wow just saw this and WOW!!! Was not expecting this at all. If I was a lease member now I would have a talk with the owner and get this kid and his friends and family off this place before he ruins eveything for the dad (the real) owner who calls the shots! unreal...

Now on my watched topics

I, and other members, contacted the owner this morning and throughout the day and we were all told this was a huge misunderstanding and we had nothing to worry about.

We are trying to get the member number down to around 15 to help ease some of the pressure being put on the Deer. There has been talk of doing of few different things - hell, this past weekend I was told they were planning on bringing in hunters from out of state for 10 day hog hunt packages - which would be a pretty sweet deal considering some of the dedicated hog sites we have up and running out there.

He swore up and down we didn't have anything to worry about and Tim misunderstood what he was saying, but this has drug on all day - if it was a misunderstanding you'd think it'd have been set straight by now.

This thread is VERY clear - the current 23 (not 20 like he keeps saying) members will be out and 10 gun hunters will be in. It's hard to misunderstand what has been said in this thread.

He also said that there will ONLY be those 10 hunters allowed on the property - but he's not counting the owner (his dad), himself, his brother, his ex brother in law and a few other members who currently hunt there for free - and those hunters are not counted in the 23 members, we actually have close to 30 hunters that have spots staked out.


So, we've already contacted dad, who swears up and down we don't have anything to worry about. I don't know who's blowing smoke up our rear ends right now...

best of luck, I would not go near this place after all this. unless like yourself who was already on it. Talk to the dad and see if you can get a long term contract for 5 years only makes sense after all of this that way you both know where you stand

go ask him to get something in writing for next year...if he dosnt reply you got your answer..

by the way turring your place into a rifle lease is gona be the worse thing you could do for a place around that area....the deer that are there now are there because its low pressure if you have the mature deer your talking about.....sounds like a snowball going strait to hell

After all this I wouldn't stay on it anyway!

My goodness.. If we can get a few more members and Jim to sign up on THF we can have a running "Days of our Lease" starring Tim, Jim, James, Jason, the freeloaders, out of state hog hunters, 10 mystery gun hunters and 21 other bow hunters . Has the making of a great drama series. We have a pilot and a full season worth of material already.

We should all chip in and get East on the lease too...would make for some great reading

23 bow hunters :p

I want Vince Vaughn to play me

I agree. Seems these guys are so hung up on the 'trophies' and they are at the point of trying to get in bow range to kill them is aggravating the @#$% out of them that they want to start shooting them.

What he's not telling you is we can use Muzzle Loaders during M/L season and there STILL aren't the number of deer killed off that lease that they want.

Well keep us in the loop and let us know what goes on. Sorry you all have to go through this. I hope whatever decision is made it is for the best for both parties. If not then ill be looking at the place 2nd weekend of January

lol just kidding I already don't like the place for some reason

Sounds like a big ol' mess to me!!

It is not a trophy lease. One deer that might go 115" has been killed on this place this year! And not a whole lot more have been seen... Trophy lease he'll no!! They ain't gonna get killed with guns either. And adding guns to a lease is not changing the mgmt program so wherever you drew that up at is BS...
The place is shot out so stop killing the deer and let em grow!!!

Yep, letting people shoot 65 lb spikes is not conducive to a "trophy" lease.

Sure it is. We were having this discussion on another thread today

Sounds like there is lots of bitterness from members coming from before this thread. Why you still there?

The same reason we are still watching this thread...drama is addicting lol

My honest guess is that they are hoping it changes

sure would like to hear the first conversation around the camp fire.

That would be funny im sure.

