Club President

Anyone ever had a club president make up or change rules to suit his own needs? Anyone ever given a club president the boot?

I think that is what being “president” means right?

Sure that's what got me tossed out of a club, cause ain't kissing nobody's azz or sucking nobody's d$@% to stay in a hunting club (sorry Perch 😆😆😆) Good luck getting the President tossed if he has the leases

If the lease is timber land and the “Club President” is the lease holder; i.e. his name is on the lease and he writes the check to the timber company you can not fire, impeach, or dispose him. If the lease is private land I guess it depends on who owns the land.

As far as making the rules, if the lease is owned by a timber company many of the rules are made by them and are part of the lease. Other rules if needed or wanted have to be made by some one either the club president by himself or maybe a committee if that is how the club is made up. Have been the lease holder (club president) on three different leases that consisted of land own by a timber company and they made many of the rules for the lease, couple other rules I made by myself and some other rules were made after asking and receiving feedback from the members of the club.

But each and every member received a copy of ALL the rules, and signed a copy of the lease before they gave me their check. I paid the same amount of dues and followed the same rules as any other member. If the club president is changing the rules after the members join the club or not following the rules himself I do not believe there is much you can do about it. Doubt you can quit and receive a refund unless the club president agrees and there is time for him to find a replacement. Best option is to try and make the best of the remaining part of the season/lease and look for a new and better run club for next year.

Less about kissing or sucking anything. Staying in a good club is more about following rules and doing unto others as you would want to be treated.

You haven't a clue about the BS that went in in my old club, so save me the lesson on proper club etiquette

Statement was "Staying in a good club." For a bad situation note the last line in my first post; Best option is to try and make the best of the remaining part of the season/lease and look for a new and better run club for next year.

If you can not stay in a bad club cuts your losses and get out. Life is to short to just be miserable some where.

I've only been in one club and the year I got out the "president" ran off with the payment the other guys paid in advance and all the saved money for food plots . Lucky I was already out and he hadn't taken any of my money. All I got out the club was to coyotes and a couple of memorable turkey hunts.

Just the phrase "club President" is nauseating.
NO thanks.

If you can, the ideal club size is "1". The last club I was in was more about drinking than hunting. The club president announced at a board meeting I was not going to be allowed to re-join. (A statement he denied making to me.) A few months later, the club was told if he remained as president, the lease was being pulled. Karma.

Haha don’t even get me started...was in a club that tried to increase the price after the season started with his “possy” and then left that club and at another club where each year the president rotated, the one for that year got on a power trip and ended up enforcing a rule that had never been enforced right before season after money was paid disallowing me to hunt in college under the family membership...we wouldn’t have joined it for the second year if that had been understood..

Had one pres. who was caught spotlighting during the week and another who sold the club tractor and said it was stolen.

IDK... why are so many "club presidents" POS?!?!?!? Don't change rules after money has changed hands. Make rules based on solid QDM principles and not what you heard at the coffee shop! Be realistic and don't think that every 4 yr old Bama buck is going to score 150.

I've seen it all! There are some dumb, ignorant, greedy, unethical, etc... individuals running hunting clubs. Worst I saw were a husband and wife team out of Dallas Co off Hwy 41 above Camden. The Motts? That lady was unbelievable!!!! I was in that club for one year and got the hell out. I hope that couple got their land pulled from them. I hope another female hunter slapped that Mott old lady to the ground! I would have put a fist in her face if she'd been a man.

And there are some good people too... but the aforementioned seems to be too often found!

I guess I’ve been lucky. I’ve been in 2 clubs in about 15 years. Both were good clubs with good presidents. Looking back maybe I was just easy going but I had no complaints out of either one of them.

Kinda like HOA's.

Awww man! Do tell! This sounds like a great story!

Dr. B

spill it

We don't have a club president. We have a benevolent dictator, and that works.Everyone knows the few rules ( more like guidelines), paying your dues means you agree to them. No fines, no penalties. You just don't get asked back.

Here are a few threads you can get some background on The Mott's.


http://www.aldeer.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=890401

http://www.aldeer.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=121896&page=all

Well I happen to be one of those "club presidents" and have been for 7 years. My take is, I don't ever decide anything, we have a club meeting where ALL rules and guidelines are voted on by the membership, and then nobody can complain about said rules etc. I will say this, find yourself some like minded members who all have the club in their best interest, and there is no drama and everything runs smooth.

I'm the president of 2 clubs. I rarely have any turn over on my leases. New members are recruited by other members who share our way of thinking. I'll talk with any new member before I accept a check from them. If I think you'll fit, your in. After that you do something we agreed you wouldn't and your gone. No ifs, buts, I didn't know, no excuses. I don't want drama where I hunt. You bring drama with you, I'll send your ass packing.

