Club History
HISTORY OF COLONIAL FLAT IRON HUNT CLUB
By Raye Respress, February 2015
In the spring of 1972, a few workers of Naval Weapons Station, Yorktown, VA decided to start a hunt club dedicated to the sport of hunting without dogs and following the laws and rules of The Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. The club Ideals would be to hunt ethically and promote sportsmanship by all members.
Joel Wells was elected president, Rod White vice-president and Richard White Treasurer. Malcolm Vining was
elected “Hunts Master.”
First we decided on the name our club would be known by. We wanted to have a unique name and a name which could be linked or identified with the local area and the ideals of our club. It was decided that only perspective members living within a 50 mile radius could become members. After lengthy discussions, we decided on Colonial Sportsman’s League as our club name. Those attending this meeting were: Joel Wells, Rod White, Richard White, Malcolm Vining, Rod and Richards Father (Mr. White), Raye Respress and Thomas Davis.
Dues were set at $15.00 per member.
During the summer, several members were added to the club roster. Those were Tom Mylum, John Moldovan, Wayne Rogers, Douglas Compton, Robert Knox, Sr. and Robert Knox, Jr. Next, we started looking for hunting land. Even then it was difficult locating suitable land conducive to our method of hunting. We decided to run an advertisement in “The Daily Press”. Eventually the advertisement paid off. We were contacted by a land owner that owned property next to Camp Perry. (I can’t recall the exact acreage but I think around 300 acres) The land owners name was “Cissero”. We were extremely excited to get this land as we found deer sign everywhere. We built some stands similar to the stands we use today but mostly by the hunt clubs of that era-steps and platforms nailed to trees.
We had a pretty good year. We took fourteen deer that year. John Moldovan took the largest buck-a heavy 12 pointer that weighed close to 200 lbs. field dressed. Several nice bucks were taken but none as large as Johns. Getting to one side of the property we hunted was extremely difficult. There were two huge mud holes. After a heavy rain, water would cover the floor of my 1952 pickup. Therefore, the majority of the club members couldn’t get to the stands on that side of the property. Wallace Robinson, a guest, tried to get through the mud hole with his V.W. It didn’t work. The whole car flooded out and he had to pay a farmer to pull him out with a tractor. After that word got around we had the whole side of the property (which was next to Camp Perry) to ourselves. In fact, out of 14 deer taken that year, John, Wayne, Raye and guests Howard Simmons and Roland Harris took twelve of the fourteen deer that year.
One day it was extremely cold and John Moldovan was driving his truck with the heater on. He spilled a half bottle of “deer in heat” on the heater. We had to put the windows down and almost froze. I don’t think he ever got the smell out.
During January, February and March we added four more stands only to learn that Mr. Cissero was starting to develop the property in late summer. We were devastated! We pulled all of the stands down and tried to save as much lumber as we could in hopes of finding more property before the next season. Again we advertised in the paper which resulted in a call from Judge Armstead of Williamsburg. He had a good tract of hunting land located next to I-64 and bordered by Penniman Road, Park service and Cheatham Annex. We leased the land in September 1973.
New members were taken in again as we had a larger track of land and the cost was $350.00. New members were Joe Haggerty, Bill Fernald, Frank Proctor, Jack Webster, Russ Mummert, Roland Harris, Sully Donadio and Don Streeter.
We kept this land until 1978. Judge Armstead increased the rent form $400.00 in 1977 to $850.00 in one year. We notified him we could not afford the increase and dropped the lease.
Again we advertised for hunting land. Mr. Julian R. Harrison called and stated he had two parcels of land he would lease us as he was tired of the dog hunters and associated problems.
Sully Donadio, Raye Respress, John Moldovan and Wayne Rogers scouted the land with Mr. Harrison, Sr. and found it better than expected. We leased the Surry Property in October 1978 for $3.50 p/acre with the following caveats:
The first year was very difficult as club members encountered constant harassment and poaching by local hunters especially the Carsley Hunt Club Members. The first day of the season the locals came by and shot several times in the air before light and yelled for us to leave. This didn’t work so the next Saturday they seeded the area where Raye Respress had parked his truck with roofing nails. When returning home the truck was driven onto the ferry that afternoon, it had no brakes! The emergency brake was used to prevent running into a vehicle in front. John Moldovan agreed to check the brake system to determine the problem. The first thing he tried (pulling the cover off the master cylinder) identified the problem. Several roofing nails had been put into the master cylinder. The nails had shredded the rubber inside. The following Monday, a member of the Carsley Hunt Club was located at work. He was informed that they could not and would not run us out. Further, the same parking spot would be used the next Saturday morning. For each nail found, they would be minus one dog when the dogs came through club property! (What they didn’t know was that the club wouldn’t harm any dog). On Saturday morning the parking area had been raked. The club continued having some problems but nothing life threatening happened again. Today poaching problems remain but not as severe.
