[HuntingThunder]

I have heard news that in my dad's and my hunting group have voted to kick out one member and his son. Now that they did this, without my dad's and my knowlage, the member who was kicked out is threatening to start a legal battle. He is going to do so because both he and his son have payed on the lease and should be allowed to at least hunt out the season. Also since he is the one who collected the money he would be the only one with proof that he paid the loan. The bad part about the fact that there may be a legal battle is that if there is we all may be kicked off the land.

HuntingThunder

[Mongojoe]

Seems to me that every member of the club, including you and your father, should have had a say and a vote in whether someone got booted out or not...and if the fella and his son had already paid their money, I'd think they should have their money returned, at least.... Under those circumstances I can understand why he is planning to hire an attorney. If it were me and I didn't get my money back, I probably would myself.

[HuntingThunder]

The problem was that we have a total of 7 paying members (i do not pay since i am still in school and can hunt with my dad) and 4 of those voted the two out. He also is the one who did the most work as far as food plots and such. My dad definatally wouldnt have voted him out because he is perhaps our closest friend in the group.

HuntingThunder

[deadeyerik]

If he paid his money, and did most of the work, What is the beef? I also think your dad should have a say in the matter, being a paying member himself. Plus it is a matter that should have been brought up before the season started. It's too bad cuz it just makes for hard feelings among friends. And if he is booted it should be after the season, or return his money.

[Mongojoe]

Just out of curiosity...but what was the reason(s) given for their kicking him out? ... Like deadeye asked, "What is the beef?"... If he had paid his money, and had done most of the work, which everybody in the group will benefit from, it seems that he would be the last person to be tossed...... There has to be more to it.

[model99er]

What for rifle and ammo does the guy use ??

Ya'll might think that's an "off the wall" sort of question, but I'd hazard a guess that in addition to working his ass off, I'd bet he is the best shot and/or most successful of the bunch.


99er

[chris112]

First of all get it confirmed if they decided to do this or not.

Personnally if I was a paying member and they started having meetings about things such as this without me (and all other paying members) being present it would be the last year that I would be a paying member. If they are considered to be legally a partnership they are all in trouble even your father.

Were the 4 that voted the member out the only ones present at the vote? If so they should be the only ones having to pay him (morally not necessarily legally). Bet if your dad tells them that they will start thinking that maybe they shouldn't have had that vote. A group such as this really needs to have a set of written rules to govern things like this. Some things should require more than a simple majority to be done. There will still be problems.

You already seem to know that you don't want the landowner to get involved. If that happens you will have trouble getting anouther lease within a hundred miles. 

[HuntingThunder]

Mongojoe, on 11 October 2009 - 09:25 AM, said:

Just out of curiosity...but what was the reason(s) given for their kicking him out? ... Like deadeye asked, "What is the beef?"... If he had paid his money, and had done most of the work, which everybody in the group will benefit from, it seems that he would be the last person to be tossed...... There has to be more to it.

Well, one of the members doesn't like to the guy to begin with and since he hunts near the guy and his son, when the one who is the leader in the movement to remove the other he blamed it on him. We do know that the time that there was a slowing down in the amount of deer the guy was seeing was the same time we had to change how we walked in because previously we walked across a neighbors property and now that that neighbor had a hunter there they don't want us walking in that way. Second is that we know that the guy's son (a paying member) does do some stupid things i.e. sitting in others stands without permission. This also caused tensions to rise. Also he leased a adjacent property because he, his son and his son's girlfriend's father wanted a place that they could hunt together and they say he tried to access this property through ours. He denies this and we have no reason to believe that he did this. He has also hired a attorney who tells him that he can continue to hunt on the property since the money hasn't been payed back to him. Another thing that probably caused them to be much less thrilled with him was the fact that last year he a Bad Boy Buggy and because of the declining state of his knees he would occasionally use it to travel up and down the hills. This is arguably even quieter than a person walking down the hill because of the fact that it is all electric and he only takes it down a clear tote road.

HuntingThunder

[HuntingThunder]

chris112, on 12 October 2009 - 09:27 PM, said:

First of all get it confirmed if they decided to do this or not.

Personnally if I was a paying member and they started having meetings about things such as this without me (and all other paying members) being present it would be the last year that I would be a paying member. If they are considered to be legally a partnership they are all in trouble even your father.

