hunting lease/club Questions
12-21-2009, 03:49 PM
#1
Fork Horn
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Jasper, Indiana
Posts: 309
hunting lease/club Questions
Never had a hunting lease before but I am going to look into one for next season. Can anyone tell me how hunting clubs usually work? Also I would be looking for a hunting property in Southern Indiana if anyone has a lease coming up for next year.
12-21-2009, 08:42 PM
#2
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Minnesota
Posts: 1,304
I've never been a member of a hunting club nor ever leased any land to hunt on. In fact, never knew anyone personally who has hunted with a hunting club. With that said, I'll offer up my .07¢ worth...
Hunting clubs usually require a yearly membership fee. There are strict rules to adhere to. If rules are broken, it's possible to lose your status as a member and the fees can be non-refundable. They often have a set amount of members allowed to hunt the property or even be members and sometimes there's a waiting list.
Hunting leases have their positives often not revealed in what you kill, but by the kindred spirits you meet at the club. The notion of meeting new people who share the same love of hunting in conjunction with a bond built by those gatherings, can sometimes be worth the membership in itself.
Also, be prepared to face a democracy.(possibly even a dictatorsip) Understand sometimes you will vote and you will not win. LOL! For whatever issues need to be voted on, you will have no problem having things come up the club has to face and there's a dozen different ideas on how to resolve them. LOL!
I've been president of an outdoor related sport, so I know a little about clubs. I hope whatever you find in a lease, is something you can benefit from in more ways than one.
Best of luck in your quest to find a good lease or club.
iSnipe
Hunting clubs usually require a yearly membership fee. There are strict rules to adhere to. If rules are broken, it's possible to lose your status as a member and the fees can be non-refundable. They often have a set amount of members allowed to hunt the property or even be members and sometimes there's a waiting list.
Hunting leases have their positives often not revealed in what you kill, but by the kindred spirits you meet at the club. The notion of meeting new people who share the same love of hunting in conjunction with a bond built by those gatherings, can sometimes be worth the membership in itself.
Also, be prepared to face a democracy.(possibly even a dictatorsip) Understand sometimes you will vote and you will not win. LOL! For whatever issues need to be voted on, you will have no problem having things come up the club has to face and there's a dozen different ideas on how to resolve them. LOL!
I've been president of an outdoor related sport, so I know a little about clubs. I hope whatever you find in a lease, is something you can benefit from in more ways than one.
Best of luck in your quest to find a good lease or club.
iSnipe
12-22-2009, 03:07 AM
#3
Fork Horn
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Florida Panhandle
Posts: 119
I joined my first lease/club last Summer. We have 30-40,000 acres with 42 hunters. The nice thing is you pick places for up to 2 stands. It's marked on GPS and no one else can put a stand within 400 yards. It ends up being your own "private place" in the woods. I go up on weekends and work a food plot, mow weeds, put up a trail cam, etc. It gives me a chance to get in the woods even out of season. We can also ride a 4 wheeler during the off-season. we have a make-shift shooting range. now the wife is even interested in shooting. I got her started with her own .22.
12-22-2009, 04:56 AM
#4
Fork Horn
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: San Antonio, TX
Posts: 246
I expect every one of them is different and vary by region and the nature of the land being used. The bigger they are with more members, the more complex the politics. I've always hunted a 'family/business' lease in that we had a very large lease and had members of the family and a few select employees hunting there. It seems like every person had their own rules and the senior members goverened their own areas in their own way.
If you were the daughter of the company president, you pretty much hunted where you wanted and shot whatever you decided to shoot. If you were a non management employee invited to hunt one weekend, you were assigned a spot and specifically told what you were able to shoot. I had my own little nook and guarded it fiercely but I set the employees who worked specifically under me up on some good deer because I'm just a swell guy.
So....every lease will have its own character and politics. Don't let one experience spoil or sour you on the concept.
If you were the daughter of the company president, you pretty much hunted where you wanted and shot whatever you decided to shoot. If you were a non management employee invited to hunt one weekend, you were assigned a spot and specifically told what you were able to shoot. I had my own little nook and guarded it fiercely but I set the employees who worked specifically under me up on some good deer because I'm just a swell guy.
So....every lease will have its own character and politics. Don't let one experience spoil or sour you on the concept.
12-22-2009, 05:23 AM
#5
Dominant Buck
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: WC FL
Posts: 26,323
I expect every one of them is different and vary by region and the nature of the land being used. The bigger they are with more members, the more complex the politics. I've always hunted a 'family/business' lease in that we had a very large lease and had members of the family and a few select employees hunting there. It seems like every person had their own rules and the senior members goverened their own areas in their own way.
If you were the daughter of the company president, you pretty much hunted where you wanted and shot whatever you decided to shoot. If you were a non management employee invited to hunt one weekend, you were assigned a spot and specifically told what you were able to shoot. I had my own little nook and guarded it fiercely but I set the employees who worked specifically under me up on some good deer because I'm just a swell guy.
So....every lease will have its own character and politics. Don't let one experience spoil or sour you on the concept.
If you were the daughter of the company president, you pretty much hunted where you wanted and shot whatever you decided to shoot. If you were a non management employee invited to hunt one weekend, you were assigned a spot and specifically told what you were able to shoot. I had my own little nook and guarded it fiercely but I set the employees who worked specifically under me up on some good deer because I'm just a swell guy.
So....every lease will have its own character and politics. Don't let one experience spoil or sour you on the concept.
12-22-2009, 05:36 AM
#6
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: north florida
Posts: 1,277
I have hunted in clubs all my life with my dad and by myself. Some are strict on stand placement, stand limits, etc. but then again some are not. The last 5 years I have hunted on 48,000 acre lease with 270 other members, but it's primarily a dog hunting lease. It's more like hunting restricted public land than a lease but I love it. Very political, very hard to get into, but very well managed and productive. It's great to hunt there IMO, although I hunt with and/or know personally most of the club board members. Still hunting (stand hunting) clubs are ran alot differently though, some I have hunted in are fine and some of them you couldn't pay ME to hunt in....
12-22-2009, 05:47 AM
#7
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Ohio,mid
Posts: 1,275
Clubs are politic. Some you are allowed one guest, some only 1 family member. U can get tossed for what a guest might do. What about off season, is there access? Quads for pleasure, getting game out, are they allowed?
If you are going to just lease your own ground, make sure it is an annual lease, see about planting food plots, are U the only one hunting , is it hunting season only gun only, bow only etc. Will there be any family of his/hers on the property during season. Who carries insurance on the place for the term of the lease, U or them? Can U hunt more than just deer? If wooded are there any plans to log while you are leasing, oil wells etc. Neighbors do they have permission, that was a big one w/ our original lease the old"Joe has allowed us to hunt this property for 40 years" story. Joe didn't back us up! Good Luck, if you work hard and use your cranium about what could affect your hunting lease (pretend U own it) U can have a paradise!
If you are going to just lease your own ground, make sure it is an annual lease, see about planting food plots, are U the only one hunting , is it hunting season only gun only, bow only etc. Will there be any family of his/hers on the property during season. Who carries insurance on the place for the term of the lease, U or them? Can U hunt more than just deer? If wooded are there any plans to log while you are leasing, oil wells etc. Neighbors do they have permission, that was a big one w/ our original lease the old"Joe has allowed us to hunt this property for 40 years" story. Joe didn't back us up! Good Luck, if you work hard and use your cranium about what could affect your hunting lease (pretend U own it) U can have a paradise!
