Hello Gents,

I'm trying to come up with a guest policy that is fair for everyone on our lease. We have 11 members and 3000 acres to hunt. Each member is allowed to have guest but any deer shot is taken off the members allotment. Typically, guest only shoot does and hogs but members immediate family are allow to take a buck. The issue we have is with the house. Its comfortable max capacity is 8 so if we have more than one member bringing a guest the house can fill up quickly (sometimes leaving members in an uncomfortable position).

Some members have kids and some do not. This lease was started with the idea of introducing kids to the outdoors and hunting. With that being said, I think it would be unfair to the members without kids to say they can't have guest as well.

What are the guest policies at your lease (assuming your lease allows guest)?

We allow children to include sons & daughters in laws anytime. Grandkids and wives also. Dads and Mons not included here. All of ours are pretty much gone gone anyway. After that, we get two guests during season for two and a half days each - that's what it reads.

Not saying it's the "best" policy, but at our place the paying members always have first dibs on a bed. Guests get a bed if there are any left after the members bunk out. We usually have plenty of beds so most of the time it isn't a problem. I've also seen quite a few leases where guests are not allowed on opening weekend of rifle season or on the Thanksgiving weekend to limit crowding.

No guests during deer season other than immediate family that hunts off of members limit. Immediate family is wife and children, up to high school age. Single guy, or no kids that fit the description, we talk about it. I could bring my grand son. We don't want to bring guests, we're great friends and solid hunting partners. The times I'm there alone, that's alright every now and then.

I was on a lease that had a policy like what you describe. It only brought problems.

Immediate family are allowed as guests at any time. They shoot off of the member's allotment. No guests outside of immediate family allowed from opening day through the entire month of Nov. We don't have a house so sleeping arrangements are bring your own structure to sleep in.

Back in my leasing days we always had an agreement that anyone bringing a guest was responsible for providing quarters for them to stay in and all guests were accompanied by a member while hunting.

Cots and sleeping bags. Good enough for soldiers then they are good enough for "guests".

Thanks for the feedback. I can see why so many leases have a no guest policy. It's hard to allow guest and keep it fair for all paying members.

The lease my dad and I were on growing up was a lot of father/sons. If I remember right accommodations fit 8-10 with 12+ members and there were plenty of times where we were tight on space. Wasn't unusual for the kids to camp together or for family groups to camp when space was tight. In fact that was preferable to sleeping on the couch where you would wake up with mice chewing on your toes. Can't seem to remember anyone having an issue with it and for us kids camping was a whole lot more fun than staying in a crappy double wide.

Allowing guests is usually a bad idea, in my experience.

Did you just solve your problem?

I'd implement the new rule. You may thin your membership in a good way. I would be cautious of a member that didn't want to be a part of a lease if he could not bring other hunters. The goal should be to connect with the group, become friends with and depend on the members and form solid relationships. That's part of it. Members pay a lot to be on a lease, and I was never comfortable with all the randoms one of our members would bring. It was as if we were all financing a lease for this one person to bring a variety of hunters to. Not to mention that none of the people he would bring were vetted as we did with members.

I lean on the stricter and not all inclusive guest policy side. Guests can and do cause issues from time to time. Had one guy who wanted to put his guest's travel trailer behind his lil' cabin for all season. i guess he thought why pay for two slots when you can share one.

Bingo! For all you know, they may have been sharing the lease fee.

And then there's the "toofer" (two for one). The lease is 5k, two guys come along and want to split a membership, each pays $2500.00 and they promise that they will only kill one limit. Conversation over.

There are great men out there that really want to be part of a good lease that have a hard time finding a place. It's easy to be selective and find a solid hunter that doesn't have be shady about guests, sharing a membership, etc...........

I wouldn't join a lease if I wasn't able to bring my kids. What's the point of hunting if you can't teach and experience it with your sons? All leases I have been on have allowed guests. Any guest deer shot comes from the member's allotment. Some leases have allowed seasoned and vetted guests to hunt by themselves, others had rules requiring the guest to hunt with the member at all times. I don't ever recall a guest doing anything egregious, but someone's son hunting alone killed a buck on the no-shoot list that caused quite a bit of drama.

