# Leases



## GWH (Jul 20, 2005)

I know everone has HORROR stories of joining a lease.  Try running one!  Just a few reminders of what we go thru to make sure the lease is paid:

1.) People do not show up when they say they will.  You have to make an extra trip at your expense.

2.) People complain about the existing rules and want to change everything to suit their preferences.

3.) People expect to see and kill a 160 BC class deer on opening morning by just showing up after dark the day before the season opens.

4.) Relationships with adjoining landowners are destroyed because club agreements are broken when the new member questions the ageement, decides he/she must act in their own best interest and destroys a relationship that has been in place for years.

5.) Individual food plots are fair game for the new members. No effort or expense involved but tracks are everywhere, Joe is at work this week, what he doesn't know will not hurt him. The human tracks, the trash, scarred up tree, gut pile remains and tire tracks were the work of a poacher.

6.) If the lease is not paid by the due date it is O.K.  The check is in the mail.  The club leadership will go to the bank and make sure your part is paid until and then hold your spot till you can pay.  We all like a little extra spending money the night before the season opens.

7.) Grumbling and complaining is always welcome,  I leave home just to go to the woods and hear it.

8.) 2-3 hours on the phone is always enjoyable when your wife and kids are waiting on food.

9.)  In camp food should be ready and free, forget your drinks, don't worry about it, everyone brings extra for that very reason.   Also leave a stick and piece of charcoal under your pillow so the fire goddess will remember you. 

These are just a few of the problems I have encountered over the last 25+ years.  If you run a lease please add to it.

*The more people are informed the better they will understand.*

Also I would like to add that all new members are not like this!  They pitch in, pull their weight, are an asset to the club and form friendships that endure.  

Well I have said my piece and both fingers are tired.

Good Luck and GOD bless!

Steve


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## Walkie Takie (Jul 21, 2005)

*Know  your pain ////////*

GWH,  your right,  after 18 years  running a club in Washington co  , I 've  run oito just about every problem , you had on your thread ,    man  sunday  nite that phone would start ringing and some one was calling w/ a problem  with someone in the club  /////
  my  biggest problem  was friend 's   shoting small bucks  and then wanting to kill a bigger  buck  when they saw one ///////    can't stand to see agrow man kill a small buck w/ rifle  and then  say  ( I had to kill him )                        ?????   WAS HE GOING TO  RUN OVER YOU OR  CLIMB INTO THE TREE WITH YOU   AND  KICK YOU OUT  ////////                         they'er  not with us  anymore      
 and the one's  who pay late  or wait  till the last minute and pull out  ( man you call and call 
to get the money   and try to save them a spot and  you know there good guys  but man it's tough  to use your own money and then can't get it back )     WIFE GET'S REAL MAD ABOUT ME PAYING FOR OTHER 'S TO HUNT       
 So  ever year we add  some type of problem to to  club rule' s  so that maybe  someone want do it again   ?????    and they can't  say it's not in the  rule's       
    this year we're going with more of the  Fla boy's , and see  if we have a better club ??????        feel your pain/  good luck      W/T


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## dixie (Jul 21, 2005)

somethings are the same all over, one of my personal favorites, a member who makes payments instead of a lump sum on his dues calls and he's short and'll catch it up the next month, then, the month he's short, shows up in camp on a BRAND new 4 wheeler, NEW rifle and/or scope some NEW toy that kept from making his dues payment. Number 7 is good too, I get VERY few hot meals in camp, oh and don't forget the one who expects guide/scout/gunbarer/motel/maid service to be included in his dues.


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## short stop (Jul 21, 2005)

No more CLUB PRESIDENT FOR ME :most folks have absolutuley no idea ----We  read  all the  gripes onhere from  ---Hunting in my area, No big deer --I have heard it all before ---been there too !!    I have seen work days  planned  and only 2 people show up for it all. My son and myself ''HES'S ONLY 10 '' . I really used love the memebers who used to show up  a day or 2 before gun season ,and  fire up the chainsaw,  and literally cut a powerline swath  thru the woods . I have seen the rich and the poor ---good and bad . Theres aways a headache  running a club .I have found its just alot easier  filling up  a club with some non residents  . They only  come  3 or 4 times a year , pay way in advance, hunt and didnt give me grief  over a footprint that  Bigfoot left in the the road . I know several members  on this board  who are club presidents . My hat goes off to you for you are un noticed / under paid / or not at all compensated  for your time and effort . When clubs have to have new members /high turn over or whatever . Its up to whoever is on the lease  -to drive hrs and God only knows how many miles@2.00  a gallon --give up their weekends from FAMILY TIME --Just so he can go meet  some folks  who he doesnt even know -- Club Presidents  deserve some respect  IMO   SHORT STOP


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## GWH (Jul 22, 2005)

*leases*

I forgot about the guy with the latest camo, calls, gun, scope, 4 wheeler, truck, stand, boots, etc.  who was a little short of money because the baby needed milk.  Thanks Dixie!

I have a couple of guys that have put me off for over two months now. Tonight at midnight is the deadline.

Steve


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## duke13 (Jul 22, 2005)

I ran a club for a few years in Monroe Co. years ago. NEVER, NEVER, NEVER.........AGAIN!!!!!!  

All the problems mentioned and then some. Confrontations with members who joined the club knowing the QDM rules but wanted to kill little bucks anyway. 
"So what are ya gonna do if I do kill that little 4 pt. I been seeing?"  

"What do you mean if a new member pays before me he gets my spot and I'm out?"   

In my perfect world....presidents would get in the club for free.  

