Do you feel hunting clubs are the best way to hunt or is private/state land more better?What are the going rates for a membership in your state?Most clubs around my area cost from 500.00-1000.00 a membership.Anyone ever go in with several partners/hunters and just buy a track of land?I had a friend whos father did that and the cost of the lifetime membership/ownership was 5000.00per member,that was 30yrs.ago.I thought that was pretty cool....They took care of there land also,i got to vist one time,they had it going on!Dont you know that land value has gone up.Smart guys! Its hard to get in some big nice clubs,only way is to get on a list and wait for someone to quit which never happens...

Damn! when the game gets shot up in my neck of the woods I will relocate before I would
pay for a place to hunt unless it was a guided hunt.
Its a shame things get so over populated
that it comes to that.

I am fortunate to live in aplace that I can hunt starting from my front door. Fingers crossed!

I've been a member of hunting clubs, partner leases, etc.

Ultimately a hunting club is nothing more than glorified public hunting in most cases. You can still be on your best stand an hour before sun up, and 45 minutes into daylight, here something walking your way, you look over your shoulder and HELLO, here come a couple of fellow members doing their pre rut scouting..."oh crap, sorry dude, we'll be outa here in a minute or so"

And of course they continue on instead of going back the way they came.

Some clubs have maps with grids and only you are allowed in your area that day. There will always be a rule someone doesn't like. You may have a fine for shooting a buck that doesn't meet managment standards for your club but the rich guy just keeps killing whatever and pays the fine. Rather pointless if you ask me.

I like a club better than public land depending on the state, but I will personally never join another. Too frustrating, and it all boils down to the same thing...they paid their membership fee just like you, so if they want to scout at peak hunting time during the early season, they can if they want. Then if you happen upon them while they're hunting, all of a sudden, you're an a$$hole, regardless if they did it to you.

Good luck. If you go the club route, make sure it has iron clad rules and the other members aren't jerks just because they've been there for 10 years.

I finally talked my brother OUT of joining yet another club in SC because for the same money, he can hunt here in OHIO AND go to 2 trips out west or to Canada. And his chances at a bigger deer are much greater here than down there.

If I'm going to pay more than $500 for a club, it better be HUGE and have very few members per acre. I'd pay more for fewer hunters than look for a better deal with a lot of members.

I can think of about a half dozen hunts in a club I've done in 17 years where SOMEONE didn't walk up on me. Who knows how many walked by that I didn't see.

Hunting Clubs, Owning your own land, or Leasing your own land are the only way to go around here. The Public lands get hit hard by 1000s of people, many of which are very dangerous and unethical w/ firearms in their hands. We often have people get into fights and people who get accidentally shot on our Public lands every year.

Most of our hunting clubs have pretty good rules and the folks around here stand hunt, they don't do much walking around like Doc mentioned especially when season is in. Most of our leases have rules to where each hunter is allowed so many areas to hunt and other hunters can't come w/in so many yards of the other hunters areas.

The Hunting Club I'm in consist of 8,500 acres and has =/- 75 members at a cost of $485 each (Goes up about 25 bucks a year because of the Timber companies rising lease fees ). When you are talking wooded hills and pine thickets, 8500 acres is more than enough for 75 hunters. Each Member is allowed three stands, two of which have to be fixed stands (Loc-ons, Ladder stands, Box Blinds, etc.) and one can be a movable (climber or ground blind, etc.). Each stand must be 300 yards away from another Members stand while in thick brushy or wooded areas and 500 yards apart while in open cut-overs or right-of-ways (Pipe lines, Power lines, etc). You can hunt any place w/ your movable as long as you are not w/in 300 or 500 yards of another members stand. Each stand has to be marked w/ a given tag and unmarked stands are confiscated by club officials. Often disputes arrise about stand locations but, they are usually easily settled by club officials (The first man w/ a stand marker in an area wins). We have club meetings, club work days, board members and officers, and a Booklet full of rules and regulations. We also have deer and turkey management plans in effect which, turns out to be our largest problem because w/ so much land it is impossible to monitor who kills what even though they are supposed to check in every animal at the main camp house and log all info on size, weight, date killed, hunter's license #, etc., etc. It boils down to an honesty system that many do not follow but, it's very hard to catch anyone not following the rules on Management when State Laws are different (Read more liberal).

The only way clubs are good is if they have good Organization, Good Rules, and Good Enforcement and Penalties for breaking those set rules. W/O those few things, it's totaly useless and you might as well hunt public land.

I currently hunt on 4 places across the North Part of La. One Lease, One Friend's land, and two plots of Family Property. I consider myself pretty lucky to have many places to hunt because, w/ the rising prices of property and the growing amount of liabilities today, it is truely hard to find areas to hunt in most states if you are not rich.

Good Luck!

Reloader

Damn I must say I feel verry fortunate to
have the oppertunities that I have Very fortunate!!