The only thing that pissed me off with guests was me not having my normal bed to sleep in the house. I didn't want to create a scene, so I slept on the couch that weekend.

A paying member on a lease should never be without a bed because guests are there, period.

We've allowed guest for the entire 10 years I've been on the lease and I can only think of one time where there was a minor issue. It's always been important for us to introduce kids (and even some adults) to hunting. It's only become a problem recently because we brought on some new members and we were pretty loose with the rules as it pertains to guest. The guys that had been on the lease since the start all had an understanding of what was appropriate and what wasn't.

All of the guys on our lease are stand up guys. We're just at that point where we're starting to lose some of the original members and need to put down some hard rules for the newer guys to understand exactly what's expected.

I already had a pretty good idea of how we were going to structure the policy. I wanted to hear from you guys to see if there were any ideas I was missing. I picked up on some really good points and appreciate everyone's input.

Although, I do get the allure of going to a no guest policy. We'll see how next season goes.

^100%

any guest on our lease must be with the member at all times including while hunting or being out on the ranch.

We allow direct family as guest OR one non family guest but not at the same time. We also stop all guest in mid december when the rut starts since we typically have more members at the lease during the rut.

Each member has their own lodging so the sleeping situation is not an issue for us. On average we have 3-4 of our 10 members be at the lease on a given weekend so that leaves room for guest without being crowded

The guest policy thing doesn't have to be the lease "boogeyman issue"; hash some things out with the consensus or at least lease boss and enumerate clearly what those things are. Maybe make proactive communications a requisite to limit or account for cabin accommodations weekly, etc. Go to a first come first serve basis on beds or promulgate that paying members and immediate family get first bed priority and anyone else must hit the floor, personal cots or tent it. Make that a first come first serve basis for paying members and immediate family. If folks buck the rules, remind them once and if they don't like it, show them "the train". Doesn't have to be brain surgery for things agreed upon.

Or, just don’t allow guests.

I've been on quite a few leases and the only real issues I've ever had has been the PIC sets the rules, I follow them, and others don't. I hate deer lease drama and do my best to avoid it, but dadgum. When I am told here are the bucks we don't shoot......I and my kids don't have very many weekends to hunt that year and all we see are those bucks that are off limits so over and again we go home empty handed (wasn't shooting does either), and then someone's guest shows up and shoots the deer my kid had to pass 5 times and it's hanging right in front of them.....not cool. Not a mistake, was intentional. Even better than that, a guest gets told he can shoot a trophy buck. Non paid member gets to shoot a trophy on top of the paid members trophy. The rest of us paid good money for the lease, plus feeders/blinds/work/everything else, and paid members are allowed 1 trophy. Now a guest gets to shoot a trophy for free (not his sponsor's trophy/his own for free). WTF?? The rules were clear, and once again I was the only one that was following them. It's one thing to bring a guest and let him shoot your trophy buck, that's cool. It's another thing to let one guest shoot a trophy outside of the lease rules, but nobody else can. Glad I'm on a properly ran lease now.

Nailed it. Members with the most family members end up getting more overall "seat time" and shooting opportunities for one price than those who fewer family members or who are hunting alone. It also points to why lease pricing is often based per gun so that anyone who carries a firearm and sits in a stand has paid the same as everyone else.

Never been on a lease where non family members could hunt. Most lease I’ve been on the paid hunters were the only ones there 95% of the time. Very little drama that way. I have no interest in a lease with 10 plus members with family and guests that I don’t know. Fewer people = less problems and drama and a better time at the lease. To each their own though.

HUH?

It's not hard at all. Set rules and f'ng follow them or get the boot. That simple. There doesn't have to be guest drama OR ANY lease drama.

Rules say your immediate family or a guest must sit with you, and here is what you're allowed to shoot per year. Has nothing to do with the size of your family, just follow the rules and all is fair for everyone. Not sure what you're talking about, again....

Far less drama when the one who wounds a deer that goes unrecovered or the buzzards find a few days later is someone who paid the same amount as everyone else.