This is the formula we have used going back 30 years. Best way I have ever heard it put.... and it works.

I think in many ways this is the best set up. My family has been in charge of a "club" for decades. We purposely don't call it a club because we don't vote on anything. Rules are what they are, take it or leave it. Everyone in the group is considered a guest. But we have very little turnover and almost all new hunters get a year or 2 trial period before the "return membership/guest" is granted.

But I will say, I have been the sole dictator for about 5-6 years now and now I see why my dad didn't like to hunt as much as he got older. Not much difference between grown men and junior high girls. This setup puts a ton of responsibility on the person running the show, so it really takes the fun out of hunting for the leader. We have probably 20 total hunters but really only 10 that are there more than 4-5 do says a year. And it is exhausting.

I sign the lease on the place I hunt (private land) and I guess that makes me the "President". I make the rules for the club. However, I do try and listen to suggestions and ideas from our members and if I feel they will benefit the club then I will implement them from season to season. I will personally show the property to any perspective members who are either already known to me personally or have been referred by one of our members. We have very little turnover in our club, so finding new members is not something I have to do very often. I have a one year probation period for new members. If I don't feel that you fit into our overall concept, then you will not be asked to return. I try to be fair to everyone and I have been known to bend a rule for a member if I feel it is warranted but this does not happen very often. Our rules are written and posted and when you as a member sign the Hold Harmless Agreement, you are acknowledging that you have read and accept the rules. I am past the point in my hunting career where killing a big buck is important to me. I would rather see each of our members take a trophy buck each year and have an opportunity to enjoy the outdoors with their kids. I have passed up so many bucks over the past few years in hopes that one of our members kids or a member himself will get a shot at them.

I was in a club in Bragg before joining this club as a regular member several years ago and we did overthrow the "President" of that club, who also happened to sign the lease but it was not private land, it was paper company land. We discovered that he and a couple of his cronies were baiting deer and we immediately called the game warden and obtained the proof that we needed. He was ticketed along with his buddies for hunting over bait and as a result of this he was immediately dismissed as the lessee and someone else in the club signed the new lease. We sat up a 5 person committee and operated the successfully from that point forward until the land was sold years later.

Exact same thing I do.

Nobody ever answered the question about what that gal looks like though...

The problem with our group is we have really only added those related or good friends to original members over the years. So when a member should be kicked out it is tough because his dad or brother may be the nicest guy you ever met and you want to give the idiot too many chances. The drama is in having to keep guys that shouldn't be there cause you value family. Other thing is drama between "trophy" hunters and average hunters. Problem occurs when the average guys start killing the big deer and the trophy guys get real jealous and secretive about what they see. Doesn't make for a fun camp.

Family members need to step up there. If not, thats where leadership comes in. Trophy hunters and meat hunters shouldn't be in the same club to begin with.

What gal?

I have never seen a trophy hunter be able to deal with a meat hunter longer than a couple weekends. Usually ends badly.

This will and has work for us in the past. Upfront, honest and fair to all goes a long way.

As long as the rules are known it doesn't create huge problems, just more animosity than I would like. We have loose rules that bucks should be 8 points and 16 inches wide. I just like the enjoyment of hunting with others and it sure would be more fun if "trophy hunters" could just be happy for others rather than getting pouty when those who they perceive having lower skills shoot the biggest bucks. I disagree that trophy hunters can't be in the same club as others. In many ways I think it can help them appreciate hunting benefits outside of how many total inches each kill has. I enjoy the company of both trophy hunters and the more meat centered ones. In fact, because of my hunting beliefs and goals the balance of having diversity in a club (under known guidelines) can be helpful.

My original point was a dictator can help produce a well run club that can deal with different attitudes while voting creates factions that lead to greater infighting. It just puts a ton of headaches for said dictator when he'd rather just sometimes be a loyal subject that shows up for the enjoyment of hunting.

I believe the problem with some clubs is the money and time they invest is so high(for the crappy lease) that the meat and trophy hunters probably can't coexist.

Beat me to it!!! I was reading this thread to see if anybody had said it before I did.

