Fines for missing club work days

We are kicking around the idea of incentivizing participation in club work days. You miss, you pay. Can anyone share any lessons learned from implementing a program like this? How was it structured?

We had a required 3 work days in the Summer. But certain ones of us did way more than that.

It was $100 per work day not completed. Guys who could afford it just scratched a check before bow season. I never liked letting someone just pay their way out of helping out.

Take 5 days of hunting off their season per missed work day starting from the end of the season.

We pay for missed work days only if the day is not made up between the oil rigs and other jobs that require swing shifts it's tough to get all the members there on any give Saturday.

Ten percent of your people do ninety percent of your work. The rest will suck up to the prez and not have to do anything. I saw a bunch of that in a club I was in. Be in the click with Ole Slick and not hit a lick.

$100 bucks for each missed weekend, that must be paid before start of hunting season. I would save $50 bucks each weekend by not making the work days, but I don't mind the work....

Gotta make the fine more than the gas+food+drink to come down for the weekend, otherwise the sorry ones will just stay home and save money. Maybe make a fine plus a loss of hunting time if they don't complete their assigned work task.

I like this.

Yep, exactly. Glad now I'm able to lease my own property.

One hundred a day won't touch the expenses I have when I go up for a work day. Hit them for $250 or so a day and they can show up and trim limbs and other stuff.

1. 2 scheduled work days per year

2. You can do a work day prior to scheduled date, but cannot make it up after scheduled date.

3. Fine is $100 for each work day missed to be within 30 days or you don't hunt until it is paid.

4. Try to pair work days with members skills. If member has no skills, he can trim and clear roads.

Charge enough in the membership fee to hire someone out to do all the labor. I would think that most people join clubs to hunt and have a good time. Not to work. 100 bucks for a missed day is fair I suppose and then it really depends on what your membership fee is.

Ive always been the guy who was in the 10 percent who does 90 percent of the work. My dad and I probably triple the work effort of any other member. That was until this year.

I have a ton going on this year, Fiancé finishing school, new house coming up and also dealing with a swing shift job. I'm hoping I can get my work days in, but I am unsure how it will work out. So... I really see the other side fir the first time

I'd have to take annual leave to do work days. Aint Happnin.

Not in a club, but my penalty for skipping a work day is that nothing gets done. Which is no good

I would charge up front in the membership dues what I believe it would cost to hire the work out then reimburse to those who come to work.

I yearn for the days you didn't have to beg for help!!!

Dues of $1300.00 paid up front, then a refund given when 3 8hr work days completed. Max credit of $300.00. So work days completed dues for the your total dues are $1000.00.

I would make to where if you missed a day it would take off a week in the rut. Some people have money and will pay whatever it is so that's my thoughts you take away there best time of the ye to hunt then maybe they will show

Same here. If it was $100 penalty and the work got done, I'd sign up for one of those a month a gladly pay. My free time is worth more than $10/hr

Pretty sure that would just cause issues in filling membership. Most clubs have a hard enough time keeping a full membership as it is.

This is what we do. People will pay attention when you tell them they can't hunt opening day of any season or the rut. We no longer have problems. If they have a conflict, we have a list of things to do that the member must sign off on with secondary dates.

So for all you who charge a fine for missing a work day; what do you do about the ones who show up and do nothing but stand around, drink beer, and watch everybody else work?

Stop It! Just stop it now!


Every job needs a supervisor..

Assign them a particular task to do so it cant be skipped and not noticed. Ask them in front of the other members why they didnt complete it when everyone else did their part.



$100 for each day missed. No hunt until paid. If too many just pay the fine and expect the others to do it all go up on dues to cover it and give the ones who work a break on them.

I joined late last year, so I had already missed them. I paid an extra 50 bucks which wasn't bad.

I'm in the crowd that makes work days
There's always some that's gonna miss
And stroke a check and we give that money
To the guys who bring tractors for there fuel
And maintenance.

This is the best idea I have heard in a while.

Jaredhunts, so you're for hiring the needed work done? But have you thought that SOMEONE from the hunting club has to be there with the hired workers to show them what needs to be done and where as no one knows the club food plots, stand locations, etc... better than the club members!!

But hey, as long as it's not you Jarendhunts that HAS to be there, huh? Let someone else do it!!

Jaredhunts, you ARE A CONSUMER!! You profit off the backs of others. Let the other guys do the work and put up the shooting houses. Let the other members trim shooting lanes!

Ol' Jared will be there every weekend of deer season and certainly won't miss the rut, will ya?

I'm that 10% that works his ass off and the the other 90% of members benefit off my and some other members' labor and it's guys like you I would not have in my hunting club.

Sorry, this is a hot button for me.

There are some tractor guys in my last year's club and we did a ton of work. Way too many tractor hours put in and labor on top of that!!! We had to beg the other members to come and they couldn't as they go to the bch every weekend.

Why do the tractor guys have the responsibility of planting food plots on their shoulders? What?!?!? Just because we own a tractor, it should be our responsibility to do most all the work?!?!? The planting?