Turkey hunting was exceptional and several trophy birds and bucks have been taken over the years resulting in the hunters receiving our club trophy.
Our cost for Surry has held steady for several years and eventually increased to $6.50 per acre. This figure lasted for about eight years but increased to $14.00 per acre for the 2014 hunting season. A decision has been made to keep Surry property if the cost per acre remains at the current price. If the price increases, a vote to keep or let the Surry property go will be made by club members.
Our membership continued to grow as friends and co-workers were impressed with our club and consequently more land was needed.
TOANO
Steve McCaskill recalled hunting land in his youth in Toano. Then it was known as “the Warwick Hunt Club. Several affluent people owned this land together which included two cabins. One of the owners was Dr. Tolley, a local veterinarian. These men mainly hunted ducks and geese. The men had gotten older and the desire to hunt had diminished. A few had died.
Dr. Tolley was still practicing. Steve McCaskill and Ray Duley contacted him and he contacted the remaining members to determine if club members would lease the land to our club. They consented and we leased the land in 1978. Our club kept this property until 2008. This property was sold in 2007. The new owner increased our cost to $17,500.00 (est.) for that year. We leased Toano for that price for one year. Kenny Hubbard killed a nice 8-point on this parcel. While dragging the deer out of the property, he was approached by the “supposedly” rightful owners of the land. They took the deer. It appeared the new owner may have leased our club land that he did not own. Therefore, due to the increased cost and the questionable ownership of some of the property, we did not renew our contract for the 2008 hunting season.
Membership was opened up again and increased to 60 members to keep our dues low.
GLOUCESTER
We were approached by a member of Flat Iron Hunt Club inquiring about the possibility of merging the two clubs. It was explained that their club had split and they had land in Gloucester but were short on funds and could not afford the cost of their property. We had a surplus of funds but needed more land. Both clubs met on several occasions to determine the feasibility of merging the two clubs. Several meetings were held to iron out the differences between the rules of the two clubs. The areas of discussion were:
We merged the clubs in 1981. The Gloucester property was a well-received addition to our Surry and Toano properties. The acquisition increased our acreage by approximately 1,500 acres. The Gloucester land was bordered on the west by Fig Shop Road and on the east by Rang Tang Road. This land was owned by the Chesapeake Corporation. Approximately 1986, a portion of the land owned by Sheldon Lumber Company was sold and the new owner broke the property up in 5 acres lots for new homes. During the next year, the homes were built and encroached on the remaining club property. Discussions were held with membership regarding safety hazards due to the encroachment. After lengthy discussions, some members from the original “Flat Iron Club” wanted to keep the remaining land and continue hunting the land. The Colonial Flat Iron Hunt Club membership decided to drop the Gloucester lease and allow those members desiring to keep the Gloucester property to do so. Those members requested that we leave the current stands on the Gloucester land and allow them to keep the name of Flat Iron Hunt Club on the lease. This would hopefully help them keep the land without dropping the lease. They were afraid other local hunt clubs desiring the property may have contacts at Chesapeake Corporation and they would not get the lease. The club split in 1987?
RED HOUSE
Before the split, many of our members had decided to try to obtain land in the western part of the state as that area wasn’t developing as fast as land just west of Richmond back to the coast. A former member, John Herman, had moved to the Lynchburg area. He befriended a local man that had been hunting land in the Red House, VA area. He and John visited Roger McDonald one weekend and Roger informed him we were looking for land. Based on the information provided by John’s friend, the club contacted Kyanite Mining Company. An appointment was made with the CEO, Gene Dixon. Sully Donadio, Bill Boone, and Roger McDonald met with Mr. Dixon and discussed our desire to lease prime hunting land from him. Mr. Dixon identified the land at Red House and directed Mr. Noah Hicks, Land Manager, to show our representatives this land on a date to be determined.
