I would like to guage interest in starting a new club in greene county. would like to find 12 other like minded hunters to take part. Here is what I would prefer. 8 point or better for adults,(come to an agreement on kids), No does killed on 75% of greenfields, summer & winter plantings. try to stay around 1 member to 90 or 100 acres.Dues around $1500.00. Absolutely no drugs or alcohol allowed. So far have not found anything with clubhouse.If interested please p.m. me

Whats wrong with drinking in your own camper

Good luck on finding 1500 acres in Greene County.

I have the land found just need some interested people. May would consider someone looking for turkey only rights. Not sure about turkey population yet though

pm sent

What part of Greene County you talking about?

Union

Does it have a camp on it?

No but we can probably come up with something close by.

I would be interested as long as we made the rules kid friendly. I don't drink or do crack. I have a 13year old son. I think the kids should get 1 buck of choice then have some guide lines in place.

I need everyone that is seriously interested to please pm me name and phone number if you have not already.I hope I will have alot more particulars monday and will be calling everyone as soon as I know more.

Rules will be kid friendly. Fields where kids can kill first deer of choice then will work them up gradually is my thoughts. Got to keep our kids interested. I think some fields in center of property need to stay 8 point or better no matter who is hunting it.

whats the particulars ....i might would be interested

If you did not here from me by phone or pm yesterday and you are interested please let me know. I had looked over a few messages.SO far here is what some of the rules will be. 1200 acres 13 members. $1500 may have to add $50. That will include lease and plantings. The majority of fields will be 8 point or better with no does shot on them. The remaining fields will be for does and kids to get a buck of choice for first buck.this years membership will start feb 1st or when you pay and will run thru may 1st 2013. Will be looking at land later this week and if everything I have been told is true this will be a go. Absolutely no drugs or alcohol

Good luck critters! As a past president and member of hunting clubs, may I offer some suggestions to both president and members:

Establish a clear, WRITTEN (verbal is NOT good enough) set of rules and basically, a Mission Statement of what you want in a club.

Disclosure is everything! If ole Uncle Joe is allowed to hunt the property without a membership, it needs to be disclosed before money changes hands.

As the president, you agree to enforce the "written" rules.

As a member, you agree to abide by the rules AND you expect the president to enforce the rules. Also, as a member, do NOT complain about a rule mid-season!!! You read the rules before you paid your money... express your thoughts after the season, maybe at a club meeting.

When money changes hands, rules should NOT be changed.

Decide specific guests rules and clearly explain them in the rules and for goodness sakes, enforce the guests rules... and as the president, abide by them yourself!

If a turkey membership is going to be sold in February of 2013, as the president, you need to let that be known BEFORE money changes hands!!! I bought a membership one time for mainly the turkey hunting (and I don't do that much) b/c there were no turkey hunters in the club and dang if the president didn't go and sell turkey memberships the next spring. Shame on him for doing so and shame on me for not getting it in writing that he would not do that!

Back to guests.... clearly detail who is allowed to hunt. Can the spouse and or children of the paying member come and hunt w/o the paying member present at the property?

Decide NOW how many members you're going to have. Do NOT say 10 now and increase that number after money changes hands!

Clearly state the buck harvest rules... again, in writing. Each paying member should be allowed X number of bucks within the guidelines and guests kills comes out of the membership's allowable bucks. If a mistake is made, clearly state the consequences if you have any. It doesn't mean that you give 20 slashes to a member who kills an illegal club rules buck.

If a member shows up with a guest during a non-guest hunting period, shame on the member and as the president, you must NOT allow that guest to hunt.

ALL members' names and contact info should be typed-up and given out to every member.

An open book policy with $dues always helps and keep a detailed log of receipts and money spent.

There are certain "ethics" rules that if broken, a member should be thrown out of the club. I.E. Sneaking a buck out of the property.

One bad apple, if allowed, can spoil it for everyone! Don't let that happen!!!

If a conflict arises, be man enough to discuss it individually in a professional manner. Don't let things build up in frustration!

The property is open for ALL paying members and no member is allowed to "homestead" a piece of property!! As a member, you can't get mad if someone hunts where you're hunting.

As the president, more than any member, you have to abide by the rules and you're not allowed special privileges.

Many members don't want a lot of rules and that's fine if you have two or three like-minded members but if you have over ten, you'd better have a clear set of rules... mainly as it pertains to guests and who will be allowed to hunt!!

Good gracious, I could write a book!!!

Oh, one more... it's a pet peeve rule I hate... Here's the rule: "Each buck killed must be bigger than the prior buck." Come on!!! Does this mean that on opening day, if a member kills a 150" buck, he can't kill a 140" buck the next day?

