AgEng06 said:

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While I'm sure that's a great story, it is unrelated to the onerous restrictions on paying lease members.

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Yep, the feel good story is great and I applaud them for having those hunts and providing those opportunities.

But it has exactly zero to do with any single rule on the ranch that the paying members must follow to a T or get kicked off. Zero.

I could host a youth type hunt on our place just the same, and while the horns aren't going to be anywhere close because of differences in genetics of deer - kids who don't get to hunt would be just as happy.

I have a place just down the road from these guys. I'm just hear for the popcorn and show. Carry on as you were!!!

I had emailed for the rules a few weeks back. I understand what they are doing to some extent, but.........

1). I don't have enough time to hunt to have to ask permission to shoot a 160" deer that walks into my feeder. I realize that the goal of both parties is to kill big deer. It's just very difficult to have fun doing it with all the restrictions. If you can sit there over 30 days per season it may work for you. And it probably will for somebody. I realized I just need to pony up and pay to hunt a good spot where I can kill a big deer without worrying I'm getting kicked off. The biggest problem for me was having to leave the rack if you kill a deer that does not meet criteria. I understand asking a guy to leave, but this is a little much for me. Just a crazy amount of rules.

I'll be that guy and say Gigem 1985 should be thanked and not criticized for posting his lease opening. It's not for me but there may well be someone who would want to try it out. One day I'll go back south. Just don't have the time currently.

I am too old to remember all those rules and by the time I went down my cheat sheet that I would have to have with me all the time to decide if it is a shooter, the buck would be back in the brush already. I really tried to read all the way thru it but got tired about half way down. It appears that the leases I manage don't have enough rules.

That's not a lease, that's a concentration camp.

So who approves Brad, Jerry, and Mitch's shooting decisions?

That's the real question that we all know the answer to....

This!. You read the rules and it states that any violation of the game laws can result in everybody getting kicked off the ranch. Then a few paragraphs down it expressly states that if you do X then you can't take portions of the animal with you which is a violation of our game laws.

Unless I'm missing something seems strange to have that in writing.

Could this be another Doss tale in the making?

Can't take a shed horn or arrowhead home either.

It's actually like hunting whitetail in Nazi Germany, not South Texas.

I'm out. I can't kill snipe if I can't hunt at night.

While I hope this doesn't discourage others from posting their lease openings, I am not the least bit surprised by the response to the rules.

The comments… the comments have me in tears

I would love to see these guys trying to take my antlers from a trophy I shot. Good ****ing luck.

Have to ask permission to shoot a deer. Permission to even show up. Grown men treating other grown men like children.

It'd be more drama than a Hooters staff meeting….

Good lord. I've hunted on the same place in Webb Co. since 2004. 10,000 acres and 16 guys. Around half are Aggies. We kill exceptional bucks and don't have have the bullsheet rules to deal with. That's beyond ridiculous. Straight up babysitting.

txaggie02 said:

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Good lord. I've hunted on the same place in Webb Co. since 2004. 10,000 acres and 16 guys. Around half are Aggies. We kill exceptional bucks and don't have have the bullsheet rules to deal with. That's beyond ridiculous. Straight up babysitting.

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Likewise, I've been hunting in Webb Co. for over 25 years. We hunt a low fence ranch. No written rules. Just a group of guys that are level headed and like minded. These rules are ridiculous. But I get that some people need to be told what to kill, because they can't figure it out for themselves.

Talk about serious micromanaging grown adults, no one wants to deal with that nonsense. It's like they expect the only hunters on that lease are kids or new hunters.

It may just be me but the whole 48hr notice and asking permission, as well as having to stick to your 400yrd or whatever out of supposedly 1000 acres/hunter sounds ridiculously fishy. Is that 48hr notice to make sure a weekend hunt or something else in your stand/area isn't taking place? What's going on in the other 990acres of "your 1000 acres" that you can't go set up another stand in?

Sounds like Brad, Mitch, and whoever the 3rd guy is as well as the ranch owner(s) have quite the gig going.

"As it is a request not a notification".

I'd really hate to be any of these guys children. Bet they're just as insufferable at home.

joerobert_pete06 said:

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ATX_AG_08 said:

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I would love to see these guys trying to take my antlers from a trophy I shot. Good ****ing luck.

Have to ask permission to shoot a deer. Permission to even show up. Grown men treating other grown men like children.