Several weeks later, three pickup loads of members met with Mr. Hicks and toured several parcels of land. First he showed us the Tucker Track parcel which was being hunted by the Midway Hunt Club. This parcel had recently been timbered and was not conducive to still hunting. Mr. Hicks then showed us the Home Piece and the Adams Track. We were happy with those parcels. Some of the Midway Hunt Club members were on the Home Piece when we looked it over. They were not happy! Mr. Hicks stated “He would probably be in trouble with the locals as they had been hunting this property for years”. Later we found out that the Kyanite Farm Manager, Mr. Melvin Knott, a member of Midway Hunt Club had a lease in his desk drawer in case anyone tried to get a lease on this property, and he would then give the least to Mr. Dixon. However, we had gone through Mr. Dixon and bypassed Mr. Knott.
We leased the land and commenced hunting in 1985 for real estate taxes at 95 cents per acre. The local hunt clubs didn’t care for us as they had been hunting local land free. This changed when we started leasing land in that area.
Discussions were held in our club concerning the locals hunting our leased land especially when we were not there. Being the new club in the area, we also needed help keeping the huge amount of clubs off of the property. We decided it would be prudent to make an agreement with Midway Hunt Club to watch our property and keep all other clubs out. We would then allow them to hunt our property (they would hunt with dogs and only hunt the roads) and we would hunt stands in the woods. We could also hunt their club land. In 1985, three stands were installed on the Home Piece (2 were built and one was a factory stand). They were located in the vicinity of stand #1, the pond and stand #3. Jim Harvey took the first deer off the factory stand #3. Most of the hunting was accomplished from ground stands the first year. As years went by tree stand locations were identified from ground stands hunted previously.
More members were added to hold down the dues as the cost of land leases increased. Additional parcels of land were procured—Hugh (Pugh), Hamlett, Bear Island, Buck Horn, Lou Foster and lastly Nottoway. Our club has acquired these parcels because of the great reputation the club has maintained thru the years by such things as eliminating trash, helping the neighbors when their cattle got out and keeping land owners apprised of potential problems (pine beetles), poaches taking boards off the old barn, stealing Paulownia trees and in general being good stewards of land owners’ properties. Keeping a good reputation with our neighbors and taking care of leased properties paid dividends in procuring additional land. Five clubs were on the list to get Buck Horn before us. Six clubs were on the list to get the lease for Nottoway. We learned that the leasers interviewed our neighbors and found we were not a problem and got along well with them. The club’s good reputation resulted in us getting the leases over the other clubs.
In 1985, the downstairs of the house and the cook shack on the Home Piece was filled with tobacco stalks. The dust was terrible in the house and many of our members had difficulty dealing with the dust along with an infestation of rodents. The house was gradually transformed into a livable space by installing fabricated stainless steel liners for chimneys, installing barrel stoves for heat, etc. Soon the sleeping space became an issue as many members slept there.
The first three trailers owned by Sully Donadio, Raye Respress and Howard Simmons, and Jim Harvey arrived the first year. Howard and Raye named their trailer “The Polish Airstream” (They slept well was all they could say). From the house to the barn (cook shack now), a rabbit couldn’t get through. Many man hours were required to remove the briars and saplings. As time went by, the club built an outdoor “john”, hand dug trenches for the installation of electrical cable for additional trailers as more and more trailers arrived. Our first shower consisted of a plastic (outdoor) shower stall. The water was provided via a plastic bag which the sun heated. It was hung above your head on a pole and provided the “shower experience”. This was accomplished in temperatures sometimes in the teens and at night using headlights from vehicles. A quick “duck bath” was the norm.
We gradually “modernized” the kitchen in the house with electric donated cook stoves and cabinets donated by Bill Boone, Sr.
A large portion of members slept in the trailers but cooked in the house with those staying in the house. As the club grew, so did the quantity using the kitchen. To get more room, several of the “trailer trash” began remodeling the barn. Those members chipped in and bought a table and chairs, heating and cooking stoves were donated. Eventually, Sully Donadio modified as old gas hot water heater to be used for showers. (We thought we had died and gone to heaven.)
Starting in 1985, it was not uncommon for the thirty members to work eleven days each. It should be noted that we had no club chain saws, weed eaters, loppers, ATVs, or tractors. We walked to all of the stands, trimmed all trails, removed all stubbles, hauled and installed stands by manpower, cut shooting lanes and marked trails anyone could follow. We also removed damaged stands and stools. This was accomplished on the entire Home Piece, Adams Ridge and eventually Bear Island, Hugh and Hamlett Tracks.
