Let's say you are on a lease that consist of 15 hunters. The 15 take a vote to put someone head of lease. The rules that are in place are but just a few to keep things friendly and simple. The question is, what is the duty or responsibilities of the one voted in charge? The more obvious things would be handling payments to land owner, electricity, etc. What else?

I'm the lease manager on our place and always have been on every ranch we've hunted . And it's not the most popular job but somebody has to do it . My duties consist of everything you listed plus ALL communication with and between hunters and land owner . If a hunter has a problem they come to me and I go to land owner or if owner has a problem with hunter he brings it to me and I deal with the hunters. Basically you are leasing the ranch and the hunters are leasing from you . With that being said I don't make decision without talking to the group .

Even though I am not on a lease, I would come up with a very basic set of common sense rules that apply to maintaining the property, to what ever kind of game management is appropriate for your situation.

Have a meeting with all and discuss. As with everything else in life, come to a consensus. Periodically make adjustments as needed.
Make sure every one knows what they are responsible for and the consequences if not adhered to.

Good Luck

What ever your rules are make sure EVERYONE understands them completely and it's your job to make sure every hunter follows the same rules if your buddy breaks a rule that would get anyone thrown off the lease then he must go. And it's hard to do when it's a friend . And I'm speaking from experience . I did it and didn't like doing it but it had to be done .

You need to make sure there is a lease contract with rules attached to it that everyone signs, keeps their copy and returns a signed copy to you.

You are only enforcing the rules that everyone signed they read and understood and AGREED to by signing the lease contract.

This way you are never the bad guy if rules are broken that result in their season ending. Without this, you could have problems that aren't easily resolved.

And everything Mexcohunter70 mentioned as well. Good luck.

I'm not running this one.
I guess to clarify my question a little better... Is a lease to be ran like a business where you have the boss and we are all the employees, or is it more a group of guys and someone has to take the responsibilities that come with the lease?

Such a loaded question. From the landowner perspective, I like having a lease manager to deal with. We get along great and we use the title to effectively keep things going smoothly. When the lease manager has a guy that starts getting out of line, he has called me and requested I send an email to him to disseminate amongst the group. A lot easier for his to get the guy in line with my email.

Yeah, it's intended to be loaded... 😊

collect the funds..inforce the rules..treat the land like you own it..

Our lease has one guy that signed the lease with the land owner. His name is on the bottom line and he alone is responsible for dealing with the land owner. He is responsible for $45,000, he is in charge, his rules. No one voted for him.
So it is kind of like a business, the one responsible, is the boss.

I'd say the latter if you really know the group of guys. If not, you better go with running it like a business with contractors that understand the if the rules aren't followed their contract will be terminated. Saves a lot of headaches and miss understandings, and chasing guys around for the money.

I can see that it's gonna be different from lease to lease. Thank you for your input.
We have a great group of guys and our lease manager moved. Thus voting in a new one.

That was me for the last 10 yrs. I handled all the money and anything else between the landowner. That being said I had hunted with 2 guys that I respected and that respected me. I didn't make any decisions without their input. Don't be a nazi and it will be a better lease. I know that sometimes that's not possible and you have to be an [censored].

- Be the sole point of contact for the landowner or anyone else associated with the land, i.e., ranch hands, etc.

- In charge of communications to the group regarding all rules of the lease, including but not limited to access, permitted stand locations, expected feeding schedule, game rules of the ranch/group....for example 4.5+ YO bucks, so many does, no dove hunting after start of bow season, etc., and any changes that may occur in the rules going forward.

- Responsible for collection of lease payments and transference to landowner on a timely basis.

- Overseeing the process of finding and ultimately approving new members.

Probably some more, but you get the gist. In my mind, it shouldn't be an adversarial or authoritarian position, but every group, especially a larger one, needs a point person. On most of the leases I've been on, most everyone were friends and knew each other ahead of time anyway which made it easier.

I've always found that the best lease managers were good communicators and had easygoing personalities, more organized, were easy to get along with and one the group AND landowner liked and respected. The worst were seemingly power hungry and confrontational with a proverbial chip on their shoulder.

Ive never been on a lease where we voted on who it was to be. I've always been the lease manager because no one else wanted to do it. Being on a lease and letting someone else do it is the way to go. You dont have to worry about everyone elses complaints or enforcing the rules.

It all depends. Do you want to be on a lease with no rules or one that is well run with guidelines. Some folks want the first - if you elect to have no rules and not have a lease boss then you can expect folks to bring their entire family plus their friends plus their families friends. Any deer that moves will be shot on sight. Lease members will lock their blinds and protect their area because they are not sure who will show up and kill a deer they have been watching. Drama is a daily situation.

The second option is to have a well written, clear set of guidelines that outlines who can be on the ranch, what animals can be taken, and open, honest respect for each other. If quality deer are the goal then the rules outline what can and cannot be shot. The ranch owner's property is treated with total respect and taken care of. If a lease member is into drama then they are invited to go hunt somewhere else. The only way to accomplish a well run lease on a long term basis is to have someone who is in charge and at the end of the day answers to the ranch owner.

I have been a LB for many years - it is not easy to say the least. But I abide by all the rules and give favoritism to no one. Everyone is treated the same and everyone knows up front exactly what the rules are and signs off on them. If they do not like the rules then no problem - they can go hunt somewhere else. Pretty simple when it gets right down to it. Our results have been many hunters taking the best deer of their lives while having a great time in the outdoors.

So different strokes for different folks. If I am spending my money I want a place that is well run and everyone respects each other. IMO that requires someone being in charge of the operation.