https://www.1075thefan.com/blogs/indiana-outdoors/indiana-outdoors-7-16-22-volunteers-needed/

00;00;02;10 – 00;00;31;26
Speaker 1
Why? It is an outdoor show. Cannot believe it is mid-July. Your host. It has been a beautiful week here in the state of indiana. Thank you to all the stations that carry us around indiana in year 25 of Indiana outdoor is hard to believe.

00;00;32;10 – 00;00;50;14
Speaker 1
June is over. That’s our anniversary month. We just when you get this old, you celebrate all month long. But here we are. And thanks to Brant Wheat, editor of Guns magazine, glad he’s on the mend. Of course. Earlier, Pat Cooper, who’s running the fishing pond at the Department of Natural Resources Pavilion, needs some volunteers.

00;00;50;14 – 00;01;09;28
Speaker 1
Year 16 of that pond hard to believe the thousands and thousands of kids that are going to converge and have converged. And you know what? The great story she told about volunteers who came when they were young kids who are now getting married and still volunteering and third generation, second generation kids and families volunteering there.

00;01;10;05 – 00;01;26;09
Speaker 1
We’ve switched gears to our good friends at base camp leasing, and it’s my thrill and privilege every time we get to talk to these folks. And my gosh, J.T. Krieger is the CEO of Base Camp Properties. It’s nice to visit with you.

00;01;26;09 – 00;01;42;02
Speaker 1
It’s been a while since we’ve talked about this, but this is the time of the year when a lot of folks are already starting to plan their fall. Is it too late for those folks who might want to secure a private lease operation somewhere in the state of Indiana or many other states to operate?

00;01;42;11 – 00;01;50;21
Speaker 1
And before you answer that, first of all, thanks for being with us, because I know this is your first time in your role as CEO. So great to have you a part of Indian outdoors.

00;01;51;15 – 00;02;11;24
Speaker 2
Well, thank you very much, Brian, for having me on. I’m excited to be a part of this show. So, you know, to your question, no, it’s not too late. We do have some leases. But frankly, you know, the demand in the last couple of years because of COVID and all this kind of thing, you know, getting outside

00;02;11;24 – 00;02;30;19
Speaker 2
and hunting is something that a lot of people can do and the demand has been spiking. We do have leases available. There’s not a lot, but we are constantly working with landowners as much as we can to get more leases for our hunters.

00;02;30;21 – 00;02;32;24
Speaker 2
So that’s, you know, that’s a top priority for us.

00;02;32;24 – 00;02;54;05
Speaker 1
You know, when when Steve Meng founded this company years and years ago, it was kind of a harbinger of things to come. It was a trendsetter. It was ahead of its time. Access has always been important and taking the risk, taking the guesswork out of a lease operation for groups of guys and gals that want a place

00;02;54;06 – 00;03;09;08
Speaker 1
to hunt, whether it’s deer, turkeys, whatever it might be. And now it’s all over the country and you’ve expanded the empire to and incorporate not only that, but the American Hunting Lease Association that gets some insurance and then you’ve expanded even further.

00;03;09;08 – 00;03;14;13
Speaker 1
Tell us about the whole range of of services and companies that’s now part of base camp properties.

00;03;15;04 – 00;03;37;05
Speaker 2
Yeah. Thank you. So as you mentioned, base camp leasing has been in business since 99, so 22 plus years now we’re across 28 states and have thousands of leases. We continue with our leasing agents in all those states to try to again expand to help the hunters get more access to quality properties.

00;03;38;12 – 00;03;59;09
Speaker 2
The American Hunting Lease Association that you mentioned, it really provides insurance, liability insurance for hunting leases, hunting clubs. We also do vacant land insurance and guided outfitter insurance so that business continues to grow. Shaun does a great job with that business.

00;04;00;05 – 00;04;22;04
Speaker 2
And then most recently, just a couple of years ago, we started base camp country real estate, which is a real estate business that’s focused on rural properties, recreational ground, farm ground, you know, cabins out in the country. We do a little bit of rural homes, you know, equestrian properties, those kind of things.

00;04;22;28 – 00;04;43;01
Speaker 2
And that business has grown quite a bit over the last three years. We’re now in ten states and it’s very exciting because there’s a lot of synergy between all three companies. As you pointed out, it’s private land access, whether you buy it, whether you lease it, whether you’re protecting it for the landowner with the hunting lease insurance

00;04;43;01 – 00;04;53;12
Speaker 2
. So we’re all about that access and the opportunity to get out there and hunt and manage the property and, you know, do the best you can with your hunting.

