n8tureboy

Any of you hunters belong to one or have any experience with hunting clubs that give members exclusive rights to hunt private property leased by the club? I'm getting to where I hate hunting on public land and trying to find private land to hunt is getting to be more of a hassle every year. What do you guys think?

phonejack

This fall will mark my 40th year with such a club. We have had to lease hunting rights about 20 years now. 16 of us lease about 1400 acres. $300 per member covers expenses plus the cost of city water and electricity.
A lot of clubs are only interested in a new members money. My club has strict rules on personal conduct. After all, we ARE there to hunt.
We evaluate a prospects conduct at the camp and in the field before we "take a vote".

Waveform

I don't belong to a club but am looking to join one. It seems like the way to go if you can afford it. $300/year sounds great! Some of the leases around here can go into the thousands annually per member so the trick is finding a good opportunity that doesn't break the bank. It seems landowners have pretty well figured out that hunting their property is a valuable commodity and it's become nearly impossible to find a landowner willing to let you hunt on their land for free. And I agree public land here in the southeast can be a challenege with all the special regs and hunting pressure. Hunt clubs are the way to go it seems to me. Good luck!

Benemorte

I have been hunting prairie dogs at clubs for 30+ years now. There are a lot of quite famous clubs in the U.S., and around the world. The last 10 years has seen an explosion of clubs, mostly for hog hunting.

A word to the wise about clubs, do not sign up for a membership until you have experienced spending a few days there first. If a club insists on paying a full membership up front, run run run away.

PowPow

Phonejack has a sweet deal, ~$3.40 per acre.
In Alabama, hunting leases go for $8-15 per acre, depending on location and mix of woods and fields.

If you are looking at an existing club, consider member saturation; about 100 acres per member is right for heavily wooded land with members who actually come to hunt; as the woods density goes down, the acres per member needs to go up. If the land is 60% woods/40% fields, you might need 150 acres per member, unless crops are grown on the property that attract what you are hunting. I say "members who actually hunt"; some folks come to get away, some folks come only for deer or only for turkey. Our club has some members who have better places to hunt on the weekends.

Started one with some friends. Researched available leases on the internet and found paper company land, reasonably priced. It was close to home so we did not need a camp or other infrastructure.

If you join an established club, ask about the "rules", but also ask a newer member about the unspoken rules. There may be an unspoken set of rules that favors senior members. I was in one of those for a short time.

Land maybe leased from large corporations, like paper companies interested in growing trees, or from private landowners with no interest in hunting.
Paper companies reserve the right to cut trees at any time. Last "any time" for us was during deer season.
Private indiviuals have less strict rules, but you are subject to cancellation easier, like when the owner's nephew takes up hunting, or the owner dies and the heirs start squabbling.

Our group learned that who you hunt with has greater weight than where we hunt.
We all play well together and can find different land if we need to.