does a lease or hunt club exist where the members share info, share stands and are honest about what the see, shoot, do etc..

been on leases where three cameras overlook an area because no one shared info.

been on lease where a river cuts through the middle making the back end unaccesable-only to find out 8 weeks into the season a back gate exists, found by following a couple senior members who slipped out of camp early one sunday am.

been on leases where all stands/feeders are identified, only to find a "seceret honey hole" tripod 6 weeks into the season.

been on leases where certain animals were given a "pass" for the season-everyone agreed not to take them, only to have guys at the end of the season knock said animals down.

It is to the point where I simply look for small plots of land to hunt for my brother and I-no need to hide anything. No headaches or trust issues. But I sure would like to hunt larger areas.

So, are there groups where everyone is up front, honest and doesn't hide anything?

What you are looking for is called the holy grail
Many stories about such but no ones actually ever found it

I hunt smaller properties and hunt solo

Yes it exists and I am lucky enough to be part of it. Only 3 of us hunt most of the time and once a year, 10 guys come together for a special weekend. Absolutely lucked into it and continue to pinch myself every year, to remind myself just how lucky I am. Of course I put in a day or two most weeks working on the place, just to try and be worthy of what I do have. Wish everyone had the same.

my brother and i will be getting on one like that next season.

Not to sound snobby, but I am grateful I live in the west and do not have to worry about where to hunt. I admire the fortitude that you guys put in to finding areas to hunt.

They exist but are very difficult to maintain. I manage one that is 4600 acres that we have had since 1999. We divide 100 percent of the expenses equally and share the permanent box blinds. Members that don't adhere to the rules are uninvited to come back the next year. We have only had to do this to one member. The hardest thing is finding a really good land owner to lease from who appreciates your group and is wanting to stick with you for the long term.

We do not allow guests, just immediate family. We are very particular on member selection. Like any lease or club about 10% of the members end up doing the majority of the hard work. Anyway they exist but are hard to find. We have a waiting list of potential new members at all times as our place is in such high demand. Don't give up hope. Keep looking they are out there.

I'm just damn glad I live where there's lots of public land and also landowners who will still give permission free for the asking. The situations described here- Feeders, assigned stands/blinds camera's etc ain't hunting and I feel sorry for folks who think it is and/or is all they've ever known.

Umm...well, I've never been on a "lease" whatever that is. So I have no idea.

It sounds to me like you would have a more enjoyable experience on public ground even if the bucks aren't as big.

Or else, buy your own piece of land somehow.

Yea, did the public hunting thing a few times...When you talk to some of them fools after the evening hunt and ask what they saw and their reply is "I didn't see anything but I did get 4 sound shots off!"

What is a "sound shot" I had to inquire-it is where this guy HEARD something in the bushes and shot at it.

yea, not for me.

would love to buy but at $1200/acre I am just not there yet.

Dave

I've never heard anyone do such a thing. Where the hell is that? Does anyone do that?

back when I lived in East TX-lots of public hunting land out there for the low price of a $40 pass for the year.

Since 1972 my brother, myself, and now my son run our hunting camp. We own hunting rights on 100 acres of woods
- purchased by my father along with 1 acre to build the camp on in 1954 for a total of $40--- The 100 acres is bordered by 500+ acres of mostly woods that we have permission to hunt at no cost and the 500 acres connect to 3000+ acres of public hunting woods that is not heavily hunted. Over the years we have had a hand full of friends that came into camp that we have had to weed out. For over 30 years now we have basically our closest friends we grew up with. Honest and trustworthy. None zero nanna stories of seeing the big one but didn't get a shot. Info on any of the days hunt is always shared. About the only problem we have is that one of the members won't let me use his .308 that seems to shoot bigger bucks than my .308. At a bring your own Beer or Whisky hunting camp we ask for a donation of--- Get this $100 per week----- Priceless -- Web

My mom married a gentleman who has 160 acres of mixed hardwoods and clearings that are planted every year, and since I am now family, I'm invited to hunt there. There are nine guys in the club, and everyone has their preferred stand for the opener, but all stands are available after the first couple days of the season when most stop hunting. We maintain radio contact throughout the day, and if one of the older guys gets a deer, the nearest guys help out. Each evening, we all tell what we saw, what shots we got, if any, and Amy pics we took ( like the ones of the fawn with spots I saw mid November) everyone chips in by cooking a meal, and there are work days where everyone shows to do routine maintenance, build new blinds, or whatever. Great club and I'm glad to be a member. Last year we took three big bucks and two doe off the property.