The agreement with Midway Hunt Club worked well until our club experienced an outbreak of hemorrhagic disease during the 1999-2000 hunting season that resulted in deer harvests declining by as much as 29% in just a two year period. The decline from hemorrhagic disease coupled with Midway Hunt Club ignoring our rules which included no harvesting of deer under 50 lbs. and all bucks to have 4 points or more that covered all Red House properties with the exception of the Hamlet and Hugh (Pugh) tracts resulted in 19 deer taken in the during the 1999 season. Midway members began shooting all bucks and taking them out the lower gate. Based on the low harvest, hemorrhagic disease and Midway’s actions, the agreement with the Midway Hunt Club was terminated in 2001.
Currently, we have nine properties which equates to an estimated 3,900 acres. Our combined cost for leases in 2014 is estimated to be $37,785. We maintain approximately 165 stands and associated trails plus nine acres of food plots.
To accomplish maintenance, we have two club tractors, gas powered pole saw, chain saw, ATVs/UTVs with winches and general membership/life and honorary members equating to approximately 90 members. Our membership dues for 2013/2014 hunting season was $500. We have come a long way in membership, cost, assets, and land leases since 1972.
We have a GREAT club and hopefully we will maintain the reputation and goals our club established in 1972. The responsibility to carry these ideals forward is dependent upon each member to ensure continued success of the club.
COLONIAL FLAT IRON CLUB’S GAME MANAGEMENT SUMMARY
By Tabb Thrift
The Colonial Flat-Iron Hunt Club’s first attempt at a deer management program began during the 1999-2000 season. A 4 county region that included Charlotte, Prince Edward, Lunenburg and Amelia counties had been in the grip of a hemorrhagic outbreak that had resulted in deer harvests declining by as much as 29% in just a 2 year period. The club undertook some changes in its hunting rules in order to get the herd growing again. The new rules included no harvesting of deer under 50 lbs. and all bucks to have 4 points or more and covered all Red House properties with the exception of the Hamlet and Pugh tracts. Increasing the number of fawn bucks moving into the higher age brackets was a primary benefit of this rule and resulted in only 9 button (fawn) bucks being harvested over the next 6 years. This change along with the “slot” program would set the stage for the increased harvests in not only total antlered bucks; but also, the number of older bucks. Prior to the beginning of the 2000-2001 hunting season, a possible change in land use for the majority of the Red House properties brought about the creation of a habitat enrichment program and the club’s first trophy management program. This season also saw the ending of the club’s hunting relationship with the Midway Hunt Club. These changes went hand in hand with the changes in the previous year and laid the ground work for a continued rebound in the deer population.
The trophy management program got underway with a “slot” program that was highly recommended by a VDGIF biologist. The idea behind this type of program was to facilitate the survival of the better yearling bucks and to maintain good populations of older bucks (2.5 years and older). In addition, to the bucks with 15 inch or greater spreads, the “slot” enabled the harvest of some yearling bucks, which created more harvest opportunities. This was a good compromise for a club looking to create hunting opportunities for its membership while at the same time providing for potential trophy prospects.
(The club chose a “slot” program that would allow the harvest of antlered bucks that had fewer than 4 points and for antlered bucks that had a 15 inch or greater spread. Also, the restricted harvest on fawn deer stayed in place.) During the next 4 hunting seasons (2001-2002 through 2004-2005), total harvests averaged about 4.47 deer per square mile as the new stricter hunting regulations took effect. In addition, doe harvests stayed below 25% of total harvest which enabled the population to continue to rebound.
After the 2006-2007 hunting season, another change was made to the trophy management program. Due to changes in membership since the program’s inception and the club’s desire for increased harvest opportunities, the Adams tract was taken out of the program beginning with the 2007-2008 season. This resulted in the loss of approximately 30% of the land that was part of the original program. In 2008, the club leased an additional 760 acres of hunting land that lies outside of the trophy management program. This enabled the program to continue to meet its objectives due largely to the decrease in hunting pressure on the tracts which were still in the program.
The next change to the club’s management program came prior to the beginning of the 2010 hunting season. The Adams and Lew Foster tracts were put back into the program, the 50 pound rule was removed and the implementation of the new antlered buck rule was started. We have been operating under these new rules since then.
This version dated 8/11/2016
By Raye Respress, February 2015
In the spring of 1972, a few workers of Naval Weapons Station, Yorktown, VA decided to start a hunt club dedicated to the sport of hunting without dogs and following the laws and rules of The Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. The club Ideals would be to hunt ethically and promote sportsmanship by all members.
