Has anyone on here ever felt like they joined a cub and then all of the sudden you get the bad feeling that the guy running the club is a for profit. Kind of guy hiding behind the club rules of camp fees, and you know we don't have any turkey hunters in the club so I may lease out some turkey rights in the spring, but not go as far as telling you you cant turkey hunt. And oh by the way most of the members live out of state and you hear, I don't like people hunting during the week. Just wanted to know if anyone on here had a similar situation ever? Oh and by the way you get trail cam picks of him guiding hunters during turkey season that are not members.

which club do you speak of and yes to your question

The Motts are still at it???

Right now I would not want to say. I have leased my own property the past few years and stepped up to join a trophy club for a considerable amount of money hoping to have a chance to kill a blackbelt buck.

You got pm

Uh oh!

No offence but I wouldn't do much if I didn't make some kind of profit

No offense taken, I just like things to be transparent. There are always the three guys who have a different agenda

Don't blame ya

Sounds like you are in the type club where all members are equal, but a few more equal than the rest. Not a good situation.

I would just like to find a fellow smart enough to run a quality hunting club for a PROFIT!

I usually wind up spending MORE than any of the other members. And, it kinda irritates me when they say anything about how much they spent......or, what they have done........when they have never even asked about the 'Big Picture' or taken into account all the BS phone calls, landowner relations, neighbor relations, coordination, and just TIME and EFFORT involved in keeping it all together.

If your hunting is less than you expect, or there are legitimate Rules being broken/not enforced, then that is legit.
BUT, if you are just worrying about things that you suspect and do not directly affect you, save yourself the grief and just HUNT and have FUN!

Not to mention, most Club Presidents are the leaseholders as well. Few are truly 'elected'. So, in a sense.......it is their lease. And, although I do not, I do know many people who basically front the money for the lease and then sell enough memberships to cover all costs....including their own. And, after doing it the way I have for years, I do not blame them one bit!

We pay a pretty good chunk for our lease. Mainly to keep memberships low. Guest fees/guest trophy fees/guest killing an unqualified deer fees are all really expensive. One would think that pres is making money but every year he puts LOTS of time and money Into improvements as in adding feilds and quality shooting houses. He does a print out every year so we can see where the money goes. I know he is being honest because I'm related to him and he's like s brother to me. Having said that I wish HE COULD OR DID make a profit. I would have no problem with it. Now that's just my/our situation. If I found myself in a situation like yours my opinion may be different.

Sounds like it!!

I have been in clubs where i thought the president was not paying anything or very little. Aggravated me for a long time and I got out. Now I have my own club where everyone pays the same amount. Next year I have vowed to only pay a half membership because of the amount of money and time I spend getting everything ready. Running a club is a lot of work that most members never see. They show up and hunt and have only worked maybe one work day. Running a club is not easy and requires extra money and a lot of extra time.

I know of lots of clubs that the Prez and friends never pay 1 dime. If its a good club accept it , if not move on! Lots of Prez and Vice Prez get their dues for free. I know I have before only payed 1/2 price. But I had to collect money, pick-up seed, and show new members around , so I feel like it was a fair deal.

Running a club is almost a year round head ache.

Not necessarily for profit but for free hunting for the core members. I was in a club in Bullock Co. that the pres. and his son and good buddy had several hundred acres just a few miles away that only they could hunt. If you did the money math all the other members were paying for their private lease and their memberships were free.

Ive heard it at almost every club ive been in, people thinking the president is not paying. Best way to look at it is if its worth $X amount to you for the hunting then quit worrying about it. If its not then find another club. I was in one club where thats all I heard but also knew how much the lease was, the seed the wood on club shooting houses, gates and normally it adds up. Good club presidents really shouldnt pay the same if you ask me. And by the way ive never been a club president. We all hunt for fun worrying about little things just takes the enjoyment out of it.

If you wanna run a club for profit...turn it into an outfitter.... People in the club should know up front if they're trying to turn a profit... Otherwise it's stealing under false pretenses...

I dont see what the big deal is! IF YOU get into a club its up to YOU to ask all the right question. The club Prez should not have to give you info YOU dont ask for. If YOU dont ask queations like= How many acres? How many Members? How much does the seed cost? How much per acre is lease? How much is insurance? and so on. Then its YOUR fault if you join and find out latter than someone makes a tiny profit!!!

