I was up with a bunch of guys North of Decorah over the weekend. We hit spring fed streams early Saturday morning and had to work since even these streams were muddy. In the afternoon we hit a bigger stream, also stream fed, and got into some decent fish. Sunday the smaller streams were looking good and the fish were willing. Any stream with a big drainage was a waste of time, too muddy and too fast. 
You were more patient than i was! I fished one section, then on my drive to another stream, the massive potholes/washboard decided to break my exhaust pipe in front of the muffler 
so i decided to head home and fix that as no one likes hearing a straight pipe all the time, let alone driving one…
My brother and I just got in a new hunting lease on 398 acres. There are 8 members total. Two brothers are the main guys and have the say-so as far as joining. We liked the look of the property and were both deemed worthy so we are in. I asked how they decide who hunts where? They said the only thing they wanted to be clear up front was that the the two brothers have their regular spots and it would be up to the other 6 members to decide who hunts where in the remaining available spots. I’m just curious as to how some of your members handle this as to try and come up with something rather quickly as deer season approaches. By the way, it is a new group so we don’t know each other very well at all. My goal is to get along and have everyone be as happy with their spot as possible. Suggestions?
Best way to get along: Get your own lease.
Thats a LOT of opinions. Leases and other joint business ventures tend to be the quickest way to family/friend disaster…
Make expectations EXTREMELY clear – write them out. Make sure EVERYONE is onboard before acting on anything. Run it like a very well organized business…. And maybe you’ll stay sane… 
Do the brothers pay more $$$ then everyone else? The concept of them getting specific spots to hunt before everyone else on the lease doesn’t make sense to me. I think that you should value everybody’s opinion and respect others in the group but still be able to hunt any place on the property. I’m in a lease w/ a few guys on this site and we talk about everything before and after each hunt. We work as a team to benefit all in the group and there isn’t one spot that is considered “off limits”. At the same time we all have enough respect for one another to not step on another hunter from the groups toes if they have a buck going in a certain spot. Basically what I’m saying is; if you all pay the same and all have the same goals, you should be anle to hunt anywhere you want on that property. Good communication is key and helps make the season enjoyable and successful for all involved. 
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I’m just curious as to how some of your members handle this as to try and come up with something rather quickly as deer season approaches.
We ran into this when we were Bear hunting. The regular members of our group who drew a tag got their usual spots and the rest of us, mostly older kids at the time had to put their names in a hat and the stands were in another hat. A name was drawn and a stand was drawn. It was about the easiest and best way to decide who sat where.
I think it’s pretty risky to join a group of hunters that you know very little about. You might be walking on egg shells for a while. The best bet is to get your own lease as mentioned above. Deer hunting should be a fun time for everyone and should be spent with people you are comfortable hanging out with. I hope this lease works out for you….but if it doesn’t then you can chalk it up to experience and move on next season. Good luck!
Is this for bow, gun or for both? I can understand if the two brothers have their gun spot because it’s only for a few days. Part of hunting is tradition and memories in the field. They may want to sit a particular spot simply for that reason. However, it it’s for bow then I guess I don’t agree with it because it’s such a long season. Why can’t another hunter sit in that area if they’re not hunting?
I’ve leased several hunting properties with others for many years. Everyone is treated equal and no one has a right to a stand over another. Everyone has to get along and take turns. However, if a hunter did some scouting and seen a buck or got a trail cam pic of a buck in a certain area, then we will give that hunter the opportunity to go after that buck and stay clear of that area. If that hunter can’t hunt a particular day, then we ask them permission to hunt in that stand. Usually we don’t ask and if we do, permission is always granted. As others already stated above, setting clear expectations and ongoing communication is the key to a successful leasing relationship.
I hunt on private property. My buddy & his Dad have 60 acres and we have about 12 perm stands, all with side walls & roof. The owners obviously get their choice, and for the remaining we usually draw cards, high card gets choice of stand. Its really kind of fun.
My lease partners and I talk about everything we do. All decisions are made as a group. Knowone has special rights to an area over another. This goes for bow and gun seasons.