Joel Wells was elected president, Rod White vice-president and Richard White Treasurer. Malcolm Vining was
elected “Hunts Master.”
First we decided on the name our club would be known by. We wanted to have a unique name and a name which could be linked or identified with the local area and the ideals of our club. It was decided that only perspective members living within a 50 mile radius could become members. After lengthy discussions, we decided on Colonial Sportsman’s League as our club name. Those attending this meeting were: Joel Wells, Rod White, Richard White, Malcolm Vining, Rod and Richards Father (Mr. White), Raye Respress and Thomas Davis.
Dues were set at $15.00 per member.
During the summer, several members were added to the club roster. Those were Tom Mylum, John Moldovan, Wayne Rogers, Douglas Compton, Robert Knox, Sr. and Robert Knox, Jr. Next, we started looking for hunting land. Even then it was difficult locating suitable land conducive to our method of hunting. We decided to run an advertisement in “The Daily Press”. Eventually the advertisement paid off. We were contacted by a land owner that owned property next to Camp Perry. (I can’t recall the exact acreage but I think around 300 acres) The land owners name was “Cissero”. We were extremely excited to get this land as we found deer sign everywhere. We built some stands similar to the stands we use today but mostly by the hunt clubs of that era-steps and platforms nailed to trees.
We had a pretty good year. We took fourteen deer that year. John Moldovan took the largest buck-a heavy 12 pointer that weighed close to 200 lbs. field dressed. Several nice bucks were taken but none as large as Johns. Getting to one side of the property we hunted was extremely difficult. There were two huge mud holes. After a heavy rain, water would cover the floor of my 1952 pickup. Therefore, the majority of the club members couldn’t get to the stands on that side of the property. Wallace Robinson, a guest, tried to get through the mud hole with his V.W. It didn’t work. The whole car flooded out and he had to pay a farmer to pull him out with a tractor. After that word got around we had the whole side of the property (which was next to Camp Perry) to ourselves. In fact, out of 14 deer taken that year, John, Wayne, Raye and guests Howard Simmons and Roland Harris took twelve of the fourteen deer that year.
One day it was extremely cold and John Moldovan was driving his truck with the heater on. He spilled a half bottle of “deer in heat” on the heater. We had to put the windows down and almost froze. I don’t think he ever got the smell out.
During January, February and March we added four more stands only to learn that Mr. Cissero was starting to develop the property in late summer. We were devastated! We pulled all of the stands down and tried to save as much lumber as we could in hopes of finding more property before the next season. Again we advertised in the paper which resulted in a call from Judge Armstead of Williamsburg. He had a good tract of hunting land located next to I-64 and bordered by Penniman Road, Park service and Cheatham Annex. We leased the land in September 1973.
New members were taken in again as we had a larger track of land and the cost was $350.00. New members were Joe Haggerty, Bill Fernald, Frank Proctor, Jack Webster, Russ Mummert, Roland Harris, Sully Donadio and Don Streeter.
We kept this land until 1978. Judge Armstead increased the rent form $400.00 in 1977 to $850.00 in one year. We notified him we could not afford the increase and dropped the lease.
Again we advertised for hunting land. Mr. Julian R. Harrison called and stated he had two parcels of land he would lease us as he was tired of the dog hunters and associated problems.
Sully Donadio, Raye Respress, John Moldovan and Wayne Rogers scouted the land with Mr. Harrison, Sr. and found it better than expected. We leased the Surry Property in October 1978 for $3.50 p/acre with the following caveats:
- No squirrel hunting. Squirrel was reserved for his son and grandchildren
- No hunting deer with dogs
- Rabbit hunting permitted after deer season only
- We could use the road along the field on the home piece to retrieve deer by vehicle
The first year was very difficult as club members encountered constant harassment and poaching by local hunters especially the Carsley Hunt Club Members. The first day of the season the locals came by and shot several times in the air before light and yelled for us to leave. This didn’t work so the next Saturday they seeded the area where Raye Respress had parked his truck with roofing nails. When returning home the truck was driven onto the ferry that afternoon, it had no brakes! The emergency brake was used to prevent running into a vehicle in front. John Moldovan agreed to check the brake system to determine the problem. The first thing he tried (pulling the cover off the master cylinder) identified the problem. Several roofing nails had been put into the master cylinder. The nails had shredded the rubber inside. The following Monday, a member of the Carsley Hunt Club was located at work. He was informed that they could not and would not run us out. Further, the same parking spot would be used the next Saturday morning. For each nail found, they would be minus one dog when the dogs came through club property! (What they didn’t know was that the club wouldn’t harm any dog). On Saturday morning the parking area had been raked. The club continued having some problems but nothing life threatening happened again. Today poaching problems remain but not as severe.