You guys without tractors have no clue how expensive it is to own a tractor. Just because a member owns a tractor doesn't mean additional responsibilities should be placed on him.

Hire the planting done and make every member pay equally for the planting. That's my opinion.

Im pretty sure he wasn't saying he would prefer to hire the help done. I think he was saying to charge enough to cover the cost of hired help if the member was unable to show up for a workday. As far as someone having to be there to show the "Help" around, there are going to be members that do make the work day...

And another reason to get permission from private land owners instead of joining a club.

Gotta make the fines on par with the dues.

I was in a club and our dues were $600. You had to make 3/5 work days. Each one you missed was $100. We had almost no missed days.

Club I'm in now the dues are like 1800. You have to make 3 of the workdays (out of the 4 or 5 schedule). Each one missed is (was) $50. Lots of people missed, including myself. My gas up there and back was $30. We've now bumped it up to $100, but honestly it should probably be $200 to really get everyone's attention.

So you jump all over Jared, then suggest the same thing he did.....

Exact reason I'm not in a club. If I can't pull my own weight I don't want to depend on others. And if they can't, I'm dang sure not letting them benefit from my work.

I know right and he accused of him of not doing any work and I'm pretty sure Jared plants food plots for hunting clubs.

Instead of work days I think it's a better idea to assign specific assignments for each member. Obviously the guys with tractors would be in charge of food plots and bush hogging, Tractor work does cost money and the cost of fuel and seed should be covered in the membership of the other members.

Then after that assign different task to different people.

Have one or 2 people (maybe more depending on size of land) Incharge of clearing roads.

Have another person Incharge of checking shooting houses for damage, waste nest, etc.

Have another member Incharge of cleaning up around camp area and camp house.

Another 2 people or more could be Incharge of clearing shooting lanes

Have a deadline ( October 1st) for everyone to get there task done and if someone doesn't complete there assigned job charge a hefty fine I think this eliminates the the excuse of work days being scheduled at a bad time because people can go up there whenever it's convenient for them

This, definitely. The f'king drama and bullchit isn't worth it.

The last club I was in had good people and i enjoyed it. Our kids were little then and involved in things on the weekends, which precluded me from attending our camp work weekends. I would have enjoyed going to work but was not going to miss our kids' events. The kids were and still are more important.

So I wrote a check, gladly, and apologized for not making it to all of them. I did make it to a couple when there were no conflicts.


As for hiring the labor, that wouldn't bother me. What would bother me would be the one or two "He ain't doing it right!" jackwagons who would BITCH INCESSANTLY all year about the road not being done right, the plot not being turned-planted-packed right and didn't grow well -- even if there was a drought or flood or chitty soils -- and they'd never STFU about it because the guy didn't do it like they would have done.

These would be the same people who bitch about everything anyway, though, so that would only be yet another thing for them to be pissy about.

We require 3 work days at our club and fine $100/day for each day missed. I know I had to pay one day fine a couple of years ago when I just couldn't make all three days.

Dr. B

We've started to look at this option. I like it.

Dr. B

This works for me because there is always someone who always has something to do on scheduled work days, but they can dang sure make almost every full weekend during hunting season no problem.
If you assign them a particular task to do in June and come opening morning they are there ready to hunt, but it hasnt been done in 4 months time there is no excuse for it and they are solely to blame.
Post the assignments on a board @ club for everyone to see who was assigned what task.

Fines should match the dues. a $50 missed day fine to someone in a $500 club may be a lot. $50 a day to someone in a $2000 club probably wont mean much and they will just stroke a check. 20% of dues cost per day missed would probably get everyones attention.

So then what? Y'all going to force them off the property? Beat 'em up? Follow them to the stand if they go and harass them? What's the course of action for the "consumer" who didn't get it done.

I like the idea you've posed of presenting tasks and a given time. Everyone may know about stuff that needs to be done from the previous season: rickety old stand, a tree or limbs hanging over a road, a fence that's down, whatever. So between the end of deer season and Oct. 15 it shouldn't be difficult to get things done (that don't involve planting kill plots) in six months.

Assign task and let the member do their assignment at their leisure. If not done then no hunting until done. A lot of guys had rather pay the fine than do the work. Then the work doesn't get done. The fine is usually cheaper than the expenses associated with the work day.

OR.. Group the things needing done and take a volunteer or assign a committee head for the area. Then put members in the committees. If the work is not completed the whole committee will not be allowed to hunt until done.

Whatever was in that particular clubs rules and was agreed upon when they got in is what should be done.

IMO the set fine should be paid or they dont hunt until it is.
It also should reflect on their membership for the next year.
All of which should be covered when someone joins a club and it should be in writing and signed by the member to show he agrees to it.