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I can tell you that the hunters do not need permission to get on the ranch. It is more of a curtesy, informing the lease bosses and other hunters when you get on property.

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Are all the rules selectively enforced, or just this one? The language requiring permission, not notice, is unambiguous.

After rereading the OP and the rules again, the amount of trophy talk, asking permission on which deer to take, the "community" blinds, and the 48hr notification of asking to come to the lease that you paid for makes me really think they're running a weekend hunt gig on it too. I wouldn't be surprised if their main gig is guided hunts or something and the leasees are just supplemental income and to help pay for feed, surveys, water, etc.

Also, is it a normal practice that leasees not go to the ranch owner or ranch personnel with questions regarding the ranch?

joerobert_pete06 said:

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gotsand said:

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joerobert_pete06 said:

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ATX_AG_08 said:

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I would love to see these guys trying to take my antlers from a trophy I shot. Good ****ing luck.

Have to ask permission to shoot a deer. Permission to even show up. Grown men treating other grown men like children.

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I can tell you that the hunters do not need permission to get on the ranch. It is more of a curtesy, informing the lease bosses and other hunters when you get on property.

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Are all the rules selectively enforced, or just this one? The language requiring permission, not notice, is unambiguous.

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Have to keep in mind, it's not your ranch and the owners use it for various reasons.

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I fully understand and support that. They can indeed do whatever they want.

However, you wrote that this rule in particular really isn't a "rule", just a courtesy. The language is perfectly clear to the contrary. Should that be the case with other "rules", it easily make can make a bad situation so much worse for those leasing.

In the end, I really don't care, but your response likely did more damage than good with respect to expectations on how a new lease holder might be treated.

bigF said:

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I had emailed for the rules a few weeks back. I understand what they are doing to some extent, but.........

1). I don't have enough time to hunt to have to ask permission to shoot a 160" deer that walks into my feeder. I realize that the goal of both parties is to kill big deer. It's just very difficult to have fun doing it with all the restrictions. If you can sit there over 30 days per season it may work for you. And it probably will for somebody. I realized I just need to pony up and pay to hunt a good spot where I can kill a big deer without worrying I'm getting kicked off. The biggest problem for me was having to leave the rack if you kill a deer that does not meet criteria. I understand asking a guy to leave, but this is a little much for me. Just a crazy amount of rules.

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it's actually illegal, and i'm quite surprised they have it in writing. someone would probably have a nice day in small claims court if they shot a 160" deer that was "confiscated" (stolen) from them.

So how often does somebody send a 12pt for Tom, Dick, and Harry to approve only to have one of them shoot it "from their own blind" within the next week or two?

johnrth said:

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After rereading the OP and the rules again, the amount of trophy talk, asking permission on which deer to take, the "community" blinds, and the 48hr notification of asking to come to the lease that you paid for makes me really think they're running a weekend hunt gig on it too. I wouldn't be surprised if their main gig is guided hunts or something and the leasees are just supplemental income and to help pay for feed, surveys, water, etc.

Also, is it a normal practice that leasees not go to the ranch owner or ranch personnel with questions regarding the ranch?

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This is EXACTLY what's going on. And it's not even very subtle.

Furlock Bones said:

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bigF said:

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I had emailed for the rules a few weeks back. I understand what they are doing to some extent, but.........

1). I don't have enough time to hunt to have to ask permission to shoot a 160" deer that walks into my feeder. I realize that the goal of both parties is to kill big deer. It's just very difficult to have fun doing it with all the restrictions. If you can sit there over 30 days per season it may work for you. And it probably will for somebody. I realized I just need to pony up and pay to hunt a good spot where I can kill a big deer without worrying I'm getting kicked off. The biggest problem for me was having to leave the rack if you kill a deer that does not meet criteria. I understand asking a guy to leave, but this is a little much for me. Just a crazy amount of rules.

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it's actually illegal, and i'm quite surprised they have it in writing. someone would probably have a nice day in small claims court if they shot a 160" deer that was "confiscated" (stolen) from them.

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I actually think a game warden would have more fun with the person confiscating the deer.

oh no doubt. but if i was in the situation, i'd take them to small claims. sue for replacement value that the the state assesses on WT. for a 160" deer, it would be close to 5K. plus add on lease fees, feed bill, etc.