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J & H Game Farm was started in 1968 by Jim and Joanne Johnson, Jim’s brother Don, and Joanne’s brother Bill who was completing college with a degree in Conservation and English and was expected to run the recreation business. The first purchase was a 305 acre parcel in the middle of the woods. A year later the farm we now operate out of, became available and we purchased that. Bill graduated and had a lucrative offer from Pennsylvania so Jim and Joanne sold their dairy farm and moved seven miles north and started operating J & H in 1970.You could not make a living from hunting then, so Jim worked outside the game farm for 20 years. Our oldest daughter Diane was married in 1981 and her husband Steve started working part time. Steve and Diane now work full time.
One of the big early events we held was a spring Boy Scout Jamboree with 1300 scouts scattered throughout the woods. In the early years, we had a trap shooting facility and in the 1970’s when we had a lot of snow, we became a stop on the snowmobile trail. Our hunting business kept increasing slightly until 1990 when we introduced our first sporting clays course. It became so popular that we started adding courses. We now have eleven different courses, all of which are automatic. We have hosted six State Shoots and the Zone 5 shoot which consists of 9 states. J&H hosted the 1st North Central Regional Championship consisting of 12 states. We also host the second largest individual shoot in the state, the Wisconsin Ironman, plus several large charity events. The past several years J & H has thrown over one million in targets each year. The club owns 715 acres with a 2700 square foot clubhouse with home cooked food and a large pro shop. The different hunting fields and sporting clay courses use 250 of the club’s 715 acres of marsh and brush areas, which are natural cover for pheasants. More spcifically, we have six spacious areas for the hunter to choose, from open sorghum strips to dense brushy terrain. It’s the perfect environment for young and old. Following the hunt, you can relax in our spacious Sportman’s Lodge with beverages and home cooked food from our bar and restaurant. Pull your boots off and enjoy the fireplace. Reminisce about the hunt with your fellow members, family, or guests while enjoying fresh baked cookies and a hot cup of coffee. |
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