I think the rule about larger buck comes when a guy shoots a pretty good eight and then shoots a small six the next week - it happens in my deer club regularly despite people claiming they are really trying to kill older, mature deer. I think you can avoid this issue by specifying how many deer one can kill on a membership. IMO, two does/two bucks per membership is very realistic and fair. If a member needs more meat than that, he/she should be able to convince another member to use one of his/her allotted does. In clubs I've been in, we have more problems about what people will agree to harvest and the specific rules regarding guests and members (who's allowed to hunt and how many times).

I would also encourage you to think about memberships from a pressure standpoint. All memberships, IMO, should exert the same hunting pressure (or potential pressure). When members regularly bring a child and two spots are utilized, that's effectively double the pressure than a guy who hunts alone. One way to make a level playing field is to have a "single membership" and a "family membership." Certainly, those of us with immediate family members that hunt need a discount to some degree. However, IMO, it's not fair to charge a single hunter the same price as a "family hunter" when one exerts double the pressure on your hunting land. JMO... take it for what it's worth.

Oh... make sure deer hunters don't make the rules about the turkey hunting... especially how the land is divided up and signed in/out.

Thanks for the great info. That will help greatly when putting rules together which I hope to do quickly

Here are some rules I would like for us to have to give everyone an idea.
1.13 members dues $1550.00 covers lease & green fields

2. No does killed on specific green fields, all interior & a few around perimeter.

3. Bucks will be 3 1/2 year old or older. Kids can take first buck of choice on fields specified for that purpose.

4. No guest first week of gun season, nor the month of January. Guest fess will be $50.00. A member can bring a guest 3 times per year. not 3 times per guest but have a guest a total of 3 times.

5. Rules will be reviewed first saturday of february every year & will not be changed after the first member pays dues.

6. fines will be imposed for breaking any state rules or club rules by the following. 1st offense: $100.00, 2nd offense $250.00, 3rd offense expulsion from club with no refund

7. Anyone caught putting another in danger, sneaking out a deer, or under the influence of alcohol or drugs will be dismissed from club permanantly with no refund.

These are just some basic things & will be discussed more soon. Just wanted to give those who have asked some general idea.

Critters, being president of a hunting club is the most thankless job anyone can have. You would think that grown men could always do the right thing but you'll be surprised at the challenges you'll have!!! Looks like you're doing the right thing. Make sure to be as specific as possible with rules.

Are you sure you know what you're getting yourself into?!?!? Past and present hunting club presidents know exactly what I'm talking about here!!! I'm sure you know!

Here would be a small percentage of suggestions and I certainly don't want to get into your business so know that I'm just offering my help.

People don't like a lot of rules but when you get more than 2-4 hunters together, something will happen and members will get mad about it and as president, you'll have to address it. I believe in addressing it before it happens. Rules are written for that ONE member. That one member that pushes the envelope and upsets all the other members!!!

Ok, some things to consider:

* One thing... don't box yourself into a corner with #7 as there are more violations than you listed that would justify expulsion from the club. You may want to say this: A member may be expelled from the club for any number of ethics, game, safety or club violations without a refund.

* I suppose the guest fee is $50 "per day" and a member is going to ask you this: "My friend Billy is going to hunt just an hour tomorrow morning and go home, so does he still have to pay $50? Your answer will of course be, Yes. Then your member may ask this question: Well, can Billy go with me and just sit in the woods while I hunt? He won't have a gun." Be prepared to address this issue.

* Signing out to hunt. How soon can members sign-out to hunt? The night before? The morning of the hunt? In what order?

* How about guests and signing-out to hunt? I personally believe that hunting clubs should be for the "Paying Member" and not necessarily guests. So, do guests get to sign-out before a member does? If members get first choice of stands/areas before guests, when will guests be allowed to sign-out to hunt? I'd address this issue.

I personally believe that guest should wait until all paying members have signed-out before they are allowed to pick a hunting area or field. You'll also need to set a cut-off time. I.E. Guests may sign-out "after" (pick your time) 5 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.

* If you have a camphouse, you're going to have to address some rules about it. I.E. Leaving dirty dishes in the sink or not taking out the trash; muddy boots; leaving the place a wreck! If you're responsibly for taking out trash, I would include this rule: NO liquids are allowed in the trash!! If you have ever taken the trash off from your hunting club and it leaks of stale beer or spoiled milk, you'll know why this rule should be in place!!!

