For Iowa State’s recently formed hunting club, it is open season on member recruitment.

At the end of the spring semester last year ISU students Jason Dykstra, 21, junior in animal ecology and club president, and Andrew Weber, 22, senior in industrial technology and club treasurer, decided to form the hunting club to help students who enjoy hunting come together under one roof.   

“I just wanted to get a group of guys together so we could talk about hunting, maybe share ideas and hopefully go out together and enjoy it,” Dykstra said.

However, the club can’t start hunting just yet. Before the first rifle is fired, the club must get approval from Iowa State’s Office of Risk Management.    

According to the office’s policy, any student organizations wishing to use firearms must fill out the Firearms and Other Weapons application and meet with a risk management official. This process is in place so the university knows the weapons will be used safely and responsibly.  

Once the club is a permitted to use firearms, it will request to use off-campus university property for hunting.  

“We want to have a sanctioned hunt on university grounds that are around Ames or outside of Ames,” Weber said. “They have a lot of research farms outside the city limits of Ames, like corn fields we could use for goose hunting.”      

The club might not be hunting at the moment, but it hopes to offer members other activities related to the sport, such as safety courses and guest speakers related to the topic.  

“We are going to start having speakers come in, like the Turkey Federation,” Weber said. “We would also like to have the DNR speak to us about ethics.”

How to hunt won’t be the only thing members of the club will learn, as conservation and game management are important concepts to the organization.  

“As far as the conservation aspect goes, we want create good, livable habitats for the animals,” Weber said. “If Iowa State wants to get into it, it could be tied into their forestry and ecology programs.”

The hunting club might be in its early stages, but the club founders are excited about its future.

“I’d like [the club] to be to an organization where we could go out and hunt together,” Dykstra said. “Eventually, if we got the funds, I’d like to see the club lease a piece of ground. So when kids come up to Iowa State, not knowing anybody, they could have a place just for club members.”

Dues for the hunting club are $15 a semester and $20 for the year.