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.