If your tag allows you to harvest 5 deer and you only harvest that many, by letting whom ever makes the kill, it is still only 5 dead deer. If in the rules, friends a family are welcome to harvest on a paid lessees tag...so what?

This almost sounds like a "control" issue now.

I guess this is the part where everyone should check and double check, the lease charter rules.

Only problem I would have with the family quota thing would be if they bought some Freddy the freeloaders (copyrighted by Land Pirate) with them. Also gets annoying with crazy kids running around like wild indians.

Dan, from what I read, you are arguing two points...if the guest are shooting off the members quota, then the number of deer that can be killed per paid hunter is no different. If the guest can shoot off their own tags, then I can see how there would be a problem.

On our lease, guest/family have to be hunting with a paying member. They can shoot all the doe, spikes and culls they want. One trophy per paying member, no matter who shoots it.

So when does it become necessary for an adult to pay for a full membership? It appears for some leases, the answer to that question is "never", as long as someone else in the family is toting the bill.

IMO, it should be a matter of normal business. Kids 17 and under should ALWAYS be allowed to hunt for free but under the paying member's quota. ANYONE 18 or over should hunt as a paying guest, or as a paying member, whichever is cheaper for them. Simply put, there are no free rides for anyone 18 or older.

I think rules should indicate a set quota for the paid membership. Where you get into a bind is when there's situations like so: Rules state a membership may harvest 2 mgmt deer, 1 cull and 3 does off mld permits. All past experience shows that all permits never get used. If eveyone and there dog comes out with just a handful of members all the time, chances are they can luck into their quota leaving a shortage of permits for others to use. I often see this situation and a lease with 40+ might get 30-35 buck permits combined.

Some people prefer to experience the hunt through others. They have spent their time as the shooter and prefer to video and the best part of their hunt is the excitement from the less experienced hunter. Is that not an option in your opinion?

Texas Dan how much were you able to pay for deer lease when you were 18 years old? What is the matter with a members son shooting one of his dad's quota of deer ? Hell I am 48 years old and still can't afford a lease like I want. I take it that you don't have any children . Let the man hunt with his boy for Gods sake ! My 2 cents worth

No deer, no foul.

I paid for my own membership on a lease that was run by my wife's (she was my girlfriend at the time) uncle. It came out of the money that I earned from my job.

I agree, a man should be able to hunt with his "boy" for free. But when that boy becomes a man, he needs to belly up as such.

I didn't live at home with my parents after college either. Not sure, but having the ability to pay for my own hunting lease was something that led to that.

How do you experience the hunt of another without them shooting a deer?

Maybe I wasn't clear, so I will try to explain it again.

I know a guy that has killed around 20 deer in the 130"-140" range. The deer in the area he hunts max out at this level. He doesn't have the excitement he used to when a deer of this caliber walks out. He likes to hunt with his son/wife/buddy that haven't had the experiences he has and still get fired up over a 130" deer. He videos the hunt and gets his excitement from watching theirs.

According to your rules, he couldn't do that.

A lot of leases I've seen extends the age to 21 if they are still in school or military.

I'm the presidente on our lease by default just because I was the only one free when the owner could show it so I became the go between. Anyways, the landowner gave us very specific rules......each paid member is allowed to harvest 1 mature buck (we hunt in a 1 buck county), 1 doe (this year), 2 turkey and all the hogs and varmints we want. Guests are more than welcome and they hunt off of the paid members quota. Take me for instance, I can take 37 guests hunting with me but between all of us, we can only shoot ONE buck, ONE doe, TWO turkeys and as many hogs and varmints we see. Guests are the responsibility of the paid member who invited them and can only hunt their stands unless another member volunteers. As long as everyone is respectful and follows the rules, things will be fine. If the rules say guests are allowed to hunt off of a paid hunters quota, I don't think the lease president in the OP has a leg to stand on. There's no way I would tell someone on our lease they can't bring there son/daughter/dad/whoever to deer hunt, what do I care who shoots that ONE buck! If he's trying to get rid of the guy, just suck it up and tell him he's not welcome back next year!

I agree, an "adult" kid that's still in school or limited to a military salary should always get a break.

But a 30-year-old, third-time college senior on the other hand...

