North American Hunt Club

I joined when they first started. It was great. The magazine was written by the members. The grammer wasn't great but the stories were. There were swap hunts between hunters and a lot of cheap free gear to be tested.

The guides and outfitters seemed to take over and the club started taking advertisers. From then on, the stories were written by slick writers touting the products sold by the advertisers. And everything was for or by the outfitters.

It appeared the few people in charge were having a big time hunting all over the place collecting the members money.

Then they got into the hard sell side of the business. They sent the members stuff they did not order. If it wasn't paid for promptly, they followed up with threatening letters wanting their money!

Everyone I know, who was a member, has quit.

They even tried to pattern themselves after the NRA and created another arm of the club to raise money for hunting rights or something. They hinted you were a lowdown, *&$#%$%$ing &^&^%, and a no account *&*^$ skunk that didn't give a ^%@$# about your rights if you didn't send them more money.

I recall a big contest they held to pick an club symbol. After a big tadoo they decided on the eagle.
A hunting club! You can't hunt eagles! And like the eagle has never been done before! They needed a contest for that?

They even started a fishing club as well.

In case you can't tell I agree with the others, trash can!

Originally posted by suckersrus

Then they got into the hard sell side of the business. They sent the members stuff they did not order. If it wasn't paid for promptly, they followed up with threatening letters wanting their money!

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So true! It happened to me. I was a member for about 2 years and they started sending me hunting books. I sent the first few back, but still they sent them. I started keeping them. They sent me the nasty "collection" letters and I called the customer support line, it went something like this;

Them " Mr. Dam do you intend to pay for the books you ordered from us?"

Me "No."

them "No??"

Me "Nope, I never ordered books from you and even took time out of my day to send the first few back."

Them "Mr. Dam if you do not pay for the books we will have to take legal recourse.."

Me " Listen, why don't you go look up the postal laws pertaining to sending unsolicited material in the mail, it may shock you"

Them "Mr. Dam, not only are you facing legal recourse, but your club membership is in jeopardy."

Me "no it's not, don't send me another &*^^%*$ thing from your %#$%$# little pissant club. Goodbye."

I am a life member. I have been a member since 06/01. Lately it has been going down hill. Ads on the BBS (I'm "freakshow" over there), article quality isn't as good as what it was before, magazine content getting smaller and smaller, articles more about $4K out of state hunts and hunting abroad using equipment the average hunter can't afford like every other hunting rag. A lot of their NAHC logo stuff is overpriced, like the Ultimate Big Game Backpack for $130, worth prolly $50. Some of it is priced pretty good. For example, the Crooked Horned Outfitters Bino Buddy with the NAHC logo on it was less than half the cost of the CHO oringinal version. I had to buy me one of those. $8.99 I paid. Can't beat that, they were made by CHO for the NAHC, so it is the real deal.

I test stuff all the time. A lot of the new products they let LMs try it first before it hits the catalog. They always send me stuff right before the hunting season. I send away to test it free for 30 days. They get it to me and I use it throughout the whole season, then send it back, citing improvements to be made for me to buy it. They send me a letter of thanks and do the same thing next year. I have done this with cheap things like boot liners and hats to expensive GPS units and jackets.

Product testing is a seniority thing. They started me on cheap crap (emergency blanket) and I worked my way up to good stuff after a while (binos, scopes, broadheads).

Last I heard it was bought by some foreign company. That is when stuff started heading downhill lately.

I'd save your $350 bucks. I already am PIF, so I get the mag for life and other perks. I got a nice leather jacket, stationary, hats, boots, pants, gloves, and all sorts of casual clothes as thanks for being a LM. I got my $350 worth and then some.

Companies that make outdoor products don't need the NAHC to test their products.

There are thousands and thousands of people that serve that function. Not only do they test the products and provide feedback, they pay for the privlege. They are called "customers".
http://glocktalk.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=559844

NAHC may get some of the products for free or they may simply purchase them and send them out to members. Either way it is a good scam.
They sent me some headsets to test. It made me feel good at the time. (It would have been cheaper if I had not joined the club, just bought the headsets)

After that I kept getting letters saying they were considering me to test other products and more information would arrive in the mail, shortly.

This always occurred just before membership renewals were due.

I sent in the annual check and no merchandise ever arrived.