If


Our lease has 22 people.

And I believe everyone is pretty open, because only about 6 of us are deer hunters, the rest are waterfowlwrs/ pheasant and rabbit hunters. They couldn't care less about deer hunting, but are glad the 6 of us do, because we put in food plots that benefit the pheasants, and clear lanes making brush piles that benefit the rabbits.


The key to it for us was leasing the ground to goose hunt originally, then another tract came available that held both bottom land crops for geese and ducks, but also some hard wood ridge and crop land and side hill brush lots and overgrown pasture/fields.

We originally leased it specifically for waterfowl, and decided to start improving the habitat to benefit pheasant and rabbit. Which in turn brought in deer

Why would you expect anyone one sharing a lease to be obliged to share their personal knowledge with anyone else?
On the same token, why would you feel so inclined to share your personally acquired info with anyone else just because you share the lease with them?

A lease is much like a business. There are some inner circles that you inter act with differently than others for what ever reasons. You just have to learn which ones can be used to your advantage and which ones not to confide in.

NO. Deer hunting will bring out the worst in people.

This. And it's why I am so thankful that I was able to purchase my own place. Adjoining landowners and clubs aren't always great to deal with either but it's night and day compared to the leases I used to be on

I guess I am a control freak but I like knowing I am the only one with unfettered access to the land.

Wow. I've heard of leases before but didn't realize it was like this. Makes me really appreciate the area's we have to hunt here, even if I do wish there was more of it sometimes. Hope you find something decent, not having places to hunt really,really sucks.

I wouldn't get on a lease with people I didn't trust or want to be open with. No matter where I hunt, I am open about what I think and what I am planning. I figure my friends are honest too. Now I normally hunt private land but the opinions still apply.

Lubbockdave: Sounds like your Hunting experiences of late have left a bad taste in your mouth?
I feel bad for you.
I guess I have been blessed to have successfully Hunted mostly on public lands in Washington, Oregon, Alaska, Montana, Utah, Wyoming and Alberta along with some superb Hunting on private lands in some of those same regions.
I have never Hunted Deer or Elk on a leased property so I am not sure if your experience is the norm but I hope you find a place that will make your Hunting experiences more enjoyable/rewarding.
Good luck in the future.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

I've actually had a couple of those, way back when.....landowners got greedy or other hunters with deeper pockets coveted land that 5-10 good lease members had cared for, sweated for, improved upon, and invested in. These days, it seems you need deeper pockets than the next guy, willing to join a 47-114 member 'club' of half, half-wits, or married/born into a large land owning family, to get access to larger parcels. I still get by on reputation, integrity, old loyalties, and an honest name....to hunt small parcels here and there....but those things mean less and less every year, compared to a quick dollar or competitiveness. It's a shame, but times do change.

This.

I've known people who were friends for years...until they joined a hunting lease. It has nothing to do with honesty.

hunt by Chris Jamison, on Flickr

I've only been involved with one, have been a member since 2009.
Have seen all the things you mentioned and more, but the one I quoted is the only one that really gives me heartburn.

As for the sharing information, it has been a long, slow process
establishing some level of trust. We still don't tell all, at least immediately, but that is fine with me. I'd as soon not know what they saw, so if I decide to go hunt that area and happen to kill what they were watching, there at least SHOULD be no hard feelings.

It does seem to bring out the worst in a lot of folks, but it makes you appreciate the ones who rise to the occasion and are truly good sports.

Not sure how common this sort of arrangement is, but we have around 25-30 members most years and a communal camp house -
kitchen, common area, bedrooms with 4 bunks per.
Been there since 1949, some 4th and even 5th generations hunting. Great place to hunt with your kids or grandkids,
my two learned to hunt there.

Worried about it though,
our lease prices have went through the roof, and internal squabbling has hurt our ability to keep enough members...
Afraid I'm gonna get priced out of it.