00;04;54;16 – 00;05;03;00
Speaker 1
JT You guys have expanded and, and are you in all 50 states now with base camp leasing or not?

00;05;03;00 – 00;05;16;15
Speaker 2
We’re in 28 states currently, which is for the most part kind of Texas, up to North Dakota, over to the East Coast. We haven’t gone west. Yet, but that that’s an opportunity at some point.

00;05;16;25 – 00;05;31;06
Speaker 1
Absolutely. So for those that are thinking, listening to this all over the state of Indiana, we talk about leasing and people have heard it. They don’t know how it works very generally. Very quickly, what’s the process? And say, hey, I got three or four buddies that want to get a lease somewhere.

00;05;31;07 – 00;05;32;00
Speaker 1
What do they do?

00;05;32;21 – 00;05;55;01
Speaker 2
Yeah, that’s a really good question. So the best thing they can do is join one of our membership groups because that gives them access, early access to properties that come available. Like I said, we’re always working with landowners and farmers trying to get more properties, good quality properties.

00;05;56;01 – 00;06;14;19
Speaker 2
Our leasing agents go out, they profile those, they take pictures, they get an aerial map, they post that on our online marketplace, which is at base camp leasing dot com. And so you can see a really good set up of the property that you’re potentially going to lease.

00;06;15;09 – 00;06;30;12
Speaker 2
You can put a deposit down, you can go out and scout it. Or if you don’t want to, you can just lease it right away. We have a really good proven lease agreement that is signed by the landowner and signed by the group of hunters, as you pointed out.

00;06;31;05 – 00;06;51;17
Speaker 2
There’s a set of rules for the landowner and there’s a set of rules for the hunters themselves that helps keep and manage the property, take care of the property and keep the hunters, you know, following all the rules and, you know, doing what the landowner wants them to do.

00;06;51;18 – 00;07;06;06
Speaker 2
Sometimes land owners allow ATVs. They may allow camping, they may allow fishing, they may allow a lot of different things. But we work with those landowners to customize that lease, to try to make sure that it’s, you know, based on the preferences that the landowners have.

00;07;07;05 – 00;07;21;18
Speaker 1
Well, you couldn’t make it any easier. And this is such a it’s front of mind for anybody that wants to hunt, because land costs have gotten so high. And frankly, a lot of people don’t want to invest hundreds of thousands of dollars into a land purchase.

00;07;22;28 – 00;07;39;16
Speaker 1
You know, they want to have the flexibility. But I know how successful this is. And I know people who have gone through your services and the the type of benefit they receive is is fantastic. And I want to make sure people are aware of that, especially this time of the year and then maybe even planning for next

00;07;39;16 – 00;07;53;03
Speaker 1
year. So, JT, it’s great to visit with you as always. Thanks for the great work and the expanded operations of base camp properties now, including the Base Camp, Country Real Estate and American Hunting Lease Association. And and your role, how long have you been the CEO?

00;07;54;14 – 00;08;07;25
Speaker 2
About two years. Yeah. No, I was I’ve been a friend of Steve’s for quite a while. We’ve done some hunts together and so forth. And I was really fortunate to have him, you know, give me a call and say, hey, you know, do you want to join the company?

00;08;07;25 – 00;08;21;27
Speaker 2
And I was like, Absolutely. So it’s a good for you. But people I’d have to say, you know, with our leasing agents, our real estate agents, the staff in the office, you know, our regional managers, everybody does a wonderful job.

00;08;21;27 – 00;08;29;07
Speaker 2
They’re very dedicated and, you know, very outdoors focused. So it’s a great group.

00;08;29;19 – 00;08;34;10
Speaker 1
Great to visit with you. Best to you this weekend. Thanks for being a part of Indian outdoors. We look forward to catching up real soon.

00;08;35;02 – 00;08;36;07
Speaker 2
Sounds great, Brian. Thank you.

00;08;36;09 – 00;08;45;22
Speaker 1
My pleasure. It is the Indian outdoor show. I your host, Brian Pointer. We’re brought to you by Indiana Donor Network driven to save lives dot org. Don’t go anywhere. We’re going to be back right after this.