Question for the folks that have written lease rules concerning required off-season work days/weekends and mandatory year round feeding...how are the rules enforced and what are the penalties for noncompliance?

We are supposed to have year round feeding, but that's often not possible. We have tried the mandatory work weekends, but often times people can't make it due to other issues. So we stopped doing them. It's difficult to have off season work days and coordinate a time where everyone can be there.

The only main rules enforcement are for the big rules. We kicked a guy off because of numerous previous issues. But the last straw and main one being setting up a new feeder location with 398 yards of an existing feeder of another hunter and shooting inline towards it. He was told to send an email to the group before he put it up and confirm the new spot was ok, and he never did. Then when confronted about it, he declined to move it and showed no wrong doing. He pissed off multiple people with that move, including myself, and he was not invited back this year. Our lease has a group policy of voting you off the island and not inviting you back. That was the case with this.

In my opinion & experience when a lease gets to a point it has to have penalties & enforcement for things that should've been agreed upon by all members before joining the lease, it turns into a never ending mess.
Anyone not following through with what was discussed and agreed to when they joined, are given the boot.

Even though it is frowned upon around here, this is why a good lease boss / manager is important, he does the year-round feeding & off season work, he settles arguments & the butt hurt between members, he deals with the LO, cattleman or farmer and simple camp or base maintenance.
For this he gets his spot at least a very reduced cost or free, if anyone doesn't like it they are free to take over his job and he will pay full price or leave.


If you're trying to implement new rules on an existing lease, those that agree & follow through stay, those that don't leave.
Majority rules, even if the majority want no part of the new rules, you leave.

The only legal standing you have to enforce rules are the rules in the signed contract. Majorly rules will lose in court.

Marc, I don't think your post was aimed at what I wrote, but dang, if hunting lease rules get to a point that legality & court is even mentioned much less actually involved,,, as a LO I'm pulling the plug on the whole deal.
Everyone is gone, even if that means refunding their lease payment, pro rated of course.

IMO it has to be that way now to protect both parties.....too much time and money at stake.

Our society today has become mob rule and intolerance when people don’t get their way.

I experienced this myself when group dynamics change over time and majority wants it their way or the highway.....

Yea, just trying to get a feeling for next year. Everyone gets a coy of the rules before new lease year begins, mostly common sense and nothing remotely outrageous. I have the year round feeding in the rules but nothing about work days. Really don't want to add more to it but...

It’s always funny how members lives are so busy and important they can never make it down January to October to work/make improvements but come November they can be down weekend after weekend after weekend to hunt. And by funny I mean make you want to choke people.

Only way to make them come is make them sign a contract stating if they don’t make a certain number of work weekends they either owe the lease account money or they can’t hunt opening weekend or both!

You must be reading my mind!

We never can get everyone together for a work weekend. About the only group thing we do is take care of camp. Other than that, everyone is responsible for their own areas.

We have one required work weekend date included in our lease agreement. Anyone that doesn't show up owes the lease kitty $200. Payable immediately. This is the weekend we trim lease roads, fix feeders / feeder pens, paint blinds, etc. We use the kitty money for whatever is needed for the lease.

It is hard to find a lease of like minded people that do not mind working. I wear myself out trying to do my part, these guys are working fools.
The problem comes when there is someone that doesn't do squat. That person is not invited back.
The fact that you are on our lease is no guarantee that you will be on our lease next year.

Truthfully this topic has been discussed over many years over and over. It always boils down to what is the paying hunter looking for??

Do you want a no rules/bring as many guest as I want/shoot whatever I want lease? If so then there are plenty of those out there.

OR......... do you want a well run, managed type lease where the goal is to improve the herd and try to grow bigger deer? Neither one is right or wrong - no different from do you like Ford or Chevy?

We are fortunate in that our ranch owners do all the work - feeding, shredding, stands, etc. - so our members are not required to do anything except show up - cost a little more money for each of them but they love it. Nobody has their own "area" - stands are first come first serve -

Each and every member signs our written rules every year - our rules clearly lay out what you can and cannot do. They also state that the ranch owners and lease boss can remove them for not following these rules with no refund of money.

When the type of money that is being paid now days for leases there has to be guidelines IMO - otherwise it becomes a free for all and chaos - been there and done that - no thanks

If you do not agree with the ranch/lease rules/guidelines then do not sign on - go find a different place to hunt. Pretty simple IMO

I don't understand. What is so important that you have to have "work days". Mowing around camp? Everyone should take care of their own shtuff. I wouldn't want to be told I have to be down in 100 degree heat just to help do what, exactly? I take care of my own shtuff , no need for "work days".