Along with duck hunting, turkey hunting and...

For the most part we do share openly. Because we are in the lease together and trying to manage it. We have 2 that shoot anything, but luckily usually not anything that matters.

We often discuss what has to be shot, what should get a pass for X years. Which ones should breed. And so on.

We all show the photos off our game cams.

Only thing that pisses me off, we are allowed 2 bucks.. I often don't shoot a trophy for years. In fact after my buck this last fall I"ll likely never pull the trigger on a trophy again in my life. We NEED to shoot culls the minute we see em. But they are scared they will spook a big buck... never mind I shot a cull 2 years ago on opener. And 5 minutes later, a 24 inch wide 8 point walks out. My buddy loves wide deer so I let the deer walk hoping he would get it. He never saw that deer unfortunately.

But trying to find like minded folks in any large numbers is really hard. Some of the older members of our lease still shoot a deer so they can come home and say I got an 8 point again. They don't want to come home and say I shot 2 spikes this year.... something not good about doing good for the herd.

You need to associate with like minded folks to start with. But for us, family ties get in the way... Personally if I was in charge I would write a lot more rules in the lease.

Seen a LOT more azzholes duck hunting than anything else... including wade fishermen that flip you off if you get the airboat in "their" zone... never mind I"m driving water depths mostly under 6 inches....

Best lease i was in had no rules other than you had to put your pin in where you were hunting. It worked because the ten guys in it were like minded and since there was no rules there was nothing to fight about. Before I got into another one with a bunch of rules and some more willing than others to follow them I would hunt public. All that bs takes then fun out of it for me. I have a lease now with one other guy. Its great.

I am in one of each kind. Unfortunately the good one is two hours from home and the bad one is only 50 minutes.

The bad one, which I'll probably not renew for next year, has been infused with a very competitive atmosphere. There are now "personal stands" which the officers have declared off limits to anyone else, etc. It is not that the members are bad guys, but just seem to have their egos wrapped up in killing the most and biggest deer; and pass rules that enhance the odds for themselves while leaving the average member behind the eight-ball. I have hunted that land for nearly 45 years but I've about had it.

Never fall in love with a deer lease. About the time you think it's forever, someone or something will screw it up.

I knew one family that had managed a lease literally for 40 years. First the father ran it, then eventually his sons came on board. One year the old man decided he couldn't hunt anymore, and the landowner decided it was time to get a new crew. The kids had literally never hunted anywhere else, and were all shook up.

I'm on a low fence lease that has plentiful deer and other game; the landowner is a nice guy, everyone is easygoing. I sort of nudge folks to let young deer with potential get bigger. And I've only shot does & culls the past two years.

I guess I could find a place that has bigger deer, but it would probably cost more. I could maybe find one closer to home, but that would also cost more. Guess I'll keep this whitetail lease for the time being, and then look around for occasional spot hunts elsewhere.

Had a friend several years who went in on a lease in TX with 4 of his close friends. Everything went smooth until one guy started sneaking in some of friends during the days nobody was there and the owner started finding gut piles. Owner told them all the to get out and not come back.

That is so very true..Might be an insider(s) causing the problem or outsiders trying to buy the lease from under you..

We have no free public hunting over here so nearly all my stalking has been on leases.

The best was a seven hour drive away, but it was worth the travel until things went pear shaped..

Not sure why people expect others to be completely open with all info gathered...If I saw a nice buck or found a nice little hot spot, I might keep the info to myself or perhaps just share it with members who were close friends..

On the other hand, I've passed up shots on bucks so I some one else can take it, plus I've spent a lot of time "guiding" other new /less experienced members to get them the chance of an animal and generally get them started in the right direction..

What I do intensely dislike is people who break the leases rules everybody has agreed to and which are there for the common long term good...

One thing that seems to be come across on here is that many of the leases in the US are very small, ie around 100 acres and have a high number of hunters...

For a 100 acres, I would only share it with perhaps one or two people max and only then if I knew them well and trusted them.

Personally, over here, I wouldn't join a proper syndicate unless it had at least 500 acres and with a max of say ten people, ideally, I'd be looking at a minimum of 800 acres if possible...

