WOW!!! That is unbelieveably high. I only pay $400 for 3500 acres on the Eastern Shore. Is that a typo or is it really only 250 acres? Unless you are stuck on this spot I would dump that club.I hunt in Northeast North Carolina as well and some of the dues are high $550 at one cluband $850 at another but the first club is around 3600 acres and the second is 15,000 acres. There dues are based on a set price per acre and # of members. The price per acre on logging land has gone up considerably in the past 5 years from$3-$4 dollars per acre to up to $7 acre in some areas. Your situation smells like greed on somebodies part.Go to N.C Dept. of Game and Inland Fisheries site and they list thousands of public access acres forvery low fees, that's assuming you are even talking about N.C. based on your info to the left of the post. I have found some honey holes on public land, ecspecially military installments, if you can get access.

In response to this, it is a sign of the times. In some areas land is dominated by hunt clubs and the land that isn't is usually owned by someone who hunts it privately or has hadbad run ins with club hunters and are very hesitant to grant access, even to an individual hunter. However, that is life,if you want to hunt there is land to be hunted if you put in the work. Considering the fact that most states listWMA, State and National Forest land, Military installations, and other public access areas on the Department of Game websites you can do a lot of searching from in front of your computer. These sites usually contain info on fees, access requirements, seasons, and just about all other pertinent info. I hunt in VA a lot and www.vdgif.com, under the find game link, is just an example if you are interested in looking.

I'd hunt public land way before I'd pay the prices some of you guys call normal , accepting it as inevitable only feeds the dragon . Some of the best hunts I've ever had were on small public patches and a nearby national forest , the competition was nearly non-existant and there were deer aplenty . Do the legwork and you can always find a place to hunt for nothing , I've done just that for a long time .

Public lands are great to hunt and often overlooked. I do maintain my membership at some clubs for reasons other than land. I have some great friends and great memories from club hunting. If you are fortunate enough to find a good one it can be well worth the investment. The club I hunt with most of the time only has 30 members and there are a lot of kids around my kids age learning to hunt and getting to spend some good time in the field with their parents and at the same time they have kids around to relate to and learn with. Off season events, hunt camp comradery(sp?), and people to share in the excitement/success of huntsis a good thing. Ecspecially if your trying to spark interest in a young hunter or new hunter.

Well You asked for it!!!!!

You guys should never had started paying to hunt. You brought this all on your self. They started to try that up North here and all the sportsman clubs banded together and fought it and woulden't pay. I don't think we will see that come back at least in my life time. Our big problem is development seems like they are building every where. We won't pay but they may build us out of a place to hunt.

We didn't start it. In the south, clubs and timber leases have been in place for decades. We have the same problem with development and losing land to hunt as anywhere else. Every area is different and until you understand the dynamics of hunting in a particular region it is impossible to imagine what it is like. Places like Indiana, Massachusettes, Maine, and other northern states are certainly different than where I am at and your hunting history and traditions are different. How different, Iwould not know becauseI have never had the oppurtunity to hunt up north or live therelong enough todevelop anunderstanding of those particular regions. Club dominatedareas and constant developmentare nothing new where I hunt (Southeast VA & Northeast N.C.)and at this point seemhard to change. Sometimes you have to sleep in the bed that is made, whether you made it or not.

i would kill to only pay $500 a year for quality deer land.

You can rest assure I know where you are comming from I lived in S.E. VA. for 12 years and hated the way the hunting was there every min. Clubs like Franklin hunting club. Frogg hunting club, Unitis and Sunbeam would give me a fit. I owned 14 ac. in S. Hampton Co. and they would treat it like it was theirs total disrespect. The average member no problem, the dog men,and the officers would run around the woods trying to cut the dogs off and if that ment going on my property so be it. Ya call the law on them and they were in the good ol boy network and give me a bunch of mouth garbage. An hour latter they would be right back. While the average member had to draw a stand number and not move from that stand or he would be fined the first time and thrown out the second time. All the time you have fools running around trying to cut them off. I had a lot of fun with my friends hunting there but 50% of the time the club would ruin it. And I tell you it wasen't just one club it was all of the above mentioned. And if you are a regular member of one of those clubs I feel bad for you. And if you are one of the bumms I mentioned shame on you. But to me thats what a VA, sportsman is. I would spend as much time in Rockbridge Co. hunting the mts. as much as possiable so I didn't have to deal with those bumm's on my own property. But as you must know the season up there is short so I could not hunt or deal with them. Anyway I sold that property to a state police officer so I thought they would get theirs but come to find out he was a member of their club and they ended up with it anyway. God I hate Va. So thats my story and the way it was. I know you have many more deer down there then we have here but you can keep every one I will stay up here and hunt my few deer and be happy. No dogs and when you run into another hunter you usually get a smile a hello and a hand shoke.By the way if you ever get up this way look me up I have property in Maine and Mass. and your more then welcome to hunt on it when ever you want. Good Luck Mike

I ma trying to find a place to hunt in KY. I have asked some neighbors and friends that hunt and the overwhelming response is.if you want it you have to pay for it.

The idea of a lease works great for land owners and since it now is a common thing and since people are willing to pay it's our only option in a lot of cases.[:@]

maybee the taxes went up on the land and they are just passing it onto you. thats what usually happens here in va. i pay $400 for one club and $435/for five years at another club.