Hunt Clubs

[tgreeno]

If you still have other idiots moving in on you, how is it that much better than public?

The freedom of public land is hard to beat for free!

[Hawthorne]

If you still have other idiots moving in on you, how is it that much better than public?

The freedom of public land is hard to beat for free!

Agree 100%. The private areas are no different in heavy pressure areas imo. You have neighbors sitting the line and tracking deer into your sanctuarys. Tons of hunting around.

[GoInLight]

I haven't read the other posts - forgive if there is a repeat.

I've been burned and blessed on leases in FL, GA, SC.

Leases are often worse than public in that you have X guys locked into XXX acres and they are the same as the yahoos you see on public. They do the same stuff too.

Best thing to do is review the rules and scout the lease before you sign on - see if the sign is good, see if the deer the other guys shoot tickle your fancy, see if they have multiple stands per person, all over the place (some places have rules where you can't hunt near someone else's stand), private areas, pin-in, etc. Typically the more you pay the less members and the better the hunting, but not always.

Don't you dare tell anyone what you are doing OR what you see. It is the quickest way to have a poor experience on a lease. Your "lease buddies" will quickly jump to where you hunt, hunt your stands, etc. I've been on 8 diff leases and it has been the same on every one.

The best lease I was on was $2000/yr w 2 other guys (3 yrs - had bucks everywhere). They both hunted my stands. I went to move to another (unhunted) area and they penned me in with their stands. The competition was fierce even though I only hunted 3 weekends a year.

The last lease I was on was supposed to be me only on two parcels of land - had 3 invasions during prime pre-rut and rut time by the land/lease manager guy and the other 2 club members. They ruined the remainder of the 2016 season. This was another $2000 lease with tree trimming & clearing/food plot/mineral/feeder requirements. They got real nasty too - getting rid of me so a buddy could re-join.

Don't underestimate the power of jealousy, greed, and competition. They are present at every lease and will ruin friendships and decent leases.

I'd do it again as there are a lot of deer in GA. Just won't be seeing any out of my stand...

Sounds like them guys were scared to hunt with a beast.

[Rich M]

I'm a fledgling beast, at best.

T,

FL has few deer hunting opportunities and it is typically a 3 or 4 day WMA hunt or two every year. No all season hunting unless you hunt private land or Ocala National Forest.

The leases in GA & SC had 4 or 5 month seasons, allowing a guy to pick the weather, moon, rut, etc. The guys who step on toes are looking for jumbo deer in most cases and in 2015 did get the jumbo out of my stand which is why I didn't hunt with them 2016 and saw how rude the SC boys can be...

Back to FL public and hopefully WY antelope this season.

Would I do a GA lease? Yes. Just wouldn't trust anyone and would lie about what I had seen & where I took the deer.

[Stanley]

I am lucky to be able to hunt one hunting club as a guest. I don't have a key to the gate so I have to go in with a member. It is not ideal but it is what it is. I have never killed a buck in the property. Passed a few but never killed one. I would much rather hunt the other properties I have permission to hunt.

[Tufrthnails]

Hunting several clubs with papa. Killed a lot of deer on the neighboring WMA of one of the leases. Never had much luck on leases big headache for me. I did it to keep papa in the woods. The last lease was a place to take my kid in the woods and it was a deal where me and two others had 500acres of the lease to do with as we please. Each member leased x number of acres. My son took his first deer on the lease so it was worth every penny, but now he is getting big enough to hunt public with me and he is getting to where he enjoys going a mile to a mile and a half in the swamp (nothing to serious yet).

[Ghost Hunter]

I have hunted it a club down south for 22 years. Yes other members get aggravated with you moving around. Because they are going to one big tower stand an sitting an waiting for a deer to come by them. Then there are other guys that watch every move you make and want to move in on your location. So this is what I do.


Leave to go to stand before anyone leaves camp. ( They will try to figure out where you are going if they can hear you) .

I park an walk a good distance to get to where I'm hunting. Don't walk in middle of logging roads, walk sides in grass if possible. ( Hide location.)

Hunt thicker areas which is closer to bedding. ( They are not there.)

Cross obstacles they are not willing to cross, Ditches, water, steep creeks etc. ( They want there stands to be easy to get to.)

Lie about seeing deer. ( There was a good deer run by your stand yesterday. They will hunt it rest of season.)

Put camo cover over atv, (They will ride around looking for you.)

This is all I can think of at moment.

[Twenty Up]

That sounds awful... I'd rather hunt public and save my money until I can afford my own chunk of paradise

[mainebowhunter]

Depends on what kind of club it is. Many hunting clubs are only one piece of ground. Like mid america...200k+ acres of ground spread across the midwest. In my opinion. ..one of the best deals going. Some states have very little public ground.

Kind of a different spin on clubs.

[mainebowhunter]

These guys are ks iowa and missouri
http://midwesthunt.com/deer/hunting/private-land.html

[Ghost Hunter]

That sounds awful... I'd rather hunt public and save my money until I can afford my own chunk of paradise

On bright side.

Most club members get stuck in a rut. The deer pattern them. You just have to find where deer come an go. If I was in same position as you. I would join for a year an put out cameras to see genetics of deer in that area. Unless you know some one who can show pics from area. One thing you really don't have to worry about in clubs is people wandering around an walking past you while you are in a tree. For most part. All clubs are different.

[JoeRE]

I've never been in a hunting club. If someone wants to do that, go for it, its a free country. For me personally its a moral thing not to support monetizing wildlife access. But what I do know is the reason I quit bow hunting private land that was shared by other bowhunters is that they all got pizzed about how I hunted, jumping around constantly and diving into the middle of things and to make matters worse in their eyes, killing bucks while doing it.

I would be worried about the same thing on a shared lease or club. I doubt you can beast hunt a property shared with many other guys and not tick a lot of them off. The 90% has no interest in Beast hunting, and that's fine too, its a free country. Know how cut throat the competition would be if everybody did? I don't blame them for being mad given how they want to hunt. They probably wouldn't kill much anyway but I certainly am not making things easier for them. Now the only private I hunt is late season and usually there aren't any other hunters to complain.

[<DK>]

Great post JoeRE

[GoInLight]

I've been in hunting clubs for the last 20 years. I've killed some good deer and I've had a lot of fun. There is a ton of drama and it is easy to become lazy and complacent.

I'm looking for a new challenge, so I'll be hunting public much more after this year. I like the idea of not hunting by other people's standards and not feeling like I have to justify what I kill. I think there will be freedom in that.

[Ghost Hunter]

Club I'm in we have a decent place to camp. Most of our hunting dues goes toward paying for camp operations, bush hogging roads, summer keep up at camp etc. Although leases seem to get more each year. We have ten that do nothing but gun hunt an three that bow hunt full time. Me being one of three. I have a lot of time at camp with just two or three around. When gun season weeks come around I'm usual hunting Bayou Meto WMA. I enjoy my time at both places. I've watched a lot people grow old at camp. Been friends for 20 plus years. Some are getting to where they can not hunt anymore. They hang around camp. Times will be changing in next couple years because of some of older guys health problems. Enjoy it while I can.