Thank god I don't live where someone tells me how to hunt, what to hunt and where to hunt.

Had the perfect crew on a lease in Mo for 9 years.
It was 7 hours from home for half of us and the others were either local or lived within three hours of it.
We shared info, shared the work. Had a couple mandatory work weekends a year that were just an excuse to get together, drink beer and eat like kings.

We all had stands we " preferred " to hunt but who went to what stand was never an issue and all the stands were open to whoever wanted to hunt them. Having 20 stands on 1400 acres made that easy.

We killed a 150-160 class deer off the place every year.
Club rule was 8 point or better and outside the ears or it wasn't a shooter. We had an abundance of does that could be shot to fill freezers plus by state law we could purchase all the doe tags in that county we wanted.

Never an issue until the landowner was approached by a young man who wanted to get into farming.
He offered him $150K for a 3 year lease and we were gone.
His $50k a year trumped the $18k we were paying.

The 8 of us still get together. We were just up in the area last weekend hunting geese on a neighboring farm.
We're actively searching for another property to lease in the area.

Farming and deer hunting co exist in MANY places... what a shame.

My uncle was shot through the forearm. Fortunately the bullet went between the ulna and the radial. I clearly remember the disfigurement. The guy he invited said he heard something.

I was in a great club for years until we put my wife's family farm into trees and we started hunting the farm.
5,000 acres divided into 22 hunt areas with orange paint on trees to mark the boundaries. Most areas had multiple food plots. First come, first serve. A draw on Saturday mornings and Holidays. No private stands. We had secrets, but nothing major.

Flip to the family land. A younger member who comes a few times a year, shows up and hunts the area where an old big buck has been showing up on pictures because he was told about it. Shoots a young buck that three of us had passed, but trails all through the woods looking for it. This is an example of why you don't share pics and info.

I'm just glad I don't hunt a one deer per season state.

Me too and I don't.

This club/lease business sounds like a royal PITA.

I've hunted a lease or two,one in eastern Colorado,the other in Wyoming. In Colorado there were only 3 of us and knew each other well,so were in sync with a common objective, namely, for one or two of us to kill the biggest bucks we possibly could.

In Wyoming,there were 10 of us to share 25,000 acres,so crowding was not a problem. Plus I had permission to hunt the adjoining 25,000 acres so there were many options. On the lease, some of the country was too rough for those who wanted to cruise in a truck all day.

It worked great but like any hunting situation it morphed over time and the lease portion got sold. C'est la vie.

Personally I'd rather hunt big remote country sans competition with a big woods component but understand that isn't possible for many people. More's the pity. Multiple deer don't really interest me that much since I like to key on a mature animals. If I get lucky and kill there's always other states nearby.

In places I hunt in New England and central Maine, there is NO competition with tens of thousands of acres to hunt,and big bucks.You don't bump into any sound shooters up there....in fact, you don't hardly ever see anyone in the woods,in the course of a week of hunting.

And in certain places of Maine you can shoot unlimited does and 2 bucks. I don't have to pay to have someone tell me to sit here or shoot that. I'm not passing judgement and if it is what you have it is what you have but I still thank god I don't live there.

There are pluses and minuses to wherever you live. Texas is gun friendly. That's a plus. Texas has lots of folks who like to hunt. That's a plus, but has some negative. Texas is mostly privately owned. +/-

Hunting here has changed a lot since I started in the 50's. I'm sure we'd all like to live adjacent to thousands of acres of virgin country.

But I do get to hunt deer Oct thru Feb. And it's still good to get out around the fire with friends and family.

Experienced the "deeper pocket" syndrome a couple years ago. Six member group on a 220 acre lease, with deer, geese, turkey. Good bunch of guys, on different work and travel schedules that rarely conflicted, we shared stands and locations pretty well. One member's Dad had his eye on one distinctive buck, we were asked to let it walk for him. Didn't bother me, and I don't believe anybody else had an issue with it. We knew the Dad was fighting against long term illness, and mature enough to know it could be us next year. Unfortunately, the illness won out in the end.

Anyway, the property owner was approached by another group interested in leasing, and offered a larger amount of money for the same lease. We were asked for an increase about double of what we had been paying. I didn't feel a lot of loyalty from the land owner for our group, and decided to opt out. I don't what the rest of the group did.

