Non Drinking Clubs

[BeerThirty]

I also have noticed an unusually high amount of so-called non-drinking clubs in GA. Moreso than any state I've lived in. Probably because y'all still have dry counties down here and people still believe alcohol is the devil. I don't understand it, nor the appeal, but it's still none of my business. It's a free country and you can always find a different club if that ain't your mug of beer...

 

[j_seph]

I understand the reasons behind wanting a Non Drinknig Club pretty much but what I don't understand is how you'll be able to adress that when taking on members. For example, I want to join your club and tell you that I don't drink. But I really do and keep it hid. Do y'all just wait for the perpetrators to slip up?

I would wait for them to slip up, however if they wanted to get into a club even though they know the rules prior and then lie about it to get in then hide it once they are in I would say they were probably dishonest enough from the beginning that their character may prevent them from getting in or they would get the boot for something else from being dishonest.

 

[DynamicDennis]

Drinking and chilling= what you are supposed to do at hunting camp.

Drinking and acting like an idiot. Not so much, guess it depends on the people, and if they know when and how to cut it off.

 

[Danuwoa]

I think it all depends on the person. Some people can have a sack full and they are fine to be around. Some people are the type that you don’t want to be within the sound of their voice if they’ve had much to drink. I would think it would be a case by case thing. I personally don’t want to be around some idiot who is in the woods drunk. Too
many things can happen. And unless I know somebody pretty good I don’t want to be around them drinking. This is why I don’t do the hunting club thing. I have a very low tolerance for bull crap. Me and a couple of close friends hunt my place and I hunt public land by myself or with a buddy. To each their own. But the idea of the deer camp with lots of people and several of them drunk sounds about as appealing as a kick in the crotch.

Personally I don’t understand why being able to drink is so important. I go to the woods to hunt. If it’s just an excuse to get drunk I probably wouldn’t want to hunt with those people as they really just want a weekend get away and a place to party. I’ve noticed the Atlanta crowd seems to favor this type of thing.

 

[j_seph]

I also have noticed an unusually high amount of so-called non-drinking clubs in GA. Moreso than any state I've lived in. Probably because y'all still have dry counties down here and people still believe alcohol is the devil. I don't understand it, nor the appeal, but it's still none of my business. It's a free country and you can always find a different club if that ain't your mug of beer...

I for lack of better words inherited a club that I had been in for 25 years as a member and had the lease in my name. Thinking things would get better and it didn't. The alcohol isn't the problem, the problem are the ones drinking it. They would stay up playing cards and drinking until midnight or later. One guy drinking in the stand, falls out of tree and nearly bled to death internally. Had to leave time with my family on a Sunday to travel nearly 2 hours to deal with the situation. As lease holder IMO you are held to a higher standard with greater responsibilities than just being a paid member. Myself I pay for a club as a place to go hunt, get away from everyday life and wind down through the hunting and activities of it. If I wanted to drink I would go to a bar and do as such. Even the alcoholic drunk will tell you they do not get drunk or drink too much. Heck the guy who fell out of the deerstand was an "experienced drinker" and could handle his own and not a problem. He decided to let his backpack of beer down with his pull rope and carry his gun in his hand to climb down.

 

[transfixer]

I can understand the reasoning behind having a non drinking club, many guys cannot limit themselves when drinking and end up being obnoxious, or sloppy drunks, add in the proximity of firearms and things could get messy.

We've had our club a long time, 40yrs , we allow responsible drinking at the end of the day, after you're done hunting, and even then if we discovered we have a member who can't control his drinking we've addressed it with the member, and if they still don't moderate it then they have been out of the club, I've had a few over the years that I discovered were drinking in the woods during hunting hours, and have booted them without warning, if someone shoots a deer in the morning and decides they aren't going to hunt that evening, and they open a beer in mid afternoon, thats fine, as long as they know they aren't going to pick up a gun and go hunt that evening.

To me part of the enjoyment of deer camp is sitting around the fire at the end of a long day and enjoying a cold beverage with good friends ! Without that it just wouldn't be the same.

 

[HarryO45]

You lost me at fireball! I was all in until you brought up fireball.

FIREBALL CINNAMON WHISKY NEEDS NO INTRODUCTION.
If you haven't tried it yet, just imagine what it feels like to stand face-to-face with a fire-breathing dragon who just ate a whisky barrel full of spicy cinnamon. Live it, love it, shoot it – what happens next is up to you.

 

[HarryO45]

I wrecked my truck...

 

[Big7]

I can't drink. Doctors order or smoke cigarettes. I'm on my first nicotine patch. Put on yesterday. Stayed up all night. Them first round patches are pretty stout.

Stop drinking and smoking at the same time sucks BAD. I have to quit both if I want to live.

I do want to live. Got the genetics on both sides of my family. I want to hang around as long as possible.

As long as I can feed myself and wipe my own butt- I prefer to stay.

This life ain't even a nanosecond in God's time. I want to go home to my maker someday. That's permanent.

 

[Blackston]

This thread is almost as good as the one about telling your neighbor he can’t cut his grass opening day of bow season. Shouldn’t these men be able to have a club the way they agree on ? I’m a recovering alcoholic/ addict It sounds appealing to me

 

[NE GA Pappy]

personally, I don't care if you drink when you are not hunting. But if you have a weapon in your hands, I don't want to be anywhere near you if you have been drinking. To many things can go wrong in that situation, and when they go wrong, it tends to be a BIG DEAL. People can die kinda BIG DEAL.

 

[HuntingFool]

My club is no drinking. I have been in ones that allow it and there is always that one guy. I don't like drunks. I don't like obnoxious people. I sure don't like obnoxious drunks. Heck I don't much care for people. LOL. I am lucky enough to live 20 minutes from my club so if I want a beer I wait ill I get home. I am there to hunt. To each his own.