Turkey hunting was exceptional and several trophy birds and bucks have been taken over the years resulting in the hunters receiving our club trophy.
Our cost for Surry has held steady for several years and eventually increased to $6.50 per acre. This figure lasted for about eight years but increased to $14.00 per acre for the 2014 hunting season. A decision has been made to keep Surry property if the cost per acre remains at the current price. If the price increases, a vote to keep or let the Surry property go will be made by club members.
Our membership continued to grow as friends and co-workers were impressed with our club and consequently more land was needed.
TOANO
Steve McCaskill recalled hunting land in his youth in Toano. Then it was known as “the Warwick Hunt Club. Several affluent people owned this land together which included two cabins. One of the owners was Dr. Tolley, a local veterinarian. These men mainly hunted ducks and geese. The men had gotten older and the desire to hunt had diminished. A few had died.
Dr. Tolley was still practicing. Steve McCaskill and Ray Duley contacted him and he contacted the remaining members to determine if club members would lease the land to our club. They consented and we leased the land in 1978. Our club kept this property until 2008. This property was sold in 2007. The new owner increased our cost to $17,500.00 (est.) for that year. We leased Toano for that price for one year. Kenny Hubbard killed a nice 8-point on this parcel. While dragging the deer out of the property, he was approached by the “supposedly” rightful owners of the land. They took the deer. It appeared the new owner may have leased our club land that he did not own. Therefore, due to the increased cost and the questionable ownership of some of the property, we did not renew our contract for the 2008 hunting season.
Membership was opened up again and increased to 60 members to keep our dues low.
GLOUCESTER
We were approached by a member of Flat Iron Hunt Club inquiring about the possibility of merging the two clubs. It was explained that their club had split and they had land in Gloucester but were short on funds and could not afford the cost of their property. We had a surplus of funds but needed more land. Both clubs met on several occasions to determine the feasibility of merging the two clubs. Several meetings were held to iron out the differences between the rules of the two clubs. The areas of discussion were:
- Distribution of deer: Our club rules allowed the member to keep the whole deer a member shot while Flat Iron divided the meat among members. It was agreed that if hunting the Gloucester property members would divide the deer and in Surry & Toano the member would keep the whole deer.
- Hunting with dogs on Gloucester property: It was agreed that dogs could be used in Gloucester but not in Surry & Toano.
- Name of the club: It was decided to call the club “The Colonial Flat Iron Hunt Club”.
We merged the clubs in 1981. The Gloucester property was a well-received addition to our Surry and Toano properties. The acquisition increased our acreage by approximately 1,500 acres. The Gloucester land was bordered on the west by Fig Shop Road and on the east by Rang Tang Road. This land was owned by the Chesapeake Corporation. Approximately 1986, a portion of the land owned by Sheldon Lumber Company was sold and the new owner broke the property up in 5 acres lots for new homes. During the next year, the homes were built and encroached on the remaining club property. Discussions were held with membership regarding safety hazards due to the encroachment. After lengthy discussions, some members from the original “Flat Iron Club” wanted to keep the remaining land and continue hunting the land. The Colonial Flat Iron Hunt Club membership decided to drop the Gloucester lease and allow those members desiring to keep the Gloucester property to do so. Those members requested that we leave the current stands on the Gloucester land and allow them to keep the name of Flat Iron Hunt Club on the lease. This would hopefully help them keep the land without dropping the lease. They were afraid other local hunt clubs desiring the property may have contacts at Chesapeake Corporation and they would not get the lease. The club split in 1987?
RED HOUSE
Before the split, many of our members had decided to try to obtain land in the western part of the state as that area wasn’t developing as fast as land just west of Richmond back to the coast. A former member, John Herman, had moved to the Lynchburg area. He befriended a local man that had been hunting land in the Red House, VA area. He and John visited Roger McDonald one weekend and Roger informed him we were looking for land. Based on the information provided by John’s friend, the club contacted Kyanite Mining Company. An appointment was made with the CEO, Gene Dixon. Sully Donadio, Bill Boone, and Roger McDonald met with Mr. Dixon and discussed our desire to lease prime hunting land from him. Mr. Dixon identified the land at Red House and directed Mr. Noah Hicks, Land Manager, to show our representatives this land on a date to be determined.
