delete

[Macs B]

removed after an appropriate length of time.

[WAcoyotehunter]

it might be  a tough sell in WA, where there is a pile of open ground already.  It would take a pretty big piece of private ground, in an area that offered a general season, to make it worthwhile for most folks

[Kpem]

 

It would depend on how much ground was available I would think and obviously the population of big game even available on that ground. As well as accessibility(is it rough terrain, swampy, rocky, thick undergrowth, ect. I would think given the right circumstances quite a few people would be interested if it gave acces for those less capable of taking advantage of the current lands available (kids, elderly, disabled, ect.) I mean people pay an arm and a leg for drawing based passes behind timber company gates, I don't see why some wouldn't take advantage of something like this.

As far as other hunters I can see it posing a problem with having too many on at one time, or time of the season, creating too much pressure on the game. If everyone is a club member they could all potentially show at same time or back to back. I think you'd be hard pressed to control that, at least for big game. Waterfowling and upland bird hunting id think would be pretty easy to manage on a first come first serve basis.

I like the idea especially for west siders. But I could see it being a difficulty to manage.

[bosshogg112]

about 4 years ago I ran into a guy in the field and through conversation, he stated that he and his son belong to a group kind of like you are describing.  I think it was like a $25 annual membership fee and the members names were drawn in a raffle to see if they got to hunt the property or not that year. 

[WAcoyotehunter]

that's great, but you have the problem of tags.... I suppose spike hunting would be ok for some folks, but if people are going to spend money they generally want more of a trophy opportunity than most WA general seasons offer

[The100Road]

So would this be considered a guide service or just grounds to hunt on like Weyerhaeuser?

[pd]

I will take the minority opinion.  This is indeed the future.  I encourage the OP (and others like him) to continue to probe this issue.

Perhaps I therefore quality as the Anti-Christ.  I don't think so.  Securing tens of thousands of acres of private land (this would have to come from eastern Washington farmers and western Washington timber companies) for hunting clubs will happen in this state, sooner or later.  The large expanse of public lands that we have are a blessing, but much of that has been taken away from us for hunting use.  To wit:

*The national parks (fishing allowed, but a blanket ban on hunting),
*The "wilderness areas" where access is allowed, but because the roads have been decommissioned, only the fit can access these areas,
*All public lands owned by King county (no hunting allowed, right?),
*You could even argue that hunting quality is adversely affected when public lands are opened earlier (and, with better harvest opportunities) to those groups with "ceded lands hunting rights."  I don't mean to start a war with this comment, it is simply a statement of fact.

My point is simple: Do not be surprised if the concept put forth by the OP becomes a reality in WA in the next 5 to 10 years.  I see it coming, very clearly.

[asmith]

When I lived in nazifornia and nevada, I belonged to wilderness unlimited.  It was a great club, with lots of private land to hunt.  Each piece of land, depending on size, only allowed a certain number of hunters at any given time.  We had waterfowl areas with permanent pit blinds and provided decoys in each blind.  It was really nice until they got greedy and started letting anyone join.  Had too many people in it and it became hard to get on a property to hunt and properties started getting trashed by lazy members. 

That being said, if the club had a good model set up, I would be down to join.

[JDHasty]

When I lived in nazifornia and nevada, I belonged to wilderness unlimited.  It was a great club, with lots of private land to hunt.  Each piece of land, depending on size, only allowed a certain number of hunters at any given time.  We had waterfowl areas with permanent pit blinds and provided decoys in each blind.  It was really nice until they got greedy and started letting anyone join. Had too many people in it and it became hard to get on a property to hunt and properties started getting trashed by lazy members.

That being said, if the club had a good model set up, I would be down to join.

Exactly why I am skeptical of hitching my wagon to such a scheme.  Oh, and I am not looking, I have more access than I can take advantage of at this time.  If I were looking though, my number one concern would be quality of habitat and then strictly limiting the number of members and having a zero tolerance policy for members who abuse or violate. 

[asmith]

Price is hard to determine.  Again, when I joined WU, I believe it was about $1500 to join, then you have yearly dues of almost as much.  But you have to have different options for joining.  Some people may only want to join to take advantage of small game hunting, others for fishing or camping options, others for big game.  Then you can have the all incusive, for everything, which is what I had in WU.  A new club starting out won't even come come to thise dues as they won't have the properties available until they start to get some income to lease more. 

[JDHasty]

Good points but the question still remains if youo found a club that met your expectations what would you consider a market value for membership.

I suppose 1,200-1,500/year for a membership that would allow me to take one of my kids along at a time.  I would not be interested in joining any club that allowed guests that were not members to hunt for any reason what so ever.   

[asmith]

Here in Washington, I would actually pay less.  $800-1000 for full family membership!  I only paid that much before for the unlimited pig hunting in cali and the much better waterfowl hunting. 

[kukusya]

I think it is great idea for WA. have couple spots for hunt like SW WA mostly elk bear and blacktail , and NE WA for waterfowl pheasant deer yotes. But have to be regulated on members numbers so we not overrun places or each other.  And membership may be star with beginners like us now, and membership can be grandfathered if it not  can go to anyone relative in group and then can be open for outsider. About price I think for family membership run 1000 +- 200, for individual 600+- 100. And i would like to see life time memberships be open too.

And personally I don't care about trophy's. I just want place with piece of mind, when everyone can have great time hunting, fishing, bushcrafting, camping. I'm meat hunter I want success for everyone. And I'm tired to see when you shoot an animal and it run off next 200 yard that other person taking head shot and claim that's theirs.

Sorry ESL

[boneaddict]

Is this similiar to buck run or the silver dollar.      I guess those you aren't a member, but do pay to hunt

[Taco280AI]

Depend on areas. What is the game population like? Potential size and quality? What habitat management is there? Would it just be natural wilderness or selective logging/clearing/farming? What would you do to improve our hunting, other than securing private land? How many members? What would access be like - have unlimited access or only certain days? Have to draw against other members for access? Would membership include all hunting and fishing or only certain species for a certain price?

"managed numbers of hunters based on the season and game type." How would they be managed? Would you limit member numbers? Or limit member access? Why would I pay for membership if I have to sit it out and not hunt?

Hard to put a price on that without knowing those answers.