The only thing worse than getting into a hunting lease with friends or relatives is getting into one with strangers. I think there is a big chance here for something to go horribly awry. While it is a sizable area, how much of it is huntable? Just how many “spots” do the crown princes have 2,3,4? This just seems fishy to me, I hunt 160 acres private land with 2 other people during bow season. We all have our “spots” but if one isn’t going to be there the others can hunt it. We don’t even pay to hunt there but it’s a group thing. I would be very weary of this situation. It’s easy to place a stand 40 yards away from another guys stand and you don’t even know it’s there. Especially early season on a new piece of property. Not to rain on your parade, but you don’t even know these guys. There are plenty of people I know that I wouldn’t step foot into the woods with carrying a dull knife for various reasons. Good Luck, hope it works out 
I realize there is risk involved in jumping into a deal like this but my brother and I have been wanting to find some North MO land to hunt and decided to take the chance and try it this year. We actually both own private land in South East MO but just can’t seem to break the 150″ mark down here. As far as the lease we got in, there are 8 of us total in the group and they have 13 permanant stand locations set up on 308 acres with room for 3 or 4 more on 90 acres they just picked up this year. So even on opening morning of rifle season there will be as many empty stand locations as there will be occupied. The two brothers have been leasing from the same landowner for 13 years and it was a family deal up until this year. Story I got was a couple can’t afford it anymore, one is a teen and has interests other than hunting and a couple aren’t dependable so the two brothers decided to basically start over with new members in the group. They told all of us prospective new members that they each had their favorite locations that they have both hunted for years and they wanted to have dibs on those two stands on the days they hunted. If they didnt hunt that day, anyone could hunt there.It was sort of like they had seniority is how they presented it. I have scouted the land three times now and agree one of the spots they like looks really good but the other is just OK IMO and I actually found a couple other spots that look as good as the one I said looked really good. I’m a decent judge of character and I’m pretty sure I will be fine with the two brothers. They also seem to like and respect me so I’m not worried about getting along with them. Not to sound conceited but I know my brother and I are far more experienced hunters than any of the other guys in the group except for one of the other new guys who also seems pretty experienced. I have no doubt we can kill deer and have a good chance at some nice bucks as I saw huge trees rubbed up from last year and lots of monster tracks. One big plus is that my brother and I will be the only 2 of the group that hunt turkeys in the spring and only one other will black powder hunt deer in late December. Also, neither of the brothers bow hunt after the first week of November when rifle season opens and two of the group don’t bow hunt at all.
Here’s the deal… My brother and I could probably stake claims on areas for our primary hunting spots and the two brothers would say ok. My concern is that I don’t want to make the other new guys mad or whatever. I want everyone to have a good season and hopefully leave happy. I am looking for some suggestions as far as how something like drawing numbers to choose locations works out for you all and other possible ways to decide who goes where. Do you draw numbers daily, weekly, a few days running, for the whole season, ect? I have hunted with rifle hunting clubs before and most of them each had their “spot” the new guy that came into the group took whatever spot was open. We are supposed to have a meeting next week to discuss all this and I was just looking for ideas to take to the group. Thanks!
The best thing you can do, and I believe this was stated before, is to put the policy in writing. You would basically draw up a Charter, an agreement between the members stating the rules and regulations, clearly defined and leaving little to the imagination. A seniority system would work because the two brothers have already claimed stakes due to their “seniority”. Out of the other 6, who joined or was accepted first? They would get the next pick as far as locations. If there is a tie in seniority revert to age as a tie breaker or draw cards. If it is known that one person is not going to be hunting a specific day that stand should be open to the next highest seniority position that wants it and so on and so forth. It should not move up in seniority for the open stand, but down. If #4 isn’t hunting the stand should be open to #5 on the list, not #3. You could also draw cards for the season to determine seniority if it would make things more fair for everyone. Redraw at the end of the season to determine next years seniority, almost like a fantasy football draft. Just my two cents. Good luck and congrats on the new lease
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