If people wanna make money..that's fine.... If they are hiding it...turn their ass in to the IRS... It will be short lived cuz they ain't paying taxes on it I can bet on that...

Now what Tru-Talker seems to be talking about is a little different. Plus maybe the original thread may be to. Im saying say a club with 2000 acres 20 members and $1000.00 a year. If the president takeing care of all the hassle with the lease, seed, and complaints only payed $500.00 I wouldnt mind. Kinda the same as a tractor membership to me. Now guideing on the property and takeing on extra members people dont know about and all that ive read about different times on here would be different.

If it's in Aliceville and the guy used to run the Roost you better watch out. He guided people on our club and he wasn't even a member. Turkey season knows no boundaries hardly anywhere.

Our club president and I put extra money every year! and when the lease has to be paid and you have the same 2 or 3 guys that say I'll have you the money this week and are always late me and him end up covering it until their lazy ass show up with the money

Hunting clubs 10% of the members do 90% of the work the rest just float around

George Mayfield...

I FEEL that for a prez to turn a profit= either he is really lying and cheating OR has some dumb -azz members that did not ask the right question. If its the latter, well that the members on fault! Dont get me wrong I dont want to get ripped off = like say theirs 20 = members on 2000 acres when there is really 30. But IF the Prez gets a free membership fpr the HAssle of keeping -up with the club all year I have 0 problem with that!

The answer is yes. My suspicions were confirmed when I saw ads in the paper for day hunts to my own club!

I've never known of a club where someone wasn't turning a profit of SOME kind. I've got no problem with a guy who secures the lease, takes care of pretty much everything, having free membership and making a little. Heck, I pretty much expect that. I would have a problem though with someone taking me in as a member and then turning around and selling day hunts. That's crap.

Skintback is pulling in a little over a 100 grand a year profit off of our club. Never works, won't come help you u load a deer, never has drinks or food or extra ammo to offer me, never fixes my four wheeler, won't let me hunt out of his stands, etc. so y'all don't even need to ask about membership, just run. If he wasn't my buddy I'd hunt public land.

Honesty up front is not an option. If folks are getting reduced or free memberships you have the right to know. Not saying its wrong just it shoukd be disclosed. I was in one once and they asked if anyone could bring tractors, spreaders etc to work days. I brought mine every time and after 2 years found out the other 2 guys with tractors (long time members) were hunting free for tractor work. Only difference is they lived closer and claimed to do work during the week. Problem is I was one of the few that knew nothing had been done since last time we all had our tractors there. Pissed me off so bad I didnt renew the next year.

Profit.....hell I just wish I could break even lol

Blade, you or so funny. I figure I'm loosing $400-$500 a year fooling with y'all.

Blade, you or so funny. I figure I'm loosing $400-$500 a year fooling with y'all. [/quote

Figured it was way more than that, btw, I need you to idle up my four wheeler and I ran all your gas out of your pole saw. Bahahahahahaha

Yes - I'll leave it at that.

I wish I could figure it out. I always seem to end up deeper in than most of my members. 1 or 2 put extra in every year like I do.

I'm talking about getting even with the person/president.... I find out he's skimming off the top to make a profit while trying to hide it from the members....I'm reporting his ass to the IRS for not paying taxes for running a business..not a hunting club... I'm pretty sure this is what the original poster was referring to...Sounds like he felt he was getting cheated with his dues money..

I agree. I don't know any of company or lease agent that does not have a clause in their lease that forbids it. When I leased property, we did. If we found out you were profiting off of a lease, your lease was terminated immediately with no refund and no proration. Only happened a couple of times...hard to prove. Makes for some pissed off club members when they have no idea why their lease has just been pulled and they find out it is due to their own presidents actions.

We had a Prez that collected the dues, 17K worth, and spent the money! We formed a group to keep the property and get a 90 day loan to cover the lease.
I was in that group of 4 and voted to remove the Prez from the club and the other 3 decided he could stay!!!! WTF,..... needless to say, rather than go to jail the Prez came up with the money and all was good in everyones eyes but mine, I bailed.
Get ALL the details before you join a club!