I've been leasing property all over the blackbelt since the early 90s and never lost a lease to anyone out of FL. Most of the FL guys stay over on the SE side of the state. I've lost 2 in 30 yrs and both hurt. First one I lost was to a group of doctors out of LA. They found out about that place from the taxidermist that 4-5 of us were using in Mobile. Second one I lost, was to a group of lawyers and doctors out of B'ham. No telling how they found out about it but they offered $20/acre for land I was paying $11/acre for. Both were leased out from under me based solely on the land, location and most importantly, the quality of bucks being killed. I dont think that Lockjaw is in any danger of someone leasing his property out from under him, with an outrageous bid, based on the description of the deer and property he's provided on here. I'll also say that you're normally much more secure with a timber company (assuming they dont sell the property or swap it) than you are with a private owner. Unless you break their rules or a game law, trespass on your neighbors, are late on payments, or are just a problem child for them, I've never seen a "big" timber company just pull a lease from someone for more money. But I can assure you that it happens all the time with private landowners.

Point taken. I would actually be more concerned about a developer buying it than someone trying to lease it out from under us. It is far from a deer utopia. Even the guy on the lease next to us isn't killing alot of deer. There is a club down the road that is killing some big ones. As in much nicer than any I have seen on our lease.

Yes I have invested alot personally and it would be disheartening to see something like that happen. It sucks that I need to keep things more on a down low too. I really enjoy talking about it.

Man, I hated to even say anything. I can tell it’s a passion of yours.

No. The last Pres/VP are who added the extra people last year. So what I did this year was have a board meeting, and we as a board decided we needed less members, but we weren't going to ask anyone to leave. So we got rid of the discount for paying upfront, lowered the number of doe's a member could shoot, and said you can't shoot them off a greenfield. Then Westervelt came in and banned supplemental feeding and minerals. All of this has been communicated. We also didn't have as big a discount for being on the board as the previous folks had. And there are 3 board members instead of 5.

I figured the last Pres and VP would leave and they said they were. Then another member let me know he was leaving. So that puts me at 16. I have 5 I still haven't heard anything from. So I they don't pay me, that would put me at 11. I would probably add 1 becuase I have a member who has a very valueable piece of equipment that we need, and he rarely, if ever hunts. He is a member with a kid too.

The lease says 11 people. All the clubs I have been in have more members than the lease says. If they are going to be a stickler about that, then I would have to assess everyone some additional $ most likely to cover everything.

What I am after here, is a club that isn't ordinary. There are no special treatments, or secret spots only the Pres knows about. Everyone follows the rules, and we manage the property to improve our success. We may morph into having different arrangements for guests and kids as we go, but for now, I don't want to completely re-write every single thing.

No I appreciate it. I don't always think about things like that. Maybe one day I can have my own spot.

Trying to keep up with all these hunting club rules and regulations like....

^^ Yep, then halfway through the season you realize you're the only one abiding by them.

If you can afford it, buy land. Too many carpet baggers with Chinese investors buying up land around here. Won't be long before this isn't our state anymore.

As Ckylec said in an earlier reply, loose lips....Hush.

I’ve been looking for around 100 acres, but can’t find anything worth a crap or that isn’t sky high..

I cant believe the people that look at you funny when you tell them how much a membership is. The math is pretty easy usually. When you look at cost per acre and number of members it is what it is on my property.

The math gets expensive when you try to keep member numbers down. Especially if you fertilize well.

If you plan on fertilizing in the fall you may wanna go ahead and buy it now. May be $40 a bag by the fall. Only issue is you will need a humidity controlled area to store it or it will be hard as a rock by the time you need it. With the rising prices of fertilizer and seed I may give everyone a choice….. pay a lot more or we ain’t planting.

You want cheap hunting or do you want good hunting? You can't have both unless you already own land. You get what you pay for. You'll eventually figure this out or you won't. Bite the bullet, run off the folks you need to and move forward. The most crucial thing you can change is pressure

I don't see why more folks don't join forces, form some sort of LLC or whatever and buy themselves a place. I bet you put the pencil to it over the long haul you could come out on it in most cases.

Even if you own the land good hunting ain't cheap. Just ordered 30 tons of lime at $1,490, summer seed at $960 and looking at about $1000 or so for fertilizer. At least the lime will take care of all plots, summer and fall, for the next 3 years. I could do things cheaper but damn I love looking out over that bean/corn field. If several people get together and buy, in a few years there is a high probability they will be looking at the same drama as a club and much harder to get out of. My friend and south neighbor in Bama has about 300 or so acres here in central Florida he has owned a long time with 3-4 others, and it appears to be a continuous thorn in his side.

I use a very specific fertilizer, and it must be old stock, because I got 400 pounds for 17.50 a bag today. Which is what I paid last fall. What is going to hurt this fall is the Urea. I need 100 pounds per acre.

With as much clover as you've got, the fert you are using is probably 0-20-20 which has 0 nitrogen. Nitrogen is the most expensive component in fertilizer and the component that has gone through the roof lately, so it would make sense that your fertilizer would be roughly the same cost as last year. You dont need the component that is responsible for the cost run-up.

That is true. I have worked hard to get that stuff established and really have some great stands of it. I have a couple more fields I need to mow, I scoped them out while I was putting out fertilizer, and they have pretty good stands of clover in them as well. I have a couple I need to focus on this fall, and then I will be where I want to be. It is really the best thing I can plant with the limited size of my food plots that the deer just can't wipe out.

And I may get down to the number of members I really need too. Another one dropped out, so down to 14.

My nitrosurf showed up today, so I need to go spray, but need the wind to lay down. And I need to get a barrel so I can take water out there to refill the sprayer.

The math never works if you’re comparing ownership cost to a lease cost.