All you club presidents.......Thanks for what you do!!


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## Model70 (Jul 22, 2005)

*From the DMX Dictator*

I'm not the pres of my club,  I'm the Dictator,  You see a pres is elected. Well, in the USA anyway..

I have run a club for 15 years....  

You left out the best one,   Where your friend  and co-worker,  doesnot mark the swamp bottom as his,  comes back 30 days later ,  sees another members flag hanging ,, and then wants me to tell the guy who followed the rules , that it is really my friends spot, "he just forgot to mark it".

I told my "friend" that would not be right and he should find another spot, and i would help him scout if he wanted me to.   It turned into a screaming match,  my final words to my "friend" were  SHUT UP or you 're out.....

Ain't it great.... Here is few more...

How about  " I need a level spot for my camper"

Can you run another power outlet over here ???

I'm sorry you cut the power trench for my father in laws Winnebago,  but he decided not to join...

Are you going to put some gravel in these muddy places in camp ???

Can you help me plant MY foodplot  ??

Since you are going to Coopers anyway,  can you pick up my seed for me ????

I haven't seen a deer all year !!!!!

Why are the dues the same but we lost 400 acres ????

Do you have an EXTRA key to the gate ????


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## dixie (Jul 22, 2005)

Been there too Model70, about your camp ground, try this line, it works well, -----well its like this, I run a hunting club, not a KOA, find a place and make   do the best you can with it.


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## SADDADDY (Jul 23, 2005)

*Whew I been in alot of clubs like that*

can't please everyone it seems, somebody always has something to complain about  

I been Running my club for 5 years now and never had not one problem   well the only problem I have is not being able to get up there more often  

I do have a great group of guys, we keep it simple, no major rules except follow Ga regs and have a good time  

we just like to hunt, and it seems everyone gets along alot better with out 20,000 club rules and regs, I been in to many clubs with to many rules, all I ask from my guys is to bring family/kids, no drinking during the day and have a good time in the woods, and any member or guest can shoot any deer if they choose as long it falls with in the Ga. regs  

just Have fun and hunt just like it was when I was a kid growing up hunting with my daddy


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## GWH (Jul 23, 2005)

*lease*

Yep,
We try to keep it simple too.  Just a few guidelines most of which repeat timber co. and state rules. And most of all good common sense!  Lack of it will get you Hwy. 27, North or South.


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## Jkidd (Jul 23, 2005)

I wish we could get our rules back down to just follow the state regs but every year someone does something stupid and we have to add one saying not to do it cause it wasn't in the rules... 

Jason


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## wca123@alltel.net (Jul 23, 2005)

SADDADDY,

You got it. A friend of mine and I found our lease (5 years ago also), decided how things were going to work and started to show the property. Set it up on the KISS principle.

Rule # 1 - Don't **** anybody off. Treat fellow hunters the way you would like to be treated and all will be fine.

Rule # 2 - You can drink OR hunt, but NOT BOTH.

Rule # 3 - We hunt by Georgia Game rules, and tell everyone that the warden has a key to our place and does come by on his schedule. If he catches you doing something stupid, then YOU have a problem.

Rule # 4 - We are a family club, spouses and children (still in school) are included in membership fee.

Rule # 5 - We believe that if you pay to hunt our 840 acres, you should be able to hunt the entire 840 acres. We have in place a system that permits that to happen.

Rule # 6 - Guests are allowed. Limits are set on guests, and daily guest and trophy fees are charged.

Not everyone fits in. The first year I had one guy that didn't like the hunt the whole property idea. He said that we should get everyone together, discuss the situation and vote on it. I told him, 
"This is not a democracy, and I am not asking for your opinion. I am simply telling you how it works." Had another that did not like the Family Rule. He said that some guy with 2 kids might come in and that family would get to hunt three spots while my complainer could hunt only one. I asked my complainer, "If the guy with 2 kids doesn't get to bring his kids, HOW MANY SPOTS CAN YOU HUNT ????". We suggested to both of these that maybe they should hunt somewhere else.

The most important thing is "Never violate Rule # 1."

Seems to work for us.


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## andymclendon (Jul 24, 2005)

*my club*

I got one for you.My dues are may 1.I have member that payd 3 weeks early.Thats go,it get bad and I dont think I would tell any one this.This member called me and said his wife found his receipt and he wonted his money back,six weeks later.Now can some one beat that.Now that is a bunch of BULL,And the check is in the mail,all the time,I have had all I wont and that happens ever year.So I know how every on feels.Hope every one has a safe year and good hunting.........


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## Muygrande (Jul 24, 2005)

It comes from all angles through the year!!!! I leave  the Car Dealership to get away from the **** and complaining and had to put up wit it at the lease. The last year before we had landowner issues, we dismissed the member title, hunters were paying for trespass fees and hunting rights as guests not members! 
The number one gripe I had was myself, my best friend and Thunder  could go hunt and pass up deer after deer cause we did the right things and hunted, while we had MORONS complaining that they hadn't seen a deer and "where are all the deer at???" Or the idiot everyone has seen that knows his numbers been pulled and he's all but out of the place killing every thing he see's on a QDM property!! I spent so much time trying to watch him while he was there I couldn't even enjoy myself!!!  

I found out how to fix it all though guy's!! Lease something just for your family or clsest of friends! I just grabbed 1900 acres in Louisianna for this year and am not going to take NAN NOTHER QUARTER   from someone thinking they need to just climb a tree and wait for the next 160 class deer to come out or he wants his mooney back. I shoulda just changed my property name from Muy Grande to "Easy Antler Ranch"!!!


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