I grew up in the St. Louis area and hunted or visited some of the old clubs. My great grandfather, an industrialist in the St. Louis area, was a founding member (in the 1870s) of Dardenne out in St. Charles. He and his buddies apparently would take the train to St. Charles and then be met by someone with a mule or horse drawn wagon to go the rest of the way. The original club house burned to the ground a few years ago and was rebuilt recently. Members have their own room and the main living/dining room looks out over the marsh. They have mostly deeper water and have ducks using the place when other areas are frozen solid.
Then my grandfather started a club in the 40's down the road, Baldwin Land Co, with some friends. It didn't even have a club house until the 1980s, when they built one on stilts maybe 10-12 up in the air because of the flooding. Some of the other clubs in the area like Silvers and especially Quivre are pretty fancy. August Busch and family have a beautiful farm and duck hunting spot in the area too and that goes back several generations. The hot duck hunting is near the confluence of the Missouri and Missiissippi rivers. Urban sprawl is knocking but so far the ducks don't seem to mind. It's an area that is almost impossible to free lance a duck hunt but, if you ever get a chance to see one of these clubs, jump at the opportunity.