We can beat around the bushes all we want to, but in the end, 99.999% of hunting club problems (no matter what we "think" the problem is or call it) comes down to meat guys vs rack guys. These cryptic rule changes always are about "4 on one side" or "no does on food plots" or "no guests after Christmas", or something like that based on meat vs horns. I've said it on here before numerous times... I learned a dozen or more years ago, I simply cannot be in a club, period. I know there ARE other "non-hunting-related" problems in clubs (like the dude above who sold the tractor, dear Lord), but I literally cannot think of a single situation I've been exposed to that wasn't directly or indirectly related to meat vs horns. If I was going to join a club today, or try to lease a block of land with another couple of guys, the VERY FIRST and MOST IMPORTANT thing I want to know is "Do any of you have kids or wives, intend to bring other kids, invite friends with kids, or ANY other "novice" hunter that you will instruct to indiscriminately shoot any deer on this place???" If so, I'm out. I completely admit and understand how that sounds and makes me look, but it's just not compatible with what I enjoy about hunting. I couldn't really afford to do this, but ideally I would've liked to been in a club where our kids could spread out on food plots and wear the place out, then have my own other place where I can rack hunt. Probably the biggest argument I've ever been in my whole life (still have very strained relations with these people today, 15 years later) centered around bringing guests, wives, and children, and letting them shoot just anything that moved. THAT was when I learned that I can't be in a club. No, I wasn't right or wrong, they weren't right or wrong, it's just that none of us were mature or wise enough to know we shouldn't have leased that land together to start with. We never discussed things like that. It appalled those guys that I was against bringing kids, wives, and every #@$$@# friend and coworker you have, and sitting them all over the "club", and telling them to shoot whatever they wanted to. Their background and understanding of hunting, and really their core personalities in general, were all about that...THAT'S what hunting was about to those guys. They were the kind of guys who said stuff like "every deer is a trophy", "I didn't see anything, but I'm just enjoying God's creation and time with family", "I'm happier about my coworker shooting that spike than I am about myself shooting X deer". Again, I don't know if anybody is wrong or right about any of those things, I just know I can't be on the same land as those kinds of people. I haven't gotten in a club or leased land in multiple years now, and it actually gives me anxiety thinking about ever doing it again.

Yep, club president this year decided to change rules from can't kill does on any field except 5, to himself and a few others could kill one on any field one afternoon. Heck, we even have a member going around stealing cards out of cameras. He stopped stealing them all together to just stealing them and replacing them with another. However he forgot to delete the pictures off one he put in my camera last week and I got all his pictures from Oct-Nov and the last pic is of of him checking camera. He also drove his truck right past another of my cameras like 8 minutes before. The president has been notified and evidence given to him. According to our rules, he is supposed to be kicked out of the club as the rules directly state "anyone caught messing with another's cameras or stands will be terminated", also the president sent a group text earlier stating if he caught who was stealing cards they would be terminated. It's going to be interesting if the guy gets kicked out of club because it just so happens to be the presidents buddy.

That wouldn't fly. If someone stole my cards out of one of my trail cams without my consent and I had rock solid proof, me and him would be throwing hands at camp. Ask the last jackass that stole a camera from me how that worked out for him.

no doubt about it. A thief is a thief....if he will steal a memory card, he will steal alot more than that.

That guy should get the boot. Now you will find out if your pres. has a pair or not.

"anyone caught messing with another's cameras or stands will be terminated". It's a shame that a rule such as this has to even be written.

Squatch, if things are how you claim they are, I bet he'll be staying. Who steals camera cards?? POS.

Dr. B

I was told yesterday by another member that the President has no intentions of kicking the guy out of the club. Two reasons, the guy is his buddy and he has a tractor that he brings down to plant. This guy has no integrity or honesty. He lied to me about selling turkey memberships and sold two of them, and now he's breaking his own rule and his own text message stating "anyone caught stealing or messing with another persons camera is GONE!!" So, I am done. I am sick of clubs. I am sick of trying to find a club that follows rules, has decent population of deer, doesn't kill 2yr olds and doesn't sell turkey memberships. I just don't give a darn any more. I'm 46, been hunting all my life and now I'm to the point, I just don't give a darn. I'm sick of the lies, lies and lies. Unless I can find a few hundred acres to lease, I will be spending next deer season on the river.

Join the club (bad pun). I gave up all that drama years ago. Have hunted public land for the past 20 years and have taken my biggest 3 bucks off it! Public land is grossly underrated. Just gotta put in the time scouting which probably amounts to less time than you would spend planting food plots and dealing with drama in clubs. I also found 15 acres that I lease myself which is very good low pressure bowhunting. I realized that in most clubs I was in the best spots were signed out 2 or 3 days a week which amounted to more pressure than my public land spots which only I knew about.

I suspected this in a club I was in years ago. I pulled my new IR camera and set it up on the camera the card was getting messed with. Caught the guy redhanded. Showed Pres & VP and the the guy just happened to come in after I showed them. He apologized and then the Pres kicked him out. Rules are rules. Follow them or face the consequences.