The first "real" hunting club I was around and guest hunted at many years ago was run by some stern older club founders. At their place you were a probationary member the first 2 years and could lose membership for just about any reason they deemed deserving.
Their member agreement you signed stated that, and also stated that until all fines were paid your membership was suspended.
It also stated that after the probationary time membership was not guaranteed for the following year.
If any problems had arose at the end of season the members would vote and the 3 founding members , the pres, vp and treasurer who were the originals on the lease and partial club property owner had the final say and you would be voted out for membership for the next year.
That club was run very tight and fairly. It had almost no turnover and those who didnt pull their weight the first yr didnt make it to the 2nd probationary yr.

Wish I still had a copy of their agreement to share. It was well written and covered all the bases.

I GOT IT! for each club day missed, that's a buck taken off their allotted amount.

That would get their attention

I think this would be a must for any new and/or potential member, fully explaining the club's work days -- what is involved, and not just showing up with loppers to clip a limb or two before drinking all afternoon -- along with what the club's penalties would be and how they are enforced.

Knowing that going in should-would be important for the club and new member. That way everyone's on the same page. Specifics and details are important, just like they would be for the guest policy or how stands and areas are hunted or anything else.

Communication's important.

I'll be more lenient to the guy that only hunts 3 times a season. He can stroke the $100 check for missing the work day. I don't get feeling hurt about that but we've had that conversation up front. He pays full price. He knows he's only going to hunt a couple times a season. I like that guy. All the other members agree and like that guy. Or he isn't a member. The situation is clear across the board.

However... You don't hunt with me if you can't participate in the work but have plenty of time to hunt. You're over there camped out on a green field soon as deer season rolls around. I've got no tolerance for that.

Everyone has a sob story about why they can't do the work, kids, vacation, etc. You got no excuse in my opinion. If the over used kids activities is your main excuse.... well you need to get your little snot nose kid out there and on the end of a pair of pruners if that's what it takes. Can't play ball every weekend. Likely do them some good from my perspective if their daddy is work adverse.

Won't be hunting with me otherwise.

I got it: the fine for missing club days is drinking one bottle of the colonoscopy prep juice for every day you miss.

We have had issues in the past with participation. This year I changed things up. We will have 2-3 major work days that I anticipate 50% of our members to participate in. This is where we will plant, set shooting houses, cut shooting lanes, etc. I kept a running to do list this year and asked that everyone who goes to the camp on any given weekend to knock at least one thing off the list. It has worked great so far. We have someone up there every 2-3 weeks throughout the offseason. Most of the smaller things like shooting house repair, spraying for wasps, bracing stands, spraying fields, etc, have already been wiped off our list. When the time comes for the major work days we should be able to put most of our effort towards our major goals & knock it out quicker than normal.

We used to have a problem with people missing work days, but somehow those type people are no longer in our club There was a $200 fine if you didn't make at least 2 work days, and we had several scattered throughout the year. Now, it is not a problem and there are no fines.

Everyone makes the work days for the most part. If someone misses one every now and then, it is no big deal. Everything gets done. When we plant, usually EVERYONE shows up. We increased our dues and decreased our membership. It's a fairly unique club and NO, we are not accepting new members.

I personally enjoy the work days and look forward to them. I think the other members feel the same way.

In our club we don't have fines or very many rules, you're expected to do what's right or you wont be around long. There is roughly 235 days from the end of season until the start of season
if you can't find a day or two to work I don't expect you to find many days to hunt. We never have a problem, though.

Thanks for all the feedback. After absorbing all this information, I'm leaning towards assigning tasks based on ability and give members the option to do the work or pay someone to do it. If all doesn't go well we can tighten the rules going forward.

Now, I've got to start making the list so we can get started.

Goatkiller, you're right. You've been there, I can tell.

I just seems like certain members cannot be at the club one weekend in September and October BUT THEY CAN CERTAINLY MAKE EVERY WEEKEND DURING THE SEASON AND NOT MISS ANY DAYS IN JAN FOR THE RUT!!!

They don't do anything really to help the hunting club. They certainly don't produce any labor for anything! They are consumers and just consumers and they benefit off the backs of other members.

It just gets old as it puts more work on the members that DO show up for work days.

We have 9 scheduled work days of which you must work 5 of them. The fine for missing any of your 5 days is 150 per day. We have team captains and teams that do various tasks, ( tree stands, road clearing, tractor team, camp team ) and rotate the members each year to different teams, so that everyone gets to see what it takes to get the job done. If a member strokes the check every year for not working, then we start taking days from hunting away. Works most of the time.

I got so sick and tired of dealing with this very issue of me doing 90% of the work, i just spend more to lease it. My son and a friend are the only other ones in the club.

This thread makes me love public land that much more

Just a bigole can of worms.

We used to do it but finnally decided it was a waste of time. Some do stuff others don't do anything and some just bitch............

I think CT got it. It wouldn't matter how many people showed up someone would bitch.

We have good work days.

My favorite way is assigning areas to maintain.

Pay a fine in advance if you have no intention of working.
It doesn't bother me to do it for the older gentlemen who can't do that kind of labor.

I have seen a bunch of answers but the one that sticks out to me is reducing buck harvest for missed work days (... and add late lease payments to that too!) would seem to be a real attention getter.