Good point, if I wasn't allowed to hunt with my kiddos and wife, I'd hang my guns up for good.

Dan, I'm with you. I would hunt with you Sir.

I have hunted both types. Left the bring a guest place and will never hunt that kind again. Kids are fine 16 and under.
The guest will shoot any dogone thing that moves. They only get one time to hunt so shoot that fawn.

Wow,that's all just too much beauracracy and red tape for me. To each his own though.

I can see where if all are shooting off the same member's "quota" there is probably no issue.

The "guest" policies have a lot more ramifications than just deer taken though. Basically,the members have to decide if they want a 1)"Men getaway" lease, 2)a "family" lease, or 3)a combination of 1 and 2 usually done by setting aside/balancing special "family" days. The last option seems to be the most common.

My brother is our lease president and as long as the kids are in school he is fine with it. Definitely goes on your quota and when the lease is crowded like opening day if 2 family members are hunting then one has leftovers on blinds.

We don't allow kids under 18 even to come onto the lease for liability reasons and no guest hunters. The only "others" allowed to hunt are the members spouses or significant other and any kills come off of the lease member's tags. The are the land owner's rules and they are made known before each member pays his dues. As long as the lease member knows that up front and is aware of what he/she is getting onto, no harm done. I kind of like it and kind of don't. I have kids that are well within hunting age and I can't take them, but on the other hand there is very little traffic and noise and no drama.

Yep. At our place children may hunt off of paying member's "quota" The quota is the county all seasons bag limit, two bucks, three does.

There's no way i could have paid for a lease, corn, fuel, etc at 18

Never heard of anything like this. I could see it for people who don't have/like kids but ?

I have always hunted places that allowed my boys to hunt off my quota. And several that allowed guests of any age to do the same.

That land owner wouldnt get one red cent of my money. If my kids aren't allowed neither am I.

This is the situation on my lease: Paid lease members ONLY after deer season opens per land owner. After January 1 (or when regular season ends) the lease is open until next November for members and their guest (no late deer hunting). My rules are that one hunter - one stand. Stand locations are per my approval - no encroachment on others without their approval is my criteria. Members can fill a legal license. I can't think of anyone who fills all of their tags. Available spots only come up when someone can't physically make the drive or dies. It is not unusual to have 6 to 12 deer in sight for most of a morning or afternoon. There is a long list of takers should a spot become open, relatives are given priority. We have one member and his 13 year old son who are both full members. 130 class bucks are not unusual and are allowed to walk. We all chip in extra and have firewood delivered and provide for common supplies and general maintenance issues. No "work weekends" that always encroach on family time or are at least inconvenient for everyone to schedule together. It works for us and we do not need to squeeze "one red cent" from anyone. If you are on a tight budget you can’t play here. There is no “wiggle room”, follow a signed contract or leave. No idiots, jerks or turd stirrers. We have a great lease and everyone knows it and appreciates it.

IMO you cant "generalize" about what is good/bad policy as to family members or guests. Each place is as different as the people who share it. As long as they are good with it, who is anyone else to say it's wrong?

We are on a family lease that gets one quota for me, my wife and kids under 18.There is a strict no guest policy during hunting season.The issue with guests came down to them shooTing deer members would pass on as well as guests not booking their deer at camp so they didn't come off the members quota.The best way to eliminate the issues completely is to make sure only members are out hunting.I passed on the lease my inlaws are on because they buy one or two membership then 15 of them hunt three stands and all fill their limit without the club knowing how many deer are being taken. Also, I like the idea that less deer are being taken if not every hunter tags out.

I sure don't miss those days of overcrowded, rules inhibited deer leases! BUT, as long as the 18 yr old hunts with his dad, and shoots his dads quota, there should be no controversy. It sounds like this rule was made because like most things that bring about rules, priveleges were abused at some point.

You hit both "issues" even with guests shooting off of a members' quota: 1)Guests shooting smaller bucks than the member ever would and 2)the "quota" being filled by guests when the member never would fill it alone.

The other scenario is just dishonesty but unfortunately happens all the time. That's the reason "Lease Nazis" came into being....

When my older brother was hunting age, dad got a second lease for him, couple years later when I was old enough dad stopped hunting because we couldnt aford 3 leases, brother took over dads spot and I took over my brothers. It was amazing in my eyes to see dad give something like that up that I know he loved and worked hard to pay for for me and my brother. Didnt take long to find out how to make enough money to pay my own lease so dad could hunt again. It doesnt take that much money to hunt, it takes alot to hunt with the latest gizmos and gadgets and 6'x6' blinds and 1000 lb feeders, but hand thrown corn and a bush blind will kill lots of deer.

Many valid points and opinions shared in this discussion. I think that for the most part people here would accept guests only killing animals on the paying members quota. The problem with most of the leases I've been on where it was allowed is only one or two members are bringing guests. Lots of guests. They let the guests hunt separate from the paying member. They sit in your stands. Take a dump behind the stand. Leave cigarette butts and beer cans in the stand. Scent up your bow stands. Mess with your feeders. Shoot young deer that shouldn't be shot under the management plan. You know, generally abuse the privilege. That's why rules need to be in place and different rules work for different land owners/lessors. With the rules in place and enforced one can make an informed decision whether the lease is right for them to join. If not then move along to one that is better suited to your wants and needs. Who am I to tell Dan, or anyone for that matter, his lease rules are wrong. I like my sons to hunt with me too. If I decided to get on a non guest lease I would buy some weekend hunts to allow us to hunt together. As it is I choose to maintain two leases so that they can have opportunity to hunt and take game.

