I’ve wondered about these things before, never pursued joining or even asking questions...my feeling has always been that they start with a few guys who can’t afford an opportunity on a great place so they go find others to pool money and lease a place or two and grow from there. I’m probably full of it but have you ever joined one? Was it a good or bad experience? Why?

I’ve looked at a couple, looks like the normal process is a drawing of some sort for choosing dates and reserving places and first drawn gets first pick from a bunch of club leased properties. Clearly members who have been around awhile know which places are best, probably an advantage. No idea if it’s a truly random draw, assume it is.

I’ve leased several places, once a group of 4 of us leased a bigger place, went pretty well but I’m really no longer interested in group leasing. Maybe me plus one, more than that ups the odds for crap.

One time I found an ad somewhere, maybe here (it’s been maybe 10yrs ago) visited the place and got a really bad feeling. Advertised “family environment”...Camp was a dump, beer cans and crap everywhere, my stand and feeder was mine, yours is yours- kind of a “stay off my lawn” feel and last guy in the lease got last pick of spot, so likely crappiest spot. Even did some digging and found the original advertisement from the landowner and weirdly enough add everyone’s $2500 or so up and turned out that left just enough room for the two guys who started it to hunt for free.

That sorta soured me, don’t think I’d ever consider a lease with strangers and never, ever 10 or more but maybe that jaded me altogether. Hunting clubs may be an outstanding way to go.

Around here with limited public ground, you’re either leasing or buying ground with a few exceptions...I’ve got permission on three or four great places but that’s 25yrs in the same rural town.

Still intrigued by clubs, three I found have a ton of property leased and some in outstanding areas. Really interested to hear from someone who’s either in one, started one or was a member at some point.

Thanks.

My actual lease agreement is for about 15,000 acres with around 125-150 hunters. My “group” has 588 acres of that 15k. Our 588 is very much so ours. There’s never any change in reference to our property lines. We started with 6 coworkers/friends. We are now at 5 members. Two of us from the original group and 3 others picked up along the way from here on the forum.

Yes our stands are ours. No need for you to check my feeder etc. We do not do a lottery every year to chose stands. Once it’s your location it’s yours. These rules were put into place with several others in writing to establish the lease and expectations. We actually function outside those rules but if we have a problem we fall back on the rules. Our property does not have good/bad locations. Everyone is subject to harvest the same quantity and quality of deer. It does seem that every new member has wanted one of my stand locations. I hunt it very little and it is a high traffic area for deer with some very bucks every year. The fact that it’s farthest from camp with no one else coming around is the only reason for that. New people seem to think it should be available because I don’t hunt it much. It’s never been a real issue though since we have “the rules”.

In the end I think every hunting club has the opportunity to be good or bad. I also think when you get more members than can keep in touch with each other and develop some kind of loose friendship then you’re asking for trouble.

Usually more drama than a Telemundo Novella. Too many people. Rules that are expected to be followed by the newbies and overlooked by the long timers. 25% or less do all the work. Rampant theft of tools and equipment. Just me experience. Not saying all are like this. I’m a South Texas transplant to NE Texas. Very different hunting environment here. For that reason I choose to lease as many acres as I can afford with hand picked friends who are all committed to work hard, hunt hard, and don’t keep score.

Quoted wrong post

We might belong to the same hunting club because this describes my experience perfectly. I am new to the game, and this is my first club / lease experience, but it is my second year in the club.

I actually like having the same place from one year to the next and having stands and blinds that are owned by me. Makes it feel like "my" little patch of land. That said, I am currently looking for a small patch of land that I can buy and really make it my own.

I haven't had any negative experiences with the club though. My stuff stays where I put it. I rarely run into anyone else at camp, and when I have they have been friendly enough.

I literally drive to sw Oklahoma to hunt public. I've seen well over 20 deer in 7 sits. Seen 2 people hunting together in one sit all other times all by myself. If you live up there and consider what you've got limited I'd like to know what you'd call enough.

The best ones are small and only look for new members after someone dies or moves away. The worst ones are looking for new members every season because the high level of drama creates very high turnover.

Still, being a member of a good club or lease can be extremely rewarding, IF you get along with others well and value friendships more than antlers.

Im in a hunting club, or at least what presents itself as one. It's 35 hunters (allegedly) on a 3500 - 4,000 acre timber tract. It works for me because it's inexpensive ($875 a year) and somewhere for me and my dad to meet up 5 or 6 times a year and camp and hunt hogs. There's deer there, but I've not seen one in the daytime in years. Other folks have shot them though, but i just use it as a place to get away, camp, and hog hunt. I dont spend any time at the designated camp/trailer site as I like to camp in a tent, so Im not bothered by anyone or the normal drama i hear about when I run into folks out there. Everyone has been nice and friendly, no one on the lease seems to mess with anyone - but the locals out in East Texas have certainly made out with a few of my game cameras.
I've enjoyed it over the last few years, but there is quite a bit of turnover. The price is right, and again - good excuse to hook up with pops every couple of months and enjoy a campfire and cigars.

I have lived in SW OK long enough that I’m from Oklahoma now. Sandy Sanders WMA is the only public ground near me that’s even worth considering for deer hunting that I’m aware of. I leased 1500 a couple of miles SW of it, the place was known for mulies at one time but drought killed a ton of them and as I recall it’s archery only except for drawn hunts, think they didn’t even allow riffles for awhile (or shouldn’t have for sure). If populations have rebounded there would be few or no either 4.5 or 5.5 yr olds today, can’t remember which. There was exactly one mule deer buck known to be living on the place north of me that joins the WMA and he was shot 3yrs ago. The area really took a beating, lost at the very least one complete age class. I cannot speak to the rest of the state, if I’m traveling it’s going to have to be for a really good reason, maybe there are areas I’m unfamiliar with but most WMA’s with great potential are draw hunts. There’s another small one close by but it’s...well, extremely challenging for a variety of reasons.

Oklahoma may have more public ground for deer hunting than Texas, dunno however again, most great opportunities are draw hunts that I’m aware of. I’d love to know where you went, when and why. Maybe you know something I don’t.

There are tons of spectacular bucks shot every year that never make any record books near me. Someone shot a ~200” buck just last year in...let’s just keep it in “western Oklahoma” for example. Leasing a great place is very competitive and hard to do unless you’ve got an extra wallet or you know the farmer/rancher in my experience.

I’m moving north, to Woodward next year so I’m again on the hunt for a good lease or maybe a quarter section to buy. It took me 10yrs to find a good lease near a river with good numbers here and I know an awful lot of people around me now. It’s just tough to find a place with great potential anywhere because there are so many knowledgeable hunters who are years ahead of me in terms of familiarity with everything.

I know this is a Texas forum but I hear you guys shooting all the time right across the river, we’ve got three weekends/yr with a rifle.

With the move I started looking up north and found a couple of hunting clubs that have some large tracts along the Canadian river so I started thinking of that route again. This is by far the best place to find information from good, experienced and knowledgeable hunters that I’ve found.

Appreciate all of the feedback, think I’ll stick to the plan- make friends and look for a place for myself.