I don’t give a dang what you shoot, just don’t scare the turkeys. [/quote]

Haha, that’s great

The best rule in my opinion is 1 buck per year. People will think before they shoot, and it keeps more deer alive. The whole spread and score thing doesn’t and can’t work everywhere in Alabama. We’ve got 5 and 6 year old deer, possibly older that won’t score 115 but are solid older deer. A guy in parts of tallapoosa county could hunt his whole life on 3000 acres and never kill a deer over 130. May not ever even get a picture of one.

That’s a great idea. If someone wants to shoot a tiny deer, let them.

$250 or $300 is a good start. Anything less is chump change and will not have any sting to it. One chance should be enough. 2nd offense should be $1,000.00

So how do you determine if a deer is 3 1/2 and not 2 1/2 years old? Are all your members well versed in how to age a deer? That would work if hunting bucks in a greenfield where you can get a long look at them but what about hunting in the woods where you may only get a brief glimpse?

Our club says at least 150 lbs, 8 PT or better outside the ears and all bucks taken must be mounted either a European or shoulder mount. If you shoot a buck less than the minimum you pay a fine, can’t remember how much. If it happens more than once, you don’t come back.

mount it or pay the mounting fee. Only thing that works. Age - people don't know what age is. Points - you can have a basket rack 8 that's a two year old get killed. same with a 10. Mounter or get permission from club president/owner to shoot a "management buck." that's it. And give 'em a pass the first time, probably. That's pretty much what JA says too, I just noticed. Also, let kids shoot a couple small deer. They are kids. If they can't shoot a buck, hunting is going to get real old for them real fast.

$100

That mount it stuff is funny

Managment buck....

The only way to truly manage your deer is to join a club with all like minded members by that I mean older mature guys that have got the “gotta kill something because I paid a bunch of money” out of their system.

In my club we have that and are very selective in who we let join. I haven’t killed a buck at my club in seven years. We probably average a nice buck killed every other year, not because we don’t see a lot of bucks but because none of us wants to shoot a 3 1/2 year 120 inch deer. If you feel like you haven’t had a good season unless you kill a buck then you wouldn’t be welcome at my club.

Shoot 4+. If you can’t then you’re not what we are looking for. Pretty simple.

If you're not patient enough and smart enough to learn about a mature buck's body size and shape, use a bino to look at the antlers, and then legitimately figure out if it's above whatever your club minimium is, you probably shouldn't be using firearms or mechanical things.

To the OP's question, make it hurt. $100 isn't anything. $250 isn't much to someone with $1,500 invested in a rifle or bow while driving a $50,000 truck. Put it at $450 or $500 and enforce it.

What that does is make them wait instead of guess, shoot, "oh well" and then shrug about paying a piddly fine.

$100 unless you are related to the club president is what I’ve always understood

I fundamentally agree with what Matt and Clem outline above. I will say, that if you hunt in areas likely to contain such deer, it can be really tough in split second decisions in super thick stuff with a live moving deer. Mistakes are going to be made in those situations. That’s where the “like minded” part comes in, so that you know when members just messed up with their heart in the right place (hopefully a single or rare event) and other members can absorb a rare mistake kill.

All that being said, we have a antler point rule, with an exception for exceeding weight. Not ideal, but it’s what our group could agree on prior to me joining. So I roll with it.

I dont really like the rules that try and make people judge and score bucks......It's just tough to do in our habitat and it just causes a lot of issues for folks......I like the idea of managing by total buck harvest....In other words, we decide on a number of bucks to take out according to the population and then we dont worry which ones those are.....If I had the choice I would rather moderate the total number of bucks killed by managing the weapons used rather than limiting each hunter to some abstract number like 1 or 3 or whatever......I like the idea of bow hunting and letting folks shoot what they want......It strikes a good balance and keeps things simple

I charge the following:

1st offense - $200

2nd offense - $400

3rd offense - Immediate dismissal

Buck has three chances to make the cut.

20” main beam
17” inside spread
200 lbs live weight

We also identify some bucks as culls and other that are on the “NO SHOOT LIST”. If you shoot one of these it is $500.

Why? you really going to police it with measurements and age classes, etc.? I seriously doubt it. Even jaw bones aren't exactly right on age. And you going to fine someone for missing the inside spread by an inch? Good luck.

Been running the club for almost 15 years and it works if you have mature hunters that understand how to age a bucks on the hoof. We try to shoot 4 yr old bucks and for the most part of they meet any of criteria listed they tend to be 4 yr old bucks. Occasionally someone may get trigger happy but it doesn’t happen often. I allow Members family a first buck ever with no restrictions. Only had 3 fines in past 4 years so it works.

Don't matter to me, it just reminded me of something funny. My good friend is a Taxidermist, and there's one guy that belongs to one of those you have to mount it if you shoot it clubs, and he just brings him one of his old mounts, and has him swap out the horns 🤣

On my Property, if a person shoots any buck that is illegal by “State” law, they gotta go. If a person can’t distinguish a mature doe from a yearling buck they need some education or they were just shooting “brown it’s down”, and that ain’t cool. I treat everybody like they are grown and have a little sportsmanship to them and I expect them to act accordingly. Hell, as for other rules, my girlfriend, who bought the property, ain’t even allowed to shoot does during the rut. Lol