I have a lessee who paid for a 3 gun limit. The dad observes and has 3 teenagers. If the dad brings others to hunt instead of his kids, does that violate the intent of the agreement.

If he paid for 3 spots he paid for three spots unless it’s specifically written in the contract that the spots are for his kids. I think it’s somewhat BS he brings random guests but he did pay for that right. My concern would be how to regulate/know what game was actually taken since their were obviously more hunting tags being introduced into the mix. More lease drama lol

If the lessee agreed to a 3 gun limit then that's the agreement. Did you agree that teenagers can hunt without being part of the lease agreement?
I assume with a 3 gun limit the land is only able to support 3 hunters max.
Bottom line is you own the land therefore you make the rules.

Depends on what lease agreement states. If no guests are allowed per agreement then no one other than him and immediate family can hunt. If lease agreement simply states what each paid spot/hunter is allotted and guests privileges exist then more than likely no.

Most places I’ve been on restrict deer hunting to paid hunter and immediate family under a certain age. That’s normally stated clearly in the lease agreement though.

Depends on the specific wording in the lease agreement.

Great points

All good advice

Sounds like you you just need to get in touch with the Dad and discuss whether the lessee is permitted to bring guests
onto the property.

A good source of information for anything else that you may not have thought of that may need to be discussed before leasing.
https://agrilife.org/texasaglaw/files/2016/08/Texas-Hunting-Lease-Checklist.pdf
https://assets.recenter.tamu.edu/documents/articles/570.pdf

If not already I would strongly recommend having lease members sign a liability agreement including any guests they bring. There are lots of examples online for printing out or rewording from. A more detailed version is in one of the links above.
And here is a more simple one. https://deertexas.com/for-land-owners/release-of-liability-and-waiver/

Don’t let him bring guests other than the kids he agreed to.

There is no end to the [censored] he could bring otherwise.

As others have said, it depends on how the agreement is written. On the last lease I was on, each member was allowed a full bag limit. Guests were allowed but anything they harvested came of that members bag limit. IE: If my wife took a doe, that came from my total limit.

Only take game allowed for 3 hunters regardless of who comes out.

Wilhunt is spot on, but remember that which you allow for this guy will need to be allowed for everyone. That could get old fast.

It all goes back to, "What did you agree too." If all you agreed to was that he bought 3 spots, then he can bring anyone he wants for
those 3 spots. If you agreed to him buying 3 spots for his sons, then he can only bring his sons.

I agree with Wilhunt, make sure to specify how many animals can be harvested as well as how many hunters. If it is three hunter limits then you control the harvest regardless of number of hunters. Also, if you don't want 20 different guys showing up, then make sure to put it in the agreement what guests can be brought.

as others have stated, depends on what the lease agreement states ... could be specific names of those allowed to hunt and/or number/type of animals allowed to be harvested.

The lease agreement should have the names of the 3 hunters. And, nobody other than those 3. If a spouse comes and hunts, that would violate the agreement.

As said in The Godfather "Nothing personal. It's just business.".

Being a bit charitable never hurts either.

If the guy paid for 3 spots intended for his kids, and for some reason one can't make it for unknown reasons, I don't think it would hurt to let the guy have his hunt with the replacement... Along with a talk insuring he understands it's not going to happen again.

People are generally good willed, but if you give them too much slack they can also take advantage.

I don’t see what difference it makes who kills the deer. The man shelled out cash for three spots, he should be able to kill three spots worth of deer with whomever he wants to bring to kill them unless otherwise agreed upon.

This is why on our lease we do not "split" a spot between two people. We also have guest limits - either direct family or one non family guest at a time (not both) - any guest whether friend or family cannot be on the ranch without the paying member being with them including while hunting - I have witnessed way too many " mistakes" when non lease member guest are allowed to hunt alone or roam the ranch -

end of the day, as many have stated here already, any agreement like this should be clearly spelled out prior to the season -

Tread as lightly on leased hunting land as you would expect folk's to do if you were to airbnb your home for three months. Do not bring out all your offroad vehicles and set up a motocross or cross country event with the kiddos. Sight your weapons in beforehand. It is not a rifle range or the very first time a prospective hunter shoots a rifle. Clean up after yourself.......Please. Livestock happens, if you see a way to help haze them to where the rancher needs them to go help with that. See a busted strand in a fence, stretch and tack it. Office dwellers take no offense, just learn. It is easy if you do not have to make that ranch pay, day in day out. You are a guest. Don't be a butt..le. By the way I pay for a lease right on a ranch in Llano county but own a farm in Bell county that has deer although it just does not seem like hunting country.

If the man paid for three "spots" then he is allowed for the taking of three legal or lease mandated limits. Since he can only legally take one limit then the other two limits shouldn't matter who takes them. Now, if your lease rules only allow for lease members and family members to take game then he is limited to only his kids being allowed to hunt and that needs to be reinforced with him. If you have a guest policy then you have to live by the rules that were set up and allow him to bring who he wants to hunt. If that is going to be a heartburn issue for the other members of the lease then next year set up new rules to only allow family members, and delineate who is included as family, and let the chips fall where they may.

I think it really depends on the lease agreement and the spirit it was written.

Without more details - hard to provide input.

I've seen situations where the agreement stated NO guests - lessees only - however it was a very large lease (30,000+ acres) with 10 paid hunters and overrun with does and culls. The landowner himself made it extremely clear that guests - as long as they were shooters - were not only welcome, but requested the hunters bring them - otherwise he'd get huffy. I can't remember if it was MLD or not (20 years ago) - I was in high school and invited numerous times to come shoot does and culls (and I gladly did).

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