To the members of the Mis Creek Hunting Club, their time spent gathered in the woods down U.S. 61 South has meant more than a chance to bag a trophy buck during deer season, it’s been about forming yearlong friendships that don’t end when they leave the tree stand.

For about 35 years, Mis Creek members have come from as far as Florida and Tennessee to hunt, but the club will dissolve on Thursday when Birmingham-based company Resource Management Service ends their lease with the group.

“We’ve had fun,” said Lee Frazier, who lives in Florida but was an original member of the camp. “Hunting clubs are more than just hunting deer, I enjoy sitting on the front porch telling lies and drinking a beer with these guys. It’s more the fellowship than anything else.”

About 30 years ago, Bo Roncali joined the club so he could hunt with his young son, who is now 42.

“Time flies by, but like they said, it’s about the friendships you make, and it’s not easy to realize that four or five days from now it’s all over,” Roncali said.

“There’s a few of us that’ll be able to see each other occasionally, but most of the people we’ve hunted with over the years will be joining different clubs in different places.”

“But when you get to be my age, you don’t know if you want to go somewhere else and start all over again,” Frazier said about joining a new club. “It’s not as easy to find a club anymore.”

Over the years, the crew said they’ve seen some members come and go, but a core group has stayed strong, killing an average of 40 to 60 deer each season. The land has changed since they first began in the early 1980s, but they’ve adjusted and relearned the terrain.

Though they aren’t sure what the future holds for their hunting careers, the crew agreed that the past three decades have given them great memories of hunting seasons spent in the woods with each other and their families.

“It’s just got a lot of sentimental value in it,” Roncali said.