The Jefferson Sportsmen’s Association held its first meeting on September 3, 1953 when all persons interested in forming a sportsmen’s association in the Jefferson area met in the basement of the Serfass Building Lodge Hall. Dues were $2.00 and by the November 4, 1953 meeting there were 56 paid members and 12 free members.

The first New Years shoot was held at the Jefferson Canning Factory. In February 1954 the members built pheasant pens on the ball diamond property and made a donation of coal to the local Boy Scout troop. A shooting match was held in March with a 30-30 given as the main prize. The club also ordered 225 shoulder patches. The first annual Jefferson Carnival was held with the baseball association in 1954 and the club made a profit of $603.26.

In February 1955 it was decided that the carnival would run for a week. In April of that year San Juan rabbits were released. In June the members started discussing the purchase of land for the club. In September Dan Stambaugh and Paul Yost started working on a charter for the club and 106 pheasants were released into the wild. In November a meeting was held to pursue the purchase of the Reuben Wenner property and in December the property was purchased for $4075.00.