need. You will have occasional meetings with members, and may also visit landowners to check things out and maintain rapport. You may even want to visit other organizations to publicize your club, attend banquets, etc.
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10.) What do I do as the founder of our first club in 1989?

I personally have leased over a million acres, and sold over a thousand memberships, but that was in the early years of the business. I haven't leased any land or sold any memberships for many years, because I don't want to, and don't need to. I have staff who is quite capable of doing those things. I have earned the right to do what I want, and pay others to do the things I no longer want to do. Someday I will sell the club, just as you will be able to do with yours. It will be nice if our employees save their money and buy the business from me, but if not, there will be other buyers, in fact I have already turned down more than one offer for over a million dollars. If you are working for someone, I bet you can't sell you job for over a million.
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11.) Is the AWA reservation service free?

Good question, but no, there is a small amount paid to the AWA Reservation Service for each membership you sell, and a small amount monthly for the maintenance of the reservation service. The initial amount is an initiation fee which can be paid by the member rather than you, and the monthly is for dues and monthly maintenance, again which can be paid by your club or the member.
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12.) What kind of profit can you expect from your club?

This varies widely, largely dependent on your skills as a business manager. We feel you should be content with 20 to 25% net profit, before taxes. If your club has 1,000 members, and they pay an average of $1,000 a year, you are grossing a million dollars a year. Thus your net could be $200,000 to $250,000, if you are a good manager, take care of business, watch your costs closely, and maintain a low attrition ratio of land and members.
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13.) How long will it take to get 1,000 members?

We will show you how to get your first 100 in 3 to 6 months. Then you should expect to increase that to 200 to 300 total by the end of the first 18 to 24 months, but there are so many variables, that accurate estimates aren't possible. We believe you should get no less than 1 member per 10,000 population per year, and probably not more than 1 per 1000 population per year. Thus if you have an area of 1 million population, you should be able to recruit no less than 100 new members a year and probably not more than 1000 new members a year. Your skills, effort, and success in finding the right people to help you (plus economy, etc.) will determine if you get 100 members a year or 1,000 a year, either is possible.
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14.) How much land will you need for your first 100 Charter Members?

We estimate you should strive to lease 35,000 acres AFTER you have your 100 Charter Members in place. Most of the land, won't cost until you are ready to begin operating and have cash flow coming in from the second wave of new members, and they will cover the lease cost. The usual questions of thinking you can't get land for affordable prices, or you can't sell memberships without land, are all covered in our training, which is tried, and proven over 20 years. It's that type of know how you are paying for.
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15.) How much land do you need for your members?

The amount of land is determined by your location, and the mixture of members you have. If they are predominantly anglers, you won't need much land, just a few nice lakes to fish in. Waterfowl hunters don't need much land, deer hunters need 25 to 100 acres depending on the area. Heavily wooded timber or bow hunting doesn't require as much land per hunter as lightly wooded land with high powered rifles. Upland bird hunters need the most land. As a rule of thumb, we try to maintain 200 acres per member, but could easily make do with 100 acres per member if necessary, since all members aren't going to be using the land on the same date. Once you get experience with your land and your members, you will be able to determine if you need to be prepared to have 25%, 50%, or 75% of your members on the land at the same time. You will soon develop a feel for your comfort level with land. If land in your area is prohibitively expensive, you will need to minimize your acres per member, or charge higher dues, to maintain more land. We don't profess to be knowledgeable about the carrying capacity of land or costs of leasing, outside of the Midwest. You are responsible for doing your own homework to learn what you need to know about your area, which you don't already know. We will mention however, that most prospective owners are misguided by false information from people who don't use our methods for leasing land, and consequently they are seriously overpaying for land. We know from experience that right in our own states, we frequently lease land for about 10% of the amount paid by individuals who lease neighboring land right next door to ours. With our teaching, you will be able to do the same thing in your area.
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16.) How many AWA clubs will there be in the USA?

The plan is to have at least 300 clubs, but because some highly populated areas will support multiple clubs, in time the total could be as high as 500 clubs. The intent is to cover the country with clubs which will lease 100,000 acres within 100 miles of their office, and sell memberships to 1000 sportsmen in that same area. a circle 200 miles in diameter (all within 100 miles of your office) contains over 20 million acres, of which you only need to lease 100,000 acres, less than 1% of the land in that circle.
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17.) Will you have protected territories?

You can lease land anywhere, but no AWA club should make any effort to lease land leased by another AWA club. You can also sell memberships anywhere in the USA, but if you sell to a member in someone else's proprietary county, you will be required to pay a nominal penalty to the club whose area it is. You should not sell memberships to another club's existing members. If you do, the penalty is more substantial, to cover the lost income of the other club. It would be unethical to cannibalize another club for their land or members, and shouldn't even be considered.
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