Just my 2 cents here....

I'm not sure why it matters who is "toting the bill?" If it gets paid seems to be all that should really matter there.

My father-in-law (60+ years old) hasn't hunted much in the last 15 years but I convinced him to break out the old deer rifle and make a couple of trips with me last season. He was allowed to shoot whatever he wanted and it would be part of my quota as a paid member. He unfortunately didn't get to shoot a deer but did get to shoot a nice boar.

Under your lease rules, my father-in-law would not have been allowed to do this (assuming he killed a deer) even though it would have been a deer as part of my quota...and this because of his age??? Same with my nephew (16 years old), I took him last season 4-5 times with the hopes of getting him a good buck...that would have forfeited me and both of my sons chance at a buck because it is only a one buck county. We were more excited about him getting a good buck and were all perfectly fine, as was the lease members....because I paid for that 1 buck and 4 doe regardless who pulled the trigger.

And you used the analogy of it being like a family paying for one buffet and everybody eats for the price of one. That's not correct as a deer "quota" is not all you can eat. There is a specific amount you get to eat and when it's gone, it's gone. Now that analogy is accurate if every guest and family member shoots off their own tags...buffet style - and for the record, I don't agree with the buffet style lease.

Someone mentioned it in an earlier post about the outdoors and hunting being built around friends and family, but I think some of these "trophy" hunters have lost sight about what's important in life...and it should be much more than killing a deer, or better yet, who is allowed to kill the deer.

Anytime I have ran across this issue with a lease member it always goes back to - they don't want a guest killing "their" deer....but then again, they don't want a paid member killing their deer either usually. It's always been a selfish greedy reason.

If you're fortunate enough to hunt period these days, you should be thankful and put things into perspective with a piece of humble pie every now and then. Better to give than to receive and I'll give every chance I get to the friends and family that don't have the same outdoor opportunities for whatever reason that might be.

With that said, I'm not ok with the guest that hunts everytime you do - but that's an issue with myself and my guest and if I feel like the opportunity is being taken advantage of. Even still, that is between my guest and myself and shouldn't have anything to do with what I paid for.

Good discussion! Texas Dan always has some good pot stirring threads!

Happy Hunting!

While some might say I like to stir the pot, it's really all about creating good and useful discussion on the hard issues that impact most if not all of us.

BTW - Please be sure and tell the QDM followers that you haven't seen me lately.

Agreed....and please know that my term "pot stirring" was not meant to be interpreted as a bad thing.

And as much as I am about friends and family hunting on a paid members quota - the friend or family member must ALWAYS be present with the paid member - on the property and in the hunting blind. No guest should ever have free reign of the property, whether they are hunting or not.

I never have liked this rule. my dad and I are always looking at leases and run into this alot. My dad just likes to go out and sit...never really shoots anything and if he does he's quite content with a doe,cull, or management buck. I'm a hardcore trophy hunter for the most part and have no problems giving up more deer and me taking the one buck for the year. But, tons of leases have this rule and it flat out sucks! It would be like outfitters saying " No sir since you paid for your son's/daughter's hunt I can't let them shoot the deer." granted some people abuse hunting rights but don't punish everyone for it.

The only thing that I'll add is that each member is strictly responsible for their guests and what their guests shoot. Only one guest per trip and that guest must hunt with the member (same stand). The only exception would be for purpose of shooting does and hogs.

We were always in a race against time to shoot our mandated does by the Dec. 01 deadline. If it were not for family members and guests helping out we wouldn't have got there.

Guest helped tremendously on our management plan by taking does and bucks that us members had no interest in. Over the years my brother and two of my friends took their personal best bucks off this place. Those bucks were nothing but mature/post-mature trash that the rest of us didn't want. Those bucks were sucking up groceries and spreading sub-standard genes...They needed killing. We had way too many mature, short tined/heavy 8's running around. Those bucks are good for one thing...busting up your trophy bucks while fighting.

If guests are allowed to run amok all over the place, shoot what they want and do as they please, then it would be an issue. A needless issue. A few simple rules eliminate this issue.

This lease i am currently is the first one in a long time where we can bring someone else. The owner does not care who we bring, but we can only shoot the limit of the guy that is on the lease. So, if my limit is 4-5 deer for me, than thats it does not matter who shoots it that is with me. I like it alot and thats the only reason I started hunting again. I can bring my dad which is 70 and let him shoot a doe or my wife. I guess it could be tricky if you had guys on the lease that went over the limit and let the guest shoot whatever. So far, we have not been shooting alot anyway.

Dangerous family your wife married into.

Shouldnt matter if it is off the members quota. Have always found it to get abused. Have also heard of no guest at all till after thanksgiving. Also heard once kid is out of school including college then they are due for there own lease membership.