 

[MikeyD6]

As much as it would suck to not be able to crack a few beers at the end of the day, a non drinking club sounds good if I'm joining a club with a bunch of guys I don't know. I've had guys get violent on me for no reason at all other than they were just mean drunks. We could've been laughing and carrying on a few minutes ago, then they suddenly want to start swinging.

 

[BeerThirty]

I for lack of better words inherited a club that I had been in for 25 years as a member and had the lease in my name. Thinking things would get better and it didn't. The alcohol isn't the problem, the problem are the ones drinking it. They would stay up playing cards and drinking until midnight or later. One guy drinking in the stand, falls out of tree and nearly bled to death internally. Had to leave time with my family on a Sunday to travel nearly 2 hours to deal with the situation. As lease holder IMO you are held to a higher standard with greater responsibilities than just being a paid member. Myself I pay for a club as a place to go hunt, get away from everyday life and wind down through the hunting and activities of it. If I wanted to drink I would go to a bar and do as such. Even the alcoholic drunk will tell you they do not get drunk or drink too much. Heck the guy who fell out of the deerstand was an "experienced drinker" and could handle his own and not a problem. He decided to let his backpack of beer down with his pull rope and carry his gun in his hand to climb down.

I totally get it. Everyone really has to have the same mindset or else it ruins it for everyone else.

In my younger days, I used to be that rowdy guy who stayed up playing cards doing shots until 2:00am and woke up at 4:00 as a complete mess. However, so did our whole hunting party (but it was not a club, we hunted public land). It was somewhat of an expectation and rite of passage, as crazy as that sounds. And no one had a problem with it.

Eventually, it got bad though. One of the guys started misfiring his rifle. It happened once, we let it go. It happened twice, we gave him a hard time. It happened a third time and he lied about shooting at a deer. We eventually found out he was drinking hard liquor while hunting. My dad sent him packing and told him he was not invited to ever hunt with us again.

That is not me anymore. I'm lucky if I can hang until midnight, and it definitely doesn't involve shots. Plus, you have a whole new perspective on things when you bring your son to deer camp with you.

I will never have a problem with folks drinking as long as they are responsible. But, drinking while hunting is just stupid. And I totally support clubs taking whatever measures they need to for the best interest of their club.

 

[SC Hunter]

FIREBALL CINNAMON WHISKY NEEDS NO INTRODUCTION.
If you haven't tried it yet, just imagine what it feels like to stand face-to-face with a fire-breathing dragon who just ate a whisky barrel full of spicy cinnamon. Live it, love it, shoot it – what happens next is up to you.

Oh I know all to well what it is. I drank a whole whole lot of it one night about 5 years ago. I can smell it now and will gag. If somebody buys me a shot of fireball I'll quickly give it away.

 

[BeerThirty]

I tried fireball once. Actually at a wedding as a groomsman. Gave me terrible heart burn. The only thing I will take a pull of every now and then is either blackberry brandy or American Honey whiskey.

 

[Jim Thompson]

No issues as all with a non drinking club. Makes perfect sense that folks want to hunt with like minded people. Just tell everyone up front what you have for rules and let them decide. If you find a secret drinker, kick em out and move on.

Same with a club that allows drinking. State the rules, which a bunch of them include no excessive drinking or partying all night rules. If folks get out of hand kick them out and move on.

Personally only way I would be in one is if it was close to the house where I would be going to every evening cause I enjoy a cold adult beverage or 14 in the evening and am in bed by 10 at the latest every evening and the 1st one out of bed every day.

We've talked about it on here before, but I would be in a no little kids and maybe even no dogs, especially dogs that lay on the camphouse sofa, club too

 

[chrisn1818]

Some non drinking clubs are due to land owner requiring it. Land owners don’t want to get sued because you were drunk and hurt yourself. I am sure it has happened before. Sad world we live in.

 

[NCHillbilly]

I think it all depends on the person. Some people can have a sack full and they are fine to be around. Some people are the type that you don’t want to be within the sound of their voice if they’ve had much to drink. I would think it would be a case by case thing. I personally don’t want to be around some idiot who is in the woods drunk. Too
many things can happen. And unless I know somebody pretty good I don’t want to be around them drinking. This is why I don’t do the hunting club thing. I have a very low tolerance for bull crap. Me and a couple of close friends hunt my place and I hunt public land by myself or with a buddy. To each their own. But the idea of the deer camp with lots of people and several of them drunk sounds about as appealing as a kick in the crotch.

Personally I don’t understand why being able to drink is so important. I go to the woods to hunt. If it’s just an excuse to get drunk I probably wouldn’t want to hunt with those people as they really just want a weekend get away and a place to party. I’ve noticed the Atlanta crowd seems to favor this type of thing.

I think there is a big difference between "an excuse to get drunk" and a couple drinks around the campfire at night. Not everyone who has a drink is intending to get drunk.

 

[Danuwoa]

I think there is a big difference between "an excuse to get drunk" and a couple drinks around the campfire at night. Nor everyone who has a drink is intending to get drunk.

As Ronnie Van Zant once said, “I’ve drank enough whiskey to float a battle ship around. And beer. I’ve done it and I’ve done it well. For a long time. So I dont need it explained to me. I’m not a tee totaler now but I have plenty of experience with the stuff and what happens when groups of people are involved. As somebody already said, there is always that one guy. But in reality, it’s usually him and a couple of his
buddies. I’ve been in hunting clubs and seen it. Been there, done that and am not interested in having to separate the wheat from the chaff. Which is why I hunt my own land with a few close friends and public land with the same guys. To each their own but I’m not interested in finding out who can and who can’t act decent so I avoid the situation altogether.