Were the 4 that voted the member out the only ones present at the vote? If so they should be the only ones having to pay him (morally not necessarily legally). Bet if your dad tells them that they will start thinking that maybe they shouldn't have had that vote. A group such as this really needs to have a set of written rules to govern things like this. Some things should require more than a simple majority to be done. There will still be problems.

You already seem to know that you don't want the landowner to get involved. If that happens you will have trouble getting anouther lease within a hundred miles. 

Well, yes this was was decided to be done. One of them now seems to wish he hadn't done this because of the financially ties to it. Also he claims to feel bad about the fact that my father is going to be dragged into it. My dad said to him "you will have to pay him, because you signed a sheet saying so." Meaning that when he signed the vote to kick the guy out he also said that he was willing to pay the money that he demands. He is not just asking for his money back now he also wants the money for the hours he put in working on the food plots.

HuntingThunder

[Mongojoe]

Sounds to me like some of those guys are just jerks (This is a family oriented forum so I did not use a "more descriptive" term.).... I gotta say that if that is all there is to it, and I were the guy whom they kicked out, I'd be wanting my money back too...plus...payment for my time, work, fuel, wear and tear on my equipment, and anything else I used or paid for myself, while I was improving the food plots and the area for hunting (If you work for someone else you should get paid for it.).... Sounds to me like they just let him do most of the work and then, when he had things all fixed up, they found some lame excuse to kick him out................. And something else... If the land owner has no problem with the guy using a "Bad Boy Buggy", then the rest of the group shouldn't either. I can understand the fella needing something like that because he is having problems getting around. I can't walk more than 30 or 40 yards at a time myself, using a cane, and I'd also have to have something like that to be able to hunt... Alot of people don't realize it or think about it when they are young and healthy...but age and a "few problems", or just one accident, can easily put anyone in the exact same position that fella is in, right fast in a hurry... Trust me on this, cause I know from experience............. Yeah, if I were the guy, I'd sue them myself, for everything I could get... And, if what all you have told us is all there is to it, I'd bet money he wins the case easily.

The smartest (and cheapest) thing the "club" could do at this point is to ask the guy nicely if he would just drop the suit and come back, and hope he does...and then boot out the goober that started the complaining and all the problem in the first place... Otherwise I'd bet that before it's all said and done it ends up costing the club a considerable chunk of money, both in attorney fees, and when they loose the case... And when that happens, all of the members will have to shell out to pay it off.

[deadeyerik]

Sounds like FUBAR to me.

[HuntingThunder]

FUBAR is that a common term I havent picked up on or did you just make that up.

HuntingThunder

[deadeyerik]

You are young aren't you. Watch saving Private Ryan.

[Mongojoe]

HuntingThunder, on 14 October 2009 - 08:09 PM, said:

FUBAR is that a common term I havent picked up on or did you just make that up.

HuntingThunder

"FUBAR"...like "SNAFU" (Situation Normal All "Fouled" Up)... is a military term. They have both been used for many years. My father, a veteran of WW2, used them. They were still being used when I was in the army in '70 and '71...and I'd bet money they are still used today... "FUBAR" means, "Fouled" Up Beyond All Recognition.

[deadeyerik]

May be too late now but seems to me the whole group needs to sit down all together and hash out some rules for everyone to follow.

[HuntingThunder]

Watched Saving Private Ryan and now see where it is used. Also it seems too late to sit down but the guy is back in the group for the rest of this year but likely wont be after then.

HuntingThunder

[Hands]

Hate ya'll had to go through all that. Like others have said, if you haven't done it yet, ya'll need to sit down together and come up with rules. Everyone can contribute, and you can even put in things such as "No using other's equipment (stand, for ex) without owner's permission", and have a clause that X amount of breakings of rules means you are out of the club, money be danged. (It can be made legal with a notary) then have everyone sign it. I've been in clubs with troublemakers (taking illegal deer)and they always X themselves out in the end, by breaking the rules.

Good luck this year! Hope things get settled down for ya'll.

[HuntingThunder]

Talk is that the guy will be back. He now has a different way to the land and the lease will likely be split at the end of the season. That is nice because then he isnt under the pressure of the group. Land owner got real mad but he just doesnt want conflict. The guy is back because of the lawsuit he threatened with.

HuntingThunder

[bythebook]

It's too bad this happens it really takes the fun out of something that can be a great experence. I have seen something like this happen around here, when people who you have done favors for and helped out all year when Deer season comes it's " don't you come on my ground or hunt in the same area I'm in.