This thread has become quite interesting. I guessing could clear up the whole free loading Hunters thing. First of all, Jason should probably explain how much hunting I do on the place. I actually work in Ohio and have hunted the property a total of five sits over the poorest the years. And my brother Billy hunts in Llano and has spent about as much time as I have out there. The only other hunter that hunts on the lease without passing is Pete who works for my dad and due to my dad having limited mobility he allows him to hunt because he takes care of his feeding and planting. Over the Thanksgiving weekend I was approached by Hunters that want to eliminate some of the pressure. The only way to do this is to cut numbers. The only way to cut numbers is to raise the price. As for my hunting, or my brothers hunting. That's not gonna change. But I don't think my two hunts per year will create much pressure. It is time to find a solution that works for the property, if that solution can be made from the current members and it works then I will remove this thread and stop searching for other options. My responsibility on this lease has always been to make sure we have the spots filled, so if Jason is ready to solve my problem that has been brought to my attention by other Hunters. Then call me and we will discuss it. By the way the scenario about the hog hunting is a great idea. The only problem with it, is that no members will ever help ensure that we can put together the groups to subsidize least fees effectively. Seeing that I may have to organizer that task, I would love for Jason to give me a hand. Can't wait to see where this goes.

Sorry about the spelling. On my phone and the auto correct sucks.

Let's be honest here Tim. There are more hunters on this lease that do not pay than you mentioned. I know this for a fact and if you don't ask me in person and I will name them.
As far as the hog hunts go a big portion of the core group of hunters that have invested thousands of dollars in this place and feed/supplement year round have offered to help. Including Jason. There are a lot of us that have rv's, storage buildings, utilities, stands, feeders, and countless hours spent on this place with personal equipment that feel like they have been betrayed. If this is the way you want to conduct business and run your operation than so be it. But, by doing this you will not keep good members. Also, bow only leases are few and far between. That is a great selling point for the place. Gun hunters and bow hunters normally don't mix well. And, it's nice knowing you can walk around without worrying about getting shot. Also, a lot of us are on the place on a regular basis with our kids and family teaching them the art and passion of bowhunting and the outdoors. This is another huge reason so many are upset about waking up to this thread recently.
My thoughts on the whole deal is to whack this thread, stop worrying about your gun hunters and money, and talk to the current members that are willing to do what it takes to maintain and operate the place properly!
Do you really need a bunch of outsiders throwing their opinions in on something that doesn't even concern them? There are solutions to cut down on hunters other than adding guns to a bow lease.

WELCOME TO EAST TEXAS BOYS!!!

I know that all the 'core' hunters that I've talked to are all for cutting the numbers to about 15 or so and paying the difference - OR bringing in hog hunters off season.

Help - shoot, I've got one of the nicest hog feeders out on that place. Before we locked the door on the blind some of the new members were out there shooting at whatever directly under the feeder, there were 223 shells all over the place, and they shot the place out. We've locked it back down to a few select members because of that and we can go sit whenever we want and shoot a pig (I plan to go sit there Friday), but if you want to bring in pig hunters in the off season to help subsidize the cost, I'm more than open to letting them hunt that spot - and I'll keep the damn thing filled, just like I always do.

JT's right, I have my kids and wife going up there, my wife got into hunting THIS year, and I'm very passionate about BOW hunting. I could care less if I only get one or two deer a year, BOW hunting has made me a much better hunter. I've got a 5 year old daughter that can't get enough of shooting bows and a 14 year old that wants to get into it - so a bow lease is very important to me and my family, hell, just look at all the money we've spent up there.


Ya'll really want to fix this place, pull in ALL your core members and lets talk about this in the open. If nothing else, we deserve that with what we've done with that place.

I'll help anyway I can, and I'm sure a few others will too.

I really hope there's no bad feelings about all this - but you've got to understand what it was like waking up to this - we are planning on building a roof over the trailer this next year, and it would suck for me to spend that money then not have that place come May, which is exactly what it seemed like was going to happen. You may not care if we have a place to hunt or not, but you shouldn't let us spend a bunch of money out there if you know we aren't going to be around afterwards. And it's not just me, I know of a few projects by other members that are going to get started in Jan.

I can find another lease, it'll suck after all the time and money spent up there, but in the end it's no big deal - the biggest issue I see is the money thing above. You can't, in good conscience, let us do things if you are planning on booting us.