Several weeks later, three pickup loads of members met with Mr. Hicks and toured several parcels of land. First he showed us the Tucker Track parcel which was being hunted by the Midway Hunt Club. This parcel had recently been timbered and was not conducive to still hunting. Mr. Hicks then showed us the Home Piece and the Adams Track. We were happy with those parcels. Some of the Midway Hunt Club members were on the Home Piece when we looked it over. They were not happy! Mr. Hicks stated “He would probably be in trouble with the locals as they had been hunting this property for years”. Later we found out that the Kyanite Farm Manager, Mr. Melvin Knott, a member of Midway Hunt Club had a lease in his desk drawer in case anyone tried to get a lease on this property, and he would then give the least to Mr. Dixon. However, we had gone through Mr. Dixon and bypassed Mr. Knott.
We leased the land and commenced hunting in 1985 for real estate taxes at 95 cents per acre. The local hunt clubs didn’t care for us as they had been hunting local land free. This changed when we started leasing land in that area.
Discussions were held in our club concerning the locals hunting our leased land especially when we were not there. Being the new club in the area, we also needed help keeping the huge amount of clubs off of the property. We decided it would be prudent to make an agreement with Midway Hunt Club to watch our property and keep all other clubs out. We would then allow them to hunt our property (they would hunt with dogs and only hunt the roads) and we would hunt stands in the woods. We could also hunt their club land. In 1985, three stands were installed on the Home Piece (2 were built and one was a factory stand). They were located in the vicinity of stand #1, the pond and stand #3. Jim Harvey took the first deer off the factory stand #3. Most of the hunting was accomplished from ground stands the first year. As years went by tree stand locations were identified from ground stands hunted previously.
More members were added to hold down the dues as the cost of land leases increased. Additional parcels of land were procured—Hugh (Pugh), Hamlett, Bear Island, Buck Horn, Lou Foster and lastly Nottoway. Our club has acquired these parcels because of the great reputation the club has maintained thru the years by such things as eliminating trash, helping the neighbors when their cattle got out and keeping land owners apprised of potential problems (pine beetles), poaches taking boards off the old barn, stealing Paulownia trees and in general being good stewards of land owners’ properties. Keeping a good reputation with our neighbors and taking care of leased properties paid dividends in procuring additional land. Five clubs were on the list to get Buck Horn before us. Six clubs were on the list to get the lease for Nottoway. We learned that the leasers interviewed our neighbors and found we were not a problem and got along well with them. The club’s good reputation resulted in us getting the leases over the other clubs.
In 1985, the downstairs of the house and the cook shack on the Home Piece was filled with tobacco stalks. The dust was terrible in the house and many of our members had difficulty dealing with the dust along with an infestation of rodents. The house was gradually transformed into a livable space by installing fabricated stainless steel liners for chimneys, installing barrel stoves for heat, etc. Soon the sleeping space became an issue as many members slept there.
The first three trailers owned by Sully Donadio, Raye Respress and Howard Simmons, and Jim Harvey arrived the first year. Howard and Raye named their trailer “The Polish Airstream” (They slept well was all they could say). From the house to the barn (cook shack now), a rabbit couldn’t get through. Many man hours were required to remove the briars and saplings. As time went by, the club built an outdoor “john”, hand dug trenches for the installation of electrical cable for additional trailers as more and more trailers arrived. Our first shower consisted of a plastic (outdoor) shower stall. The water was provided via a plastic bag which the sun heated. It was hung above your head on a pole and provided the “shower experience”. This was accomplished in temperatures sometimes in the teens and at night using headlights from vehicles. A quick “duck bath” was the norm.
We gradually “modernized” the kitchen in the house with electric donated cook stoves and cabinets donated by Bill Boone, Sr.
A large portion of members slept in the trailers but cooked in the house with those staying in the house. As the club grew, so did the quantity using the kitchen. To get more room, several of the “trailer trash” began remodeling the barn. Those members chipped in and bought a table and chairs, heating and cooking stoves were donated. Eventually, Sully Donadio modified as old gas hot water heater to be used for showers. (We thought we had died and gone to heaven.)
Starting in 1985, it was not uncommon for the thirty members to work eleven days each. It should be noted that we had no club chain saws, weed eaters, loppers, ATVs, or tractors. We walked to all of the stands, trimmed all trails, removed all stubbles, hauled and installed stands by manpower, cut shooting lanes and marked trails anyone could follow. We also removed damaged stands and stools. This was accomplished on the entire Home Piece, Adams Ridge and eventually Bear Island, Hugh and Hamlett Tracks.