It's a hunting camp. It's supposed to be fun. Now if you're required to keep your feeder full and protein too, I get that. What exactly does this 'work' consist of?

Depends on the setup. We laid water lines on two of our leases - one was about half mile long. Mowing, community cook shack and bathroom w/hot water, sink, shower, stand setup, food plots, etc., etc., etc.

I get that some places are little footprint/low maintenance but not all are like that.

We never had any written “rules” or issues because we all knew each other. If you need rules then the consequence of not doing your part and/or following the “rules” should be getting kicked off the lease. Either lease “boss” decides or majority votes I would presume.

Man, deer leases have changed. I blame social media.

I've only met one lease "boss" in my life that had the demeanor to put up with this kind of BS, and to this day I have no idea how he did it. I had the good pleasure of being a close friend of his. May he (and his sweet wife) RIP. The place was south of Ozona, right in the currently anthrax ravaged area. The fires went across it right before he died.

Only one of the leases I manage is private property- the others are timber company leases and most of our rules are geared towards not doing anything that would cause the timber company to have cause to kick us off. Only one of the lease has an actual camp area that I expect all the lease member to keep up. I live just seven miles from the lease so I don't stay at the lease but I will bush hog around the camp area to keep that beat down. I will mow along the roads but I expect the members to get with me if they want any mowing done in their areas, otherwise I stay out of every member's hunting area. I don't require year round feeding (not sure the reasoning behind this) but I feed year round just because it seems the east Texas deer seem to forget where they are if they are empty for very long. The way I look at it, if other members let their feeders go empty then maybe the deer will show up more at mine since I have mine going. I don't require work days because getting everyone's schedules to work together doesn't always work. If someone wants to let their hunting area go to hell as long as it doesn't affect the other member's then that is up to them. I guess I am lucky to have the guys I have- they all stay in touch thru email saying when they will be going to the lease and sometimes others will join them to work on some things together. Being on a deer lease is a personal investment in money and time- you get out of it what you put into it.

There are exceptional people in east Texas. You just have to hunt for them. Thank your lucky stars.

I think the main thing is to read and understand the lease, before you sign it. Every lease has a different dynamic of hunters. Some go often, and some may not go at all. Some will pay, just to keep their spot. This keeps the cost per gun down for the other members. Some hunters have jobs where they are seldom off on weekends. This benefits others, because it takes pressure off Fri/Sat/Sun, but makes it very difficult to participate in weekend projects. I manage a lease. The members have an assigned area of the ranch, and they can hunt it as they please. Some put in a great deal of effort, some don't. However, the ones that do, benefit from it.

We manage our own stands and feeders. We pick up after ourselves, and take care of our own campers and surrounding areas. If there is something that more than one member wants, those that want it work together and make it happen. We're generous and help each other. I wouldn't want to be on a place that needed to enforce a required work day.

What "work" is there on a deer lease?

Deer Lease "WORK":

Mow ranch roads
Trim trees along said roads
Cut and stack fire wood
Clean out fire pit
Mow camp area
Spray weeds in gravel around main camp
Put our rat poison
Fill corn feeders 5-6 times annually
Fill protein feeders 5 times annually
Fill turkey feeders
Fill quail feeders
Mow around feeders
Put out trail cameras
Retrieve memory cards
Weedeat around feed pens (So we don't get 5,000 pics of grass in the wind)
Fix fences around feeders
Clean out stands (Mainly the guys who don't think there's any work at the lease leaving food wrappers, coke cans, spit cans in stands)
Fix/repair stands
Hang bow stands
Add limbs to ground blinds each year (new camo)
Land owner favors (fix fence, fix water gaps, fix roads, trim other trees)
Projects: building a skinning shed, building a cover for water well, building an awning for sitting/parking atv's
Moving feeders/stands

Most all these things get done on an annual basis with the exception of moving blinds and feeders. On 95% of leases 5% of the members do all these things. I'm sure there are many many more things that could be added to this list.

I always like the hunters who like big camp fires, but never pick up firewood. The ones who tell you they are going to come down and help and then don't show up. Luckily, we haven't encountered many of these guys. Plain & simple, if someone doesn't carry their weight, quit worrying about how to enforce the rules and get rid of 'em.

I don't really want to get into selection process for who you hunt with, but that could go a long way to not having to ask the question at hand. From one who is down there bunches, so much of the fun in hunting is who you hunt with. A whole lot more is who you don't hunt with.

I do all of these anyway. Don't need a mandatory work day to do it either.

The rules always seem to start off as a good idea but I hae yet to be on a lease that follows its own rules.