About J. Wayne Fears

Back in 2021, I wrote a Food Plot Doctor column that addressed the many questions we get from readers who want to have food plots for hunting and the off-season fun of managing—but who do not have access to private land. The column explained how to find land to lease, hunt, and manage. Since then, I have heard from many who said they could not afford to pay the price of leasing hunting land where they live.

Going it alone can be expensive, not only for the land lease, but also foe the development and managing of the food plots. However, as many hunters are discovering, there is a way where several like-minded hunters can pool their financial and work resources to make a private place to hunt affordable. The answer is to form a hunting club to lease hunting land. By spreading out the expenses, it usually costs each member a few hundred dollars annually. New hunting clubs are organized all the time and the good news is that if they are organized and managed correctly, they stand a good chance of being around a long time.

Getting Started
Starting a hunting club is easy if the person doing the organizing is a strong leader and plans each step of the process. Some of the best clubs I’ve seen are small ones with only four or five members. They had their organizational meeting around someone’s dining room table.

If you already have a tract of land selected, then the amount of dues money necessary may dictate how many members you need. If you haven’t already selected a tract of land, then you can get as many members as you want and find a tract of land large enough for the group.

The secret to starting a club is more about selecting “qualified” members than it is about a specific number of people. Anyone who has a serious interest in hunting the game for which the club is being organized, can afford the dues, and is congenial with the other members, is a potential member. However, it is best to start out with friends you know and trust as the founding members and then slowly invite others to join after you are satisfied that their interests and abilities are the same as the founding group. Almost every hunting club goes through a weeding out process every now and then, but don’t do that during the startup if you can avoid it. Take your time and pick your members carefully.

Don’t have the land to manage your own food plots? Try forming a hunting club and pooling a small group’s financial resources. Together you can do great things.

The first organizational meeting is the most important one, as this is usually when the officers are elected, club name chosen, bylaws adopted, fees set, and committees appointed. Make every attempt to get all prospective members to attend. Prepare meeting notices in the form of cards or letters and mail them to each person, inviting them to attend. Select a date and hour for the meeting that will be convenient for the majority of the prospective members. State the objectives and purposes of the club. If a tract of land has been selected, give a little information about the land.

Before the meeting, decide on a temporary chairperson. They should be good on their feet in front of a group, and should call the meeting to order and get the proceedings under way promptly. The purpose of the club should be stated, along with details about the tract of land selected or what type of land the club will be searching for. There is nothing like the possibility of an exclusive tract of land to hunt to generate excitement in a new club.

Next, the temporary chair should open up the meeting for discussion, then call for a vote to confirm the desire to form a hunting club. If so, then proceed with the actual formation of the club, which includes the election of officers and adoption of bylaws, selection of the club name and appointment of committees. Organize the fundamentals of the club at this first meeting and set plans in motion to lease that special tract of land. If land has already been selected, it may be possible to set the initiation fee and dues at that time.

How much time has been spent preparing for this meeting will determine how much you can cover and not have the meeting go on for too long. I have been to several organizational meetings where the club was formed and operational by the time the first meeting was over; however, these meetings were well planned.

Importance of Officer Selection
Hunting club officers may be president, vice president, secretary/treasurer, hunt master, and safety officer. Acting together, they can constitute the executive committee. It is important that the officers be carefully selected to be good organizers, know how to maintain records, and have strong leadership skills. Particular care should be given to the election of the president since their contribution to the club goes beyond formalized duties such as leading meetings. The president will usually be the one to meet with the owners of the lease land, set standards for the club, and solve member disputes.

Pride in a Name
Club names suggesting the sport of hunting are most commonly used, but a name relating to some feature of the hunting land is a close second. I have seen clubs named for geographical locations such as Byson’s Creek Club, Polecat Ridge Hunt Club, and Sharps Hollow Club. Others have names of something that happened on the land, such as Five Shot Club, Ten Point Club, and Lost Parson Club. The goal is to choose the shortest name that your group will take pride in and will best represent them. Clubs with good reputations often have a waiting list for potential members.

Keep Member Cost Affordable
Keeping member cost affordable is most important; remember it was not being able to afford a private place to hunt that was the reason for the club in the first place. When considering the amount of initiation fee and annual club dues, the two things to determine are what expenditures will be called for by the club’s programs in a given year, and how large a membership your club will have. Expenses will include land rent, food plot seeds, fertilizer, boundary signs, possible clubhouse renovations, and utilities. The list could go on, depending upon the goals of the club. Once you have made a realistic expenditure evaluation and a determination of the members, then the dues can be set accordingly. Be careful not to set dues too high or too low. Decide upon a fee that will get the job done but not be a burden to the club members. Have a drop-dead date for dues payment.

	Forming a hunting club can be an affordable way to have years of private hunting, plus the fun of managing land for deer.

Sharing the Workload
Committees may be appointed to search for land to lease, get a wildlife management plan written for land already leased, or to design a base camp. Serving on one of these committees can be fun. By having committees, the president can get club members involved and keep interest high while getting vital jobs completed.

Next Steps
Before adjourning the first meeting, a time, place, and date should be set for the next meeting. Plan the date for your next meeting so each of your committees has time to gather the proper material and information, and definite activities can be acted upon by the membership. Be careful not to extend the time so far into the future that the members lose interest.

Good Bylaws Keep Problems Away
Have a written set of bylaws. Bylaws should govern the day-to-day operation of the club, and should be adapted to local conditions that affect the club, its size, its relationship with landowners, and its use of wildlife resources. Hunting club bylaws should address management of the lease property, safety, guest policy, hunting rules and regulations, operational committees, disciplinary procedures, and member-landowner relationships. Simple but well thought out bylaws solve many issues before they become problems. However, avoid overly burdensome bylaws. Many new clubs create too many bylaws and are unable to enforce them. It’s better to add bylaws as needed.

To Incorporate or Not
Your hunting club is engaged in an activity that has potential liability to third parties or to members, so there may be advantages to incorporation, especially if the club owns land or other valuable property.

A corporation has such advantages as more freedom from personal liability than other forms of organization, continuity of existence, convenience for members to pool their resources and efforts together, and a background of legal and administrative precedents to help it operate properly.

A corporation is a legal entity. All legal proceedings can be carried on by the corporation as a body. It has a well-defined legal status with all rights spelled out by statute. The corporation is founded on a structure that makes clear what the organization can and cannot do. Members are less likely to be sued as individuals for damages, unless gross negligence or utter disregard for society is present. Then only guilty members may be sued.

On the other hand, incorporation is usually not a requirement of most landowners, and the advantages of incorporation are by no means exhaustive. If the club has adequate liability insurance for the protection of its members and landowner, and wishes to operate on a relatively informal basis, the club may elect to operate as an unincorporated organization, as thousands of clubs do. In fact, most of the hunting clubs I have worked with are unincorporated and have had no problems. However, be wise: when organizing a club you should seek the advice of an attorney concerning the need for incorporation. It will be money well spent.

For many years I managed 500,000 acres of forest land upon which there were 220 hunting clubs. Those that followed these steps forming their club were affordable and successful for years.