The agreement with Midway Hunt Club worked well until our club experienced an outbreak of hemorrhagic disease during the 1999-2000 hunting season that resulted in deer harvests declining by as much as 29% in just a two year period. The decline from hemorrhagic disease coupled with Midway Hunt Club ignoring our rules which included no harvesting of deer under 50 lbs. and all bucks to have 4 points or more that covered all Red House properties with the exception of the Hamlet and Hugh (Pugh) tracts resulted in 19 deer taken in the during the 1999 season. Midway members began shooting all bucks and taking them out the lower gate. Based on the low harvest, hemorrhagic disease and Midway’s actions, the agreement with the Midway Hunt Club was terminated in 2001.
Currently, we have nine properties which equates to an estimated 3,900 acres. Our combined cost for leases in 2014 is estimated to be $37,785. We maintain approximately 165 stands and associated trails plus nine acres of food plots.
To accomplish maintenance, we have two club tractors, gas powered pole saw, chain saw, ATVs/UTVs with winches and general membership/life and honorary members equating to approximately 90 members. Our membership dues for 2013/2014 hunting season was $500. We have come a long way in membership, cost, assets, and land leases since 1972.
We have a GREAT club and hopefully we will maintain the reputation and goals our club established in 1972. The responsibility to carry these ideals forward is dependent upon each member to ensure continued success of the club.
COLONIAL FLAT IRON CLUB’S GAME MANAGEMENT SUMMARY
By Tabb Thrift
The Colonial Flat-Iron Hunt Club’s first attempt at a deer management program began during the 1999-2000 season. A 4 county region that included Charlotte, Prince Edward, Lunenburg and Amelia counties had been in the grip of a hemorrhagic outbreak that had resulted in deer harvests declining by as much as 29% in just a 2 year period. The club undertook some changes in its hunting rules in order to get the herd growing again. The new rules included no harvesting of deer under 50 lbs. and all bucks to have 4 points or more and covered all Red House properties with the exception of the Hamlet and Pugh tracts. Increasing the number of fawn bucks moving into the higher age brackets was a primary benefit of this rule and resulted in only 9 button (fawn) bucks being harvested over the next 6 years. This change along with the “slot” program would set the stage for the increased harvests in not only total antlered bucks; but also, the number of older bucks. Prior to the beginning of the 2000-2001 hunting season, a possible change in land use for the majority of the Red House properties brought about the creation of a habitat enrichment program and the club’s first trophy management program. This season also saw the ending of the club’s hunting relationship with the Midway Hunt Club. These changes went hand in hand with the changes in the previous year and laid the ground work for a continued rebound in the deer population.
The trophy management program got underway with a “slot” program that was highly recommended by a VDGIF biologist. The idea behind this type of program was to facilitate the survival of the better yearling bucks and to maintain good populations of older bucks (2.5 years and older). In addition, to the bucks with 15 inch or greater spreads, the “slot” enabled the harvest of some yearling bucks, which created more harvest opportunities. This was a good compromise for a club looking to create hunting opportunities for its membership while at the same time providing for potential trophy prospects.
(The club chose a “slot” program that would allow the harvest of antlered bucks that had fewer than 4 points and for antlered bucks that had a 15 inch or greater spread. Also, the restricted harvest on fawn deer stayed in place.) During the next 4 hunting seasons (2001-2002 through 2004-2005), total harvests averaged about 4.47 deer per square mile as the new stricter hunting regulations took effect. In addition, doe harvests stayed below 25% of total harvest which enabled the population to continue to rebound.
After the 2006-2007 hunting season, another change was made to the trophy management program. Due to changes in membership since the program’s inception and the club’s desire for increased harvest opportunities, the Adams tract was taken out of the program beginning with the 2007-2008 season. This resulted in the loss of approximately 30% of the land that was part of the original program. In 2008, the club leased an additional 760 acres of hunting land that lies outside of the trophy management program. This enabled the program to continue to meet its objectives due largely to the decrease in hunting pressure on the tracts which were still in the program.
The next change to the club’s management program came prior to the beginning of the 2010 hunting season. The Adams and Lew Foster tracts were put back into the program, the 50 pound rule was removed and the implementation of the new antlered buck rule was started. We have been operating under these new rules since then.
This version dated 8/11/2016