ive been looking around and hunting 'clubs' keep popping up...what is the difference? People ive asked about it say to stay away from the 'clubs'...but why?

That's a good question, I was wondering he same thing. Anybody?

In my mind there are two clubs....one is a club identified as such, but really a group of hunters that has control of lots of leased land. I can see where this would provide some stability, and some issues.

I am also seeing some "clubs" where your hunting time/area is basically a time share for hunting. One I saw you bought "points" in the system, then your points could be redeemed for hunting, guided hunts, all-inlcusive hunts, or fishing, and different levels of animals/fish rated different points. That could be a nightmare too me, but I've neve rbeen a fan of the time-share idea either.

Does anyone on here remember the old American Sportsman's Club.

It got pretty big in the mid to late 70's and early 80"s and then just disappeared.

Had an ex Brother-In-law that belonged to it for a while, couple of years I think.

I never did check into it real close, but it seemed kind of high at the time.

If I remember right, they had leased up a bunch of land all over the state and the country, and you could choose what you wanted to hunt, where you wanted to hunt it, and when.

Seems like the problem the B-I-L ran into was being able to get on any of the places with in reasonable driving distance of his house, that he wanted to hunt, on the days he could hunt.

Some folks, especially in the east and north eastern parts of the U.S. have done clubs, both duck and deer for years.

Some like it and some have tried it and burnt out real fast.

Ours is called a "club", but it's a lease. It's been around for about 30 years I think. Between hunts, we do hang out at the termite infested cabin on odated furniture and complain about each other's choice in beer. That makes it a club I guess.

Honestly, my mind says a club is a bunch of freinds who hold onto leased land for a long time, keeping the same people together.

Leases are less structured, and you pay a fee, and normally have a set of rules to follow, but get to do what you want within reason.

Clubs seem to be more structured in that you pay to play, and that means you may be charged for a variety of activities, or added services in order to participate, and have more strict rules, than what a normal lease would have.

That could, and probably would include reserving your weekend stay, or stand in advance.

I've heard about some of the clubs, and would have to agree that a lease is the way to go!

Clubs seem to be gaining in popularity because they can run more people through, and take advantage of more revenue, by scheduling hunters on set dates.

Example, you have a group of guys on a lease who work all week, and may not hunt but only on the weekends, where as a club would schedule hunters to be on the property for every day of the season.

Kind of like the old day lease idea of years past, but with a fixed membership.

There are still some clubs out there. My mom worked for the American Sportsmen Club in the late 70's in Lewisville. Never knew what happened to them, like you said they seemed to disappear.

In responce to all which have some great points. IMHO I don't believe, and here again its only my belief, that hunting clubs will make a strong comeback after one of the afore mentioned went by the wayside! American Sportsman probably had more land under lease and in their control than any hunting club around on the North American Continent. There is so much money floating around this day and time that private land ownership is vast and not only here in Texas but everywhere.

Point being package hunting is by far the fastest growing sport for the individual hunter. While season leases are shrinking at an alarming rate. Land owners today are realizing what they've been missing out on and as bad as I hate to say it outside or out-of-state pressure on land sales is on the rise where about they are converting used to be leases and farmland into package hunting ranches.

I personally don't know of hardly any of the surrounding ranches that aren't selling hunting. Times are changing folks and for the time being its a costly venture to package hunt on most ranches. I think Randall and Lora (CHC & Campcook) are probably associated with a ranch that has some really good deals for package hunting. And when more ranches get this type of process on them we may see prices start to come down due to competition. My2cents

Dont know about destruction but it shure was fun for a little boy to travel around and hunt all over the place.

My experience with one particular hunting club was not pleasant at all , to me they resemble a pyramid scheme . The so called board of directors or the owners reap most of the benefits while operating off your dollar . I sat in almost two days of a week long orientation before gettin up and walking out . They'll show you picture albums and slide shows of some awesome animals that they themselves have taken or family members - most pictures seem to be the same people repetitively but not many regular members pictures more than once. The club I attended would get new leases that would not be available to hunt for club members for at least 2 or 3 seasons. The board members and family would hunt the leases before making them available to regular members. Once the land was available you would pick your top 3-5 places/dates you wanted to hunt but were not guaranteed to get to hunt your picks, only available land. Sometimes you would have a location half-way accross your state and only have ONE day to hunt it..during the middle of the week.
I personally knew two land-owners that leased land to this particular club and they said they'd never participate/lease to a hunting club like this again. Their complaints were mostly of "raped" or over-hunted land that was hunted almost every day of season. To my knowledge the club had several hundred members then and I would estimate thousands now.
Over-all it seems these guys get to "live the dream" in every aspect of hunting. They acquire the good leases for personal use without spending their own money, hunt them until they're tired of them, then allow the public members access to their left-overs and generally mis-lead members as to the legitimacy of the whole club's system.
If you had a kid hunting that would benefit from the experience and travel, or if you dont hunt seriously these clubs might work for you. Some clubs out there may even be legitimate, but I'll never try one again. Do your homework before falling into a scheme. Day leases and season leases are my choice. I will not mention any names of clubs, just be cautious with your club choices.

I have been in a club for a few years and LIKE IT. My club, TCHC, now part of American Fish and Game, provides access to a variety of game and locations. I reserve a spot for when I am hunting and then it is "mine" for the day.

It was especially nice last year when the drought dried up my tanks around Olney, so I focused on Whitesboro and Montague for the ducks.

There are some good ones out there - feel free to PM me for info.

Greg

Anyone ever tried the Fowl Play Hunt Club?

http://fowlplayhuntclub.com/default.cfm

Welcome to the THF.

Was any of that land located off highway 16 south of Graham between Rock Creek and Graford?

Thanks Randall
They had alot of land down in that part of the country , you know what the deer numbers were there. That pushed most of the deer towards the lake and on to the north where there used to be very few . Another area was northwest of Breckenridge ,one of my clients took a long term lease deal over there from a woman on 2000 acres , land looked great , had food source, water and plenty of good cover, just very few deer.After their first five years the numbers started coming back up,the next term they really got into a strict management program and they started to see a few good quality bucks again. The last time I talked to him he had taken a 13 pointer that scored 168 and had seen a couple more in that range. It's taken him a lot time, money, effort and dedication to get it back close to what it once was.

Good to know your still around.