* This always happens too.... a member or a guest will ride past another member or guest at 4:30 p.m. (prime hunting time) coming back to the camp b/c he/she has killed a deer or needs to leave camp early. It goes without saying that this is not fair to the hunting member whose deer scatter when that vehicle or 4-wheeler comes by! Without a doubt, LOL, this will happen sooner or later. Obviously, you cannot block off the main road but you may want to consider no traffic times on certain roads. I have had hunters/guests/member's kids ride past my shooting house on a 4-wheeler 30 mins before dark. You can imagine my frustration! You'd think they'd know better and they're all very sorry for it but come on!!! This is bad for the one member who hunts one weekend out of the year and this happens to him!!

* How many bucks/does is each paying member allowed? Are the bucks/does "transferable" from one member to another? Bob/guests have killed three bucks so far and his friend Joe, who is a paying member is going to transfer one of his allowable bucks to Bob so Bob and his guests can continue to hunt. Is this allowed? It'll happen!

* Stands/shooting houses... A member will erect a shooting house/stand on the ONLY sensible spot or pine tree available overlooking a cutover and say: "That's my shooting hse/stand and no one can hunt it!!!" You better address it!

* Members may want to go out "looking and riding around" to see deer at night. Some members won't care if other members do this... some members will get pissed!

* Safety issue here. All dads are not as safety-minded as you are when it comes to kids. If you have a camphouse, you might want to consider making it a rule that all guns, when brought into the camphouse should have actions open. I always get worried when I see a kid swinging a gun around and leaning it up against a smooth surface and if the gun is indeed unloaded!

* If your buck harvest rule is 3.5 yr old bucks and older, you'll have a member that will kill a buck and not want to bring it by for any member to see. This will be an issue as the buck may be a 2.5 yr old pencil-racked 12" spread buck.

* Address a paying member's immediate family now. Are spouses and children considered guests? In most clubs, spouses and children (there should be an age limit on children) are not considered "guests". HOWEVER, you should address this: A member may have twin sons who are 17 yrs old, two brothers 15 and 13 and a hunting wife and they hunt every weekend... all of them! I know about two situations like this and it caused major problems/division with other members.

I suggest that you come up with a maximum number of hunters a paying member can have hunting at one time. There are dads out there with lots of children (even under 18) and a wife that may all want to hunt at the same time and in different locations on the property!!! Better address it now.

* Also, may the spouse and/or children of a paying member hunt without the paying member being there?

*Have a sentence at the end of your rules that binds the member to abide by the rules and leaves no doubt that he/she may be expelled from the club w/o a refund.

I.E. I, __________________ (print name) understands these rules and agree to abide by these rules and fully understand that if I violate any ethics, safety, game or club rules, I am subject to expulsion from XYZ Hunting Club without a refund.

_______________________________ Date __-__-____ Get them to sign it and date it and you keep one copy at home and one at the camphouse.

* Keep a copy of the rules at the camphouse or sign-out board.

If you have ten members, all ten may be wonderful members however, often times, it is always "one" member that makes your life miserable dealing with him! That one member that violates every non-written rule out there which makes you have to have everything written down. He'll violate that "unwritten" rule and claim he's done nothing wrong b/c there's not a written rule about it in the club rules!! Oh boy the pain in the ass that one member causes!!!

I'm sure I'll be faulted for being so specific and detailed but I bet there are some Aldeer members on here that have been president of a hunting club and have had to deal with issues at a hunting club!!!!

I'm kinda chuckling as I know the extreme commitment you're taking and all the issues that may come up!!!

Sorry for the long post but I type fast and there are so many things to consider. It takes a lot of time and money to set up a foundation to a hunting club.

Great luck with it!!!

Really good thoughts BT... couple of things we do at our club that corresponds to some of your comments. Each member can only hunt "one gun" each morning/afternoon. If I take my son one afternoon, he hunts with me and we only take one gun and utilize one hunting area. That helps the pressure problem.

Regarding sign-in and roads, we don't allow anyone to sign in until 4:30. If you have a camp where people stay overnight, you'll always put a disadvantage in front of a guy who has to drive in each time he hunts. Was in a club one time where a majority stayed in a camper on the club and they would pin out before they went to bed at night... even though they were not supposed to do so. A fair idea would have been to set it at 4:45 or 5:00. After first light, no hunter can go past any other hunter on the way to a stand... and it applies at 2:30 in the afternoon as well. If you go to a stand further along in front of others, you're expected to stay until at least 10:30 AM or till dark before coming out.

Also, I'd suggest this in regards to enforcing rules. Create yourself a board who creates/modifies/enforces the rules. If you simply do it yourself, you'll leave yourself open to a lot of criticism that could be avoided... and you'll share the burden of responsibility of "being the bad guy" with a few other people. In that scenario, if you happened to be in an accident and couldn't effectively serve as President one year, your role would be able to be easily covered. Good luck with everything... Greene County is terrific.