Aldeer.com Forums Alabama Deer Talk Serious Deer Talk Forum What folks REALLY want in a club

Yes Hank knows more.

I can understand having limits on bucks taken. But not every buck that might need to be shot has horns outside the ears. Then Hank gonna fine you. Grown men should be able to use hunter discretion according to the DCNR regs and the club.

So are deer just not a concern for them?....Are you saying that they don’t have any lobbyists or anything working on their behalf to push things in a direction that benefit them??....It would be mighty retarded on their part if they didn’t

We had one guy whose teenage son was drawing and writing lewd stuff on the wall of the shooting houses, guess he got bored. Pissed a bunch of folks off but we figured out who was doing it.

I’m in a club that has a decent deer population but also a good bit of pressure. I get off the beaten path most times and usually see deer. However, I don’t expect to see deer every hunt or even every other hunt. It is a trade off being only 15 minutes from the house. Sure, I could pay more and get in a better club in a better area, but with wife and kids, I wouldn’t be able to go as much as I do now

I went in with a couple friends on a 350 acre lease. Built 5 green fields, feeders, shooting houses and we each climb. We communicate costs and share them. We also communicate where we are hunting each trip. It's fantastic!

I had a guy whose son was sneaking into my cabin to have his affair. She must not have been too classy considering the decor. One positive is that he discovered a broken pipe before my well pump burned up. But, Im glad I burned that mattress.

There is ONLY one rule that matters!!!!!

If everyone followed it, there would be zero need for any other rules!!!

NO SELFISHNESS ALLOWED!!!

The end. Your welcome, carry on.

I'd just like to find a decent one to get in. But from what I see if I was to spend $1500 It wouldnt be any better than hunting public land

Saw a pretty good rule for one club which was "if you kill a buck you mount it". Would be funny as hell some ole baw shoots a spike and has to mount it.

I don’t disagree with you totally. I was just saying that Hank knows more than the game and fish. The problem with grown men using discretion is that their decisions don’t always line up with the deer management goals of the club. Take the cull buck issue for example. Also there’s the guy that shoots the 3 year old and swears up and down he’s a 7 year old. Some grown men’s decision making skills go south real quick when a rack buck steps out. Then he starts rationalizing it and trying to figure out how to save the $250 fine.

And I don’t think there is a buck the “needs” to be shot except for 1. And that’s the old bully buck that runs off all the other mature bucks. But they aren’t always on every property. But there maybe plenty of bucks that meet age and antler requirements and “can” be shot.

That’s honestly the worst rule I’ve ever seen. Just keep letting all the mature crap racks or 4, 5 and 6s keep bullying all your great up and comers to the neighbors property.

Not many hunt them in mine. I do, but I am a novice and not hardcore about it. My ideal scenario would be 3 turkey hunting members and 5 deer hunting members, paying about $2K each. That would allow me to use pellet lime, which I can spread, fertilize and cover the sping planting, and also the fall, plus do maintenance. It would allow me to plant clover on an annual basis, which I prefer, I believe it is one of the reasons our buck numbers and quality have come up. That would allow me to be selective about the 5 deer hunters as well.

I talked to a guy the other day when I was getting gas for my 4 wheeler on the way out to the lease, and he asked me what my lease ran. He pays half as much for a private land lease, and they get to bait.

So in my case, I have 10 members this year. I did the majority of the work. I had 2 other members that did a fair amount, and then my skid steer guy came out one day, which is all I ask him to do. The other 6 didn't work, although in fairness to the last one, he joined to replace a member who has long covid and asked me to replace him. I have 25 green fields, give or take. We put up 3 new shooting houses this fall. We tried to move around some ladders, but that is also a 2 man job. While the ladders benefit the entire club, they are also beneficial for the guys who work, because we know where we put them.

Honestly, the turkeys were royally pissing me off this fall. Dry weather, late planting, and a broken disk means I fed more freaking turkeys than I cared to feed, and its not the primary focus of my habitat plan. Not to mention they wear out my clover, which is a key component of my deer forage base.

I am sorty of like an understaffed company. I need people in certain roles, but don't have them. So the "boss" technically does the 20% that gets an 80% return, and these other things languish.

True statement

I had a buck last year that I wanted to cull out and he was on our cull list. I am pretty sure he came back looking better this year. I can't be 100% sure he wasn't killed by someone else or didn't just die, but I haven't seen him this year and have 1 buck that looks like he could be him based on his antler structure.

But everyone says that, they see a buck with long spikes, or a long spike on one side, and one that has a slight fork on the other and they say he needs to go. The majority of breeding is done by younger bucks from what I have seen, so wouldn't having a better buck rack structure be better addressed by making sure you have healthy doe's?

Its almost impossible to find a club that checks all the boxes on your wish list. I think the point a lot of you are missing is you have to fit what the club is looking for as a member as well. Most have either an interview or a probation period to make sure your a good fit. We give all members a list of club rules every year. Its pretty simple IMO if you dont like the rules dont join we will find someone else. But I agree that a lot of the bitching gets gone when you have good land to hunt.

I'm the president and all the members of my club, and thers still of lot of complaints, especially about the budget! Lol

No one is making them join! If they don’t like it, they can leave! I am sure you can fill their spot in 5 minutes! Nothing worse than a cheap ass!!!!!!!

I think he meant he’s the Lone Ranger and handles all of the finances and it makes him sick 🤷🏼‍♂️

For the record: Looking at the cost of some of these clubs and the deer harvested you can put me in the cheap ass category. Too much free hunting out there and lots of beef to be butchered.