I would run a lease as such with anything other than <wife or kid fitting that "in school" or military description> labeled as a guest. Also if the paying member happens to pass away, his/her spouse has the opportunity to mantain the spot, until the remarry.

I agree, given that guest hunting is not free and open-ended.

If somebody wants to give up their buck to someone they've invited, I just don't see why it matters. I just think the more people we can get out hunting, whether they're 14 or 40, the better off we'll be.

My two daughters ages 23 and 25 have been hunting and fishing with me since they were 3 years old . I have a boatload of memories of them growing up and the quality time we spent together. Niether of my girls ever wanted to pull the trigger on a deer ,but they loved to sit in the blind with me . My 25 year old daughter just moved back to town after serving 4 years in the Army as a combat medic . She spent alot of time at the range as a medic where she got to shoot everything from the 50 cal sniper rifle on down and loves to shoot . She spent 18 months over in Iraq . Now that she is home she wants me to teach her how to deer hunt. Thankfully our members are all about family otherwise if I was on your lease I would have to pay for her a spot .

It's designed to ensure the paying member (or spouse) is there with them and they don't have free rein of the place.

It seems that the point of deer management and safety is being overlooked. Will the property support the additional deer harvested by an additional membership and can the size of the property allow it to be done safely?
Do they allow the members wife and or guests to hunt off the members quota? if so, what is the issue? If the property and herd can support the additional membership then the 18 yr old should get priority on his own membership and his own quota. But it should be his and his dads choice on that and not the fact that he is another year older.
Sounds more like there is a desire for someone else to make some additional money or is a opportunity to reduce their own fees by adding another member.

You know Dan, if it bothers you guys so much you could just change the rules to state "the paying member is the only one able to possess a rifle & shoot an animal (any animal), no guest are allowed to fire any weapons, period". What makes you so jealous about someone letting someone else get a free ride? Have you seen the state America is in with welfare these days? A whole lot worse than your little deer lease situation.

BTW - A very valid response to the original post meant to question when an adult family member should be required to pay the same as other lease members or guests.

I think 1. If the hunter, adult or otherwise, wants to harvest more than the current lessee's license allows or 2. When the lease rules actually have a certain guideline or specification.

If it comes off the guy's quota that paid for the lease membership, whats the big deal? 5 deer is 5 deer no matter who shoots it's.

I'm not saying you should be able to take 4 people with you and everyone use their own tags which would equal 25 deer.

If I pay for 5 deer on my membership and want my son and wife to be able to take one of those 5. Then I'm told they aren't allowed to hunt with me, I wouldn't be paying another membership there ever again.

I modified the title of my original post for the benefit of those joining the discussion late and who may not recognize the issue IS NOT with younger kids who hunt under a parent's membership. I feel that most of us would agree that all younger kids should be allowed to do just that.

It seems that many who agree that several adult family members or their guests SHOULD be able to hunt under a single membership, stance that position on the point that the membership allows for a given quota of deer to be taken. For that reason, it doesn't matter if the deer are taken by one or ten different hunters. IMO, that ignores the "opportunity" aspect of hunting, leaving members who may hunt alone with a far less chance of taking as many deer, or the best deer. Still, perhaps that could be somewhat remedied by allowing members to only hunt one person at a time under a single membership. But even then, that still seems to screw over the single member who cannot hunt as often as three or four adults who hunt under a single fee. The safety issue of having so many different hunters in the woods at the same time is another matter in itself.

It's really a matter of what is truly fair to ALL lease members, again with younger kids being the exception.

I feel safe saying the issue is one that has pushed many leases to long since adopt a "per gun" membership fee that applies to ALL adults.

This makes no sense to me??? Do paid members guests have access to the place when the paid member is not there? If not then they would be hunting together and I don't see how they would have any more oppurtunity than you the single hunter. Maybe they hunt more than you and have killed nice deer when you were not there?? If guests can come and go without their paid member present then I would have a big problem with that as would everybody else on here. I like most also have a big problem with being told my kids regardless of their age can not shoot deer using my allotment. I personnaly have not shot a deer in 4 years but I have been with my kids for over a dozen deer that they have shot during that time. Much more thrilling for me to see how excited they get than for me to pull the trigger.