I hunt in the County Park deer management program now, closer and easier to get to than anything else. Plenty of friction from the rack hunters, the meat hunters, and the ones that don't know any better. Some guys hunt only horns, and pass does. Some set stands on top of other stands, some walk through the bedding areas to get to a stand. I've had deer field dressed under my stand, and hunters walking into "my area" a smoke in hand. End of the day, you figure out who the guys/gals are that you want to hunt with, and try to avoid the ones you don't.

Choose your hunting partners with about as much care as you use in choosing a wife. You can know people for years and find they react/behave very differently in a hunting situation.

It's hard to do this in a club.

Was talking to a friend yesterday and he told me a guy who shared a lease with some other friends was leasing the same area to other hunters as if the land belonged to him. Some people have no shame.

Was part of a 1200 acre lease for around 15 or so years. Hunted it for free for over 25 when it was owned by a coal company. Coal company had 2200 total, went bankrupt and any who wanted to use it could. Eventually it was spit up and sold. Owner did some periodic timbering and did it right for wildlife. Always was great Deer and Turkey country and remains so today.

At the highest there were 20 people, but usually around 15. Couple serious bow hunters who took some hogs during the rut. No rules other than Pa Game Law rules. Most of the members didn't use it all that much and after the first day it wasn't rare to hunt and only see a couple others or no-one. Especially if the weather became a little nasty.

The individual lease fee pretty much paid the owners land tax. Started out at $500 per individual and ended up at $800. I thought it was reasonable for 1200 acres of prime Deer country.

No meetings and as mentioned no rules. But with one or two exceptions it all worked out. Couple members who wanted to sit all day objected to some of us who liked to roam around most of the time. A couple thought they had exclusive dips on a specific area whenever they would decide to show up. That got settled quick and they either adapted or moved on.

Got sold last year to an out of state fellow who wanted his own private hunting ground. $1.2Million. Miss the place more than a little. More than a few memories and Bird Dogs rest their bones there. However last year hunted within a mile of it most of the time. Same type of country and I couldn't cover it all in a week.

Addition: No it is not the same. No long streams path their way thru it. No cut highwalls wrap around the hillsides with hot spot funnels when the Deer want to come down. Not as many Grouse. Few high points that you can stop and look out for a couple miles. It's not the same, but it will do.

Hard to find IMHO, SIL got out of the Marines and moved back to Arkansas. Asked me to go in on a deer lease. Timber company land. Said sure, as it was not that expensive. Went hunting this year, everything looked pretty good, water bourse etc. Only the issue was no deer sign. The old boys run the area, said it was a good spot. It should have been.. Only problem no recent deer sign, stands, paths, food and water.. Perhaps to much logging activity and the deer moved. He is going for a new spot next year. Kind of like a close knit thing, even thought he is from the area he is not known.

Just because no deer sign its bad? Deer change patterns, often due to food sources related to rain or lack of from year to year.

I wouldn't much make a guess after hunting something for one year personally.

Not a lease but hunted private land with a couple guys I knew, that was fairly large. Deer would lay and not move if you didn't have enough hunters. They had already picked out where they hunt so I moved towards the property line the furthest away from them to give everyone room. For the most part I believe they never kept secrets on the deer they saw ect. We did have a problem that 2 tree stands were hung on the property that were not ours, so we gathered some trespassers were hunting it during archery season. The farmer who was 80 and sickly was unable to keep an eye on his land all the time. The first year I hunted it saw deer everywhere the next years continue to get gradually worse? The farmers has since passed and I hunt a different spot that is nowhere as good or as big.

rost495,
Yep they sure do change patterns. First time hunting Southern states, mostly have hunted Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa and Nebraska. Maybe even closer and tighter woods then the Nothern states. I tend to do my scouting during grouse season in the North. Problem in Arkansas was it all looked good, but absolutely no recent deer sign. Everywhere else I have hunted I have at least been able to see they were around sometime in the recent past. Here very little sign, no tracks in at least a month, no recent bedding areas no fresh "smart pills" NO sign they had been browsing in our area (about a square mile) Did see a bobcat, several old stands and in general a lack of deer sign.