Dave, that guy rubbed me the wrong way. We left 5 messages for him when we were lease shopping a few years back. And three of them were directly with his wife. Never got a call back. I asked him right to his face at the Big Buck expo that summer why he never called us back and he acted like he didn't know anything about it. Basically said he returned all messages and made it out like we were liars. I told him I was kind of glad becausse after seeing his rules, I didn't want to be part of it anyways. That's not a hunting lease, it's a dictatorship
If he is pocketing money off of running the lease, he needs to go to jail. The only people that are supposed to make money are the landowner(timber company). It should be in the bi-laws, but any member can request a financial statement of the lease. Any surplus money(which does not get used for gate repair, signs, fences, etc) is to remain in the account and go towards either a refund to the members, or a discount off the next years fee
The latest thing Foley is doing is taking property back under their control if the club that has it can't get all the money. You should have got a full refund as the lease isn't paid to Foley till later on in the summer
Wow,I can't believe that Dave. I never figured Billy to be that way. What happened to the club?
Well the guys that had no choice but to stay and some of them formed little group[s and leased some of the club land rite out from under Billys so called next year Deal that is just a thought rite now....he sent us this crazy letter that if we want our old spots back next year to be at the cook out with money and we will get our spots back from land that he does not even have until the people give him the money. Total BS. He is full of himself that is fore sure. He is scrabling to do something and if anyone gives him a Dime they need the scewin they get. He told me we were frieds that is why he gave back some of my money......I got news fer him, I would have been a man and told everyone the deal and they the members wood have voted on the thing. Not act like I am all that and basicly took everyones money under false pretences........I spoke to a lawyer and he had to lease some of the club property or he would have had to give back every cent. What he did is criminal in my book and he is not a friend after this sham= conman. He told me he spoke to a lawyer too so that tells me he is a thief and not a man to be trusted. This club has put money in his pocket for years and he tried to tell me he used 50K of his own money the last four years to keep it going. If my wife knew I was sinking 50K of our retirment money into a hunt club I would be homeless. What do you guys think about that BS statement.
Sorry to derail the thread from the OP but I think he needs to hear some of this stuff so he knows what to look for. Here is my $.02...
Up until last year I had been hunting on GA property I was in the process of buying. Long story short, I ended up losing the property due to my partners. (note to self, never purchase hunting property with partners). Last year I was looking for a lease but very skeptical due to all the horror stories I have read on the internet. I never found what i was looking for and $ was tight. I did end up talking with a club president in St George, GA just outside of Jax who had 1,000 ac and was looking for members. Fast forward to earlier this year, I ran back into the same club president, this time he was in control of 2,000 ac and needed 4 to 6 more members to make it work. My hunting partner and I decided to join the club but not before I checked with Legacy Wildlife to verify this guy had control of the property. I called in early April and Legacy verified this guy was indeed in control of the property.
Lesson #1, in the early part of the year, any yahoo can get control of hunting property with a minimal 10% deposit.
We were told we would have access to the hunting property by June 1 so we paid in full by June 1 so that we could start scouting, hanging cameras and picking stand locations. We started to meet other members and everything seemed on the up and up. We soon found out that the president was going to take down another 1,000 ac, we now had 10 guys hunting on 3,000 acres.
Lesson #2, I did not know at the time but I should of verified that the president made his June payment (remaining balance) to get complete control over the property before I fully committed
Come the opening of Gun Season the president was giving off signals that we would probably not be on this same site the next year due to nearby dog clubs wanting to lease the land from out under us. We were surrounded by very large clubs and it did make a little sense, plus the fact we did not have enough members to justify having 3,000 acres. Two weeks into gun season the president sends out an email telling everyone we have been kicked off the land, that our lease was "bought out" and he was attempting to get control of a better piece close by that we could all move to free for the rest of the season.
I would not settle for this explanation so I started calling all the nearby clubs and Legacy to get to the bottom of everything. Come to find out, he put down a 10% deposit with legacy to get control of the 1st 1,000 acres and then paid a 10% deposit to a nearby club to sublease another 2,000 acres. He then strung along both groups as he was collecting dues from everyone and putting them in his pocket. He never made another payment to either Legacy or the nearby club. Both groups terminated their leases at the same time and immediately leased them out to other groups for a large discount.
We are still chasing a return of 1/2 of our dues at this time. The only good that came out of this. I was able to meet up with 5 other like minded hunters who are all from Central Florida. As a group, the 6 of us decided to stay together. We called Legacy, told them our story and they made us one hell of a deal we could not pass up. Up until this time, my hunting partner and I always wanted to lease our own land and make our own club but we did not have enough true hunting friends to make it happen. Now we are founding members of Double Down Hunt Club with 6 members on 1,600 acres of some of the nicest timber land I have come across. As much as we hated moving right in the middle of gun season, to a man, every member is now glad it happened. We are so much better off than before.
Lesson #3 Don't jump into any deal without doing some homework and research. The members on here seem to know most of the clubs and can give you some inside info you need to know. And if you can, get you some friends and try to take down a piece by yourself. You will be glad you did.
Been in 3 different clubs over the years. All were different experiences!
The 1st was big lease, close to 40,000 acres some years. It was a hunting rights/ grazing rights deal. Always issues with lots of members.
The 2nd was a smaller lease of maybe 2,000 acres owned by an insurance/timber company, pretty decent bunch.
Last of all, the 3rd lease. In January I'll be celebrating my 21st year on the same lease! It's a small lease, 340 acres but it has been a real pleasure to hunt over the years. It too belongs to a timber company and we've had to endure timber operations for years, but all in all it's been a good experience. Same man has held the lease, members come and go, tried several sets of rules and have ended up with each of the 6 members controlling the same , equal size plot each year.
Over the years to economize, we've sold quail hunting right to certain individuals and also "horse back riding" rights. These specialty slots were with the understanding they were to steer clear of food plots and not be rambling the woods while people were in their deer stands. Never had an issue with anyone on this lease in almost 21 years!
Today, 3 of the 6 members are retired, of the other guys, one is a pilot, one is a federal prison guard and the other owns several resturants. We simply don't get in each others way and we respect the others part of the lease.
The only big issue I ever heard of was a member and his son always exited their stands about legal sundown and proceeded to travel out to the main road during this prime time, he was asked not to come back and I was invited to join the club almost 21 years ago. This little lease is about 2 miles from the house as the crow flies and little over 4 miles by road.
Treefarmer
