Cedar Knoll News Updates

December 12, 2007

2007 In Review through November:
Thus far in 2007, we have had seventy-five (75) hunters on three/four day hunts. They shot at approximately fifty-three (53) and harvested thirty-two (32) adult bucks 2.5 years or older with an average of 8 points. This suggests that we were able to provide our hunters with an opportunity to shoot at an adult buck that met their personal harvest criteria 66% of the time and harvest an adult buck that met their personal harvest criteria 43% of the time. I am personally very pleased with this level of success on adult bucks.

2008:
In 2007, as in the past, most of our guests were repeat customers. We expect most to re-up in 2008; consequently open dates will be limited. We will continue to offer a three-day hunt Thursday afternoon - Sunday morning and a four-day hunt Sunday PM - Thursday AM. The cost will be $1,350.00 for the three-day hunt and $1,600.00 for the four-day combination deer/hog hunt, with the option of combining the two hunts for a week’s stay at a cost of $2,500.00. The $100 increase in the four-day hunt is minimal and the average daily fee on the four-day hunt is still $50.00 per day less than the fee on the three-day hunt.

In addition, we would like to offer a new option where the hunter pays a basic fee for meals, lodging and hunting services plus a fee based or our performance in providing satisfactory shooting opportunities and recovering animals that take flight after the shot. We have considered this approach for many years and find it preferable for the following reasons:

• It is more straightforward with no false promises inferred or expected. Come hunt. If we successfully provide a satisfactory shooting opportunity, the hunter pays for that opportunity. This may help recruit new business to fill openings which inevitably occur due to changes in the personal status of our past customers by allowing prospects to come for a "get acquainted" visit while minimizing their exposure to the financial risk associated with trying a new place. Unfortunately, most lodge operators/outfitters overstate their ability to produce shooting opportunities for their customers. Prospects are therefore reluctant try a new establishment many times if the fees are higher regardless of the quality of the offering.
• It rewards the hunter for passing small bucks and leads to the production of increasing numbers of older bucks.
• It minimizes the pressure on the hunter and us to justify the expense of the hunt, which should encourage the hunter to be more selective and allow us to produce more good bucks without the need to impose limits or harvest criteria that are difficult to administer.
• It demonstrates the confidence we have in our ability to produce for our customers and sets us apart from others in the region.

The fees proposed for this new offering are $250.00 per day for the basic services plus a fee of $600.00 fee for each buck and/or a $300.00 fee for each hog that is harvested with a $100.00 fee for each missed or wounded animal.

Questions:
o "Why not just charge the $250.00 per daily fees for basic service without the additional fees for each animal like some of the low end hunting operations?" The answer to that question is simple: If an operation’s fee structure is too low, the lodge operator is then required to take too many hunters in order to just break even, much less make a profit. The deer/hog/bird population then is stretched to the point that the customer’s level of success dwindles progressively over time putting increasingly more pressure on the owner/manager to exaggerate about their operation, which is not an acceptable alternative. Over the years since 1985, we have consistently managed Cedar Knoll to keep the relationship between the number of animals in the hunted populations and the number of hunters at reasonable relative levels. We did this initially by providing unlimited supplemental feed while protecting the females of the hunted species in order to boost the reproductive effort and therefore the number available for harvest by as much as 550% through 2000. This allowed us to maintain the highest hunter success rate in the region and still remain profitable. More recently we have enhanced hunter success even further with regard to adult/trophy production by restricting the number of hunters dramatically and gently encouraging a more selective harvest, while maintaining the supplemental feeding program. This adjustment was made in order to improve the ratio between the number of hunters and the number of adult animals available for harvest as the expectations of the hunting public have evolved over time with increasing emphasis on trophy/quality animals.
o Why would we consider a fee for "missing" or "wounding"? The reality of the matter is that taking deer/hogs cleanly does not impact subsequent harvest opportunities as much as looking for missed or wounded animals. Also, missed or wounded animals do not result in a satisfied customer nor do they provide a positive benefit to us from a promotional standpoint. They therefore impact on our overall operation negatively.

As in the past, hunts include lodging, field transportation, skinning & quartering, continental breakfast, brunch and supper. The fees do not include hunting licenses and meat processing. The hunt weeks for 2008 are as follows: