Bad Lease Experience LONG READ
I was asked for clarification on a comment I made in the "Silly Lease Rule" thread and figured i'd start a new thread so as not to hijack.
I was invited on an axis doe hunt at my buddy Ryan's HF lease near Blanco St Park. I didn't plan on sharing but I can't hold my tongue any longer Lol sorry for the long read but this was my first real experience with leasing and ruined it for me.
We had been planning our trip for a while and settled on a weekend. Requested that Friday off for work. The LO says "Nope, I need at least 2 weeks notice" despite nothing going on at the lease that weekend... Among the lease members, at least. (We suspect he had family there based on what we saw the following weekends). Pain in the neck but we shuffle plans around and we go the next weekend.
We texted him 3 times on Friday afternoon/evening so that he could reserve our intended hunting spot for the remainder of the weekend (1 of 20+ available) which Ryan had been throwing Alfalfa for a week. Never got a response.
We showed up extra early Saturday morning in order to secure our spot before everyone else woke up and met another lease member at the gate. He said, "Nobody has signed up for any spots. The sheet is still blank. You better go reserve a spot..." His smirk led us to wonder what was going on. So we went inside and reserved a SINGLE spot for the rest of the weekend. Everyone was still sleeping. Got our spot!
They literally had a sheet that listed all the blinds with boxes next to them to reserve morning/evening hunts for the next few days. I'd never experienced something like that. I'm fortunate to hunt family land and am unfamiliar with lease rules. Especially leases of this size. So again, I just followed along. I thought "That's a lot of blinds. This place must be yuge." RIFLE ONLY lease.
We get into the truck and start to head out to our blind that we have prepared for all week. Again, I lent him a trail camera to scout this spot. He fed alfalfa and sweet mix the week prior in order to get me on an axis doe.
LO runs up to the truck and says "I saw the sign in sheet. Those spots, along with this one, that one, and that one are already reserved."
Ryan said "Umm... no they weren't. The sheet was blank when we got here." Things didn't go our way and we were sent to a diff spot with which Ryan had ZERO experience. We were going in blind.
Without any warning to paying members, LO invited 8+ family members ranging in age from 12 - 30.. ALL hunting. ALL killing. He was giving them priority in hunting spots. We were HOT!
Ryan had never even been to the side of the ranch to which our hunting was now limited. Of course we got lost. Wandering around in the dark, shining flashlights everywhere, making tons of noise, we finally popped out of the brush at the feeder. Not ideal, obviously. Then we went to get settled in the blind. This is when I encountered the black trash bags on the chairs. Figured the blind hadn't been used in a while. "No. Rules are that you have to put the bags on the chairs after every hunt." No windows so I assume its to prevent owls and whatnot from tearing them up. CRAZY to me that hunters are forced to make that kind of noise before every hunt.
We were hunting a large, rolling pasture and the only animals I saw the whole time were literally at a full sprint from left to right. I never saw animals at the feeder. "Oh there's another one! Aaaand he's gone." As if they were running from something. A road maybe?
On our way from the stand, now daylight, we pass several blinds hunting the same field. These rifle blinds, throughout the whole property, are 300-400 yds apart from each other! If it weren't for the wind, I would've heard the late hunters driving past our stand on the way to their blinds!! That's what was running the deer past us. That and the sound of OTHER hunters removing THEIR trash bags from their chairs Lol I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Total disregard for hunting etiquette, safety, and common sense.
We went back that evening and didn't see anything but a small cull. I got the greenlight but I had a freezer full and a rut to hunt in Duval Co the next few weeks following.
Ryan went back the next weekend and it was more of the same thing. All LO family present hunting during the rut.
Needless to say, they'll be off the lease next year. I cant believe they (he and his dad) aren't demanding their money back already ($4k/gun). But to each their own...
I was hesitant to post the thread because I didn't want the LO to stumble upon it. After thinking about it, I'd almost prefer he did so he could realize how much he's doing incorrectly and how poorly he's treating his PAYING lease members. It's obvious this guy wants to have his cake and eat it to. He's cramming as many blinds as possible in order to collect $4k/gun while continuing to use it as personal hunting land for him and his huge family. Not to mention the literal hundreds of domestic goats (livestock) he has running around.
I'm all worked up about it and it's not even my place Lol Sorry for the rant. I feel better now
I was invited on an axis doe hunt at my buddy Ryan's HF lease near Blanco St Park. I didn't plan on sharing but I can't hold my tongue any longer Lol sorry for the long read but this was my first real experience with leasing and ruined it for me.
We had been planning our trip for a while and settled on a weekend. Requested that Friday off for work. The LO says "Nope, I need at least 2 weeks notice" despite nothing going on at the lease that weekend... Among the lease members, at least. (We suspect he had family there based on what we saw the following weekends). Pain in the neck but we shuffle plans around and we go the next weekend.
We texted him 3 times on Friday afternoon/evening so that he could reserve our intended hunting spot for the remainder of the weekend (1 of 20+ available) which Ryan had been throwing Alfalfa for a week. Never got a response.
We showed up extra early Saturday morning in order to secure our spot before everyone else woke up and met another lease member at the gate. He said, "Nobody has signed up for any spots. The sheet is still blank. You better go reserve a spot..." His smirk led us to wonder what was going on. So we went inside and reserved a SINGLE spot for the rest of the weekend. Everyone was still sleeping. Got our spot!
They literally had a sheet that listed all the blinds with boxes next to them to reserve morning/evening hunts for the next few days. I'd never experienced something like that. I'm fortunate to hunt family land and am unfamiliar with lease rules. Especially leases of this size. So again, I just followed along. I thought "That's a lot of blinds. This place must be yuge." RIFLE ONLY lease.
We get into the truck and start to head out to our blind that we have prepared for all week. Again, I lent him a trail camera to scout this spot. He fed alfalfa and sweet mix the week prior in order to get me on an axis doe.
LO runs up to the truck and says "I saw the sign in sheet. Those spots, along with this one, that one, and that one are already reserved."
Ryan said "Umm... no they weren't. The sheet was blank when we got here." Things didn't go our way and we were sent to a diff spot with which Ryan had ZERO experience. We were going in blind.
Without any warning to paying members, LO invited 8+ family members ranging in age from 12 - 30.. ALL hunting. ALL killing. He was giving them priority in hunting spots. We were HOT!
Ryan had never even been to the side of the ranch to which our hunting was now limited. Of course we got lost. Wandering around in the dark, shining flashlights everywhere, making tons of noise, we finally popped out of the brush at the feeder. Not ideal, obviously. Then we went to get settled in the blind. This is when I encountered the black trash bags on the chairs. Figured the blind hadn't been used in a while. "No. Rules are that you have to put the bags on the chairs after every hunt." No windows so I assume its to prevent owls and whatnot from tearing them up. CRAZY to me that hunters are forced to make that kind of noise before every hunt.
We were hunting a large, rolling pasture and the only animals I saw the whole time were literally at a full sprint from left to right. I never saw animals at the feeder. "Oh there's another one! Aaaand he's gone." As if they were running from something. A road maybe?
On our way from the stand, now daylight, we pass several blinds hunting the same field. These rifle blinds, throughout the whole property, are 300-400 yds apart from each other! If it weren't for the wind, I would've heard the late hunters driving past our stand on the way to their blinds!! That's what was running the deer past us. That and the sound of OTHER hunters removing THEIR trash bags from their chairs Lol I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Total disregard for hunting etiquette, safety, and common sense.
We went back that evening and didn't see anything but a small cull. I got the greenlight but I had a freezer full and a rut to hunt in Duval Co the next few weeks following.
Ryan went back the next weekend and it was more of the same thing. All LO family present hunting during the rut.
Needless to say, they'll be off the lease next year. I cant believe they (he and his dad) aren't demanding their money back already ($4k/gun). But to each their own...
I was hesitant to post the thread because I didn't want the LO to stumble upon it. After thinking about it, I'd almost prefer he did so he could realize how much he's doing incorrectly and how poorly he's treating his PAYING lease members. It's obvious this guy wants to have his cake and eat it to. He's cramming as many blinds as possible in order to collect $4k/gun while continuing to use it as personal hunting land for him and his huge family. Not to mention the literal hundreds of domestic goats (livestock) he has running around.
I'm all worked up about it and it's not even my place Lol Sorry for the rant. I feel better now
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