Other Privileges
Deer Hunting, Fishing, Picnicking & Camping, Goose & Turkey Hunting
Deer Hunting
Every deer hunter must notify the Club Manager/Staff in advance of going deer hunting. The family deer hunting fee must also have been paid prior to the first hunt. Notice by phone, email, or text must be provided by 4 p.m. of the prior day for a morning hunt or by 12 noon of the hunt day for an afternoon hunt. The hunter must only hunt from the stand for which he has prior approval to use. A Member may give permission to another Member/immediate family member to use his “grandfathered stand,” but the Club Manager must be informed prior to such use.
Every deer hunter must notify (phone, email, text) the Club Manager/Staff when the hunt
is completed and he is leaving the club. The requirement to notify the Club Manager/Staff is for the
safety of all hunters.
All deer hunting at AVC property, either owned or leased, is subject to all NJ State Hunting
Codes and the additional AVC rules as follow below.
All those hunting deer at AVC must sign the deer hunting tree stand safety agreement and give our Manager the original signed copy before going a field. Please click the button below to print it out, sign and date it, then give to Mike.
Deer Hunting Tree Stand Safety Agreement
Deer hunting is permitted during the six separate seasons as defined by the State of New Jersey: Fall Bow, Permit Bow, Permit Muzzleloader, Six-day Firearm, Permit Shotgun, and Winter Bow that run approximately from mid-September through mid-February. The Shooting Committee will monitor the overall health and population of deer on club property and may further limit the harvest of Bucks and/or does. The Shooting Committee will provide as much advance notice as practical and post any additional harvest restrictions in Tailfeathers and the Clubhouse bulletin board.
Deer hunting is limited to Active Members, Provisional Members, Provisional Junior Members, Preview Members, Senior Members, Limited Members and Honorary Members and their immediate family members who are residents of the same household, i.e., their spouse, and children/legal dependents under age 25, and have signed the Members Release. Immediate family members must be at least 18 years of age to deer hunt alone. Any immediate family member under the age of 18 must be accompanied by the member in a two-person stand or in an adjacent stand (located in the same tree) or under close visual supervision by the member. If utilizing two stands, the specific location of the two stands will be established in advance of the hunt and only after discussion with and approval by the Club Manager.
Limited Members may deer hunt, but during the Six-day Firearm season are restricted to hunting
only Tuesday through Saturday. No guests are allowed to deer hunt.
No deer drives or still hunting (stalking) are permissible. Deer must be hunted and taken from an
elevated tree stand or a Club provided ground blind. The only exception is if the Shooting Committee
approves a special group hunt to help manage the overall deer population.
All deer hunting will be limited to “Grandfathered” or Club approved stand locations as determined by the Shooting Committee. A limited number of Active members who have grandfathered stand sites, may hunt from their “grandfathered stand.” A Deer Hunter who wants to hunt during any deer season should contact the Club Manager for stand availability on a day-to-day basis. Any Deer Hunter, with Club Manager approval, may provide their own portable stand and remove it on a daily basis for use only at the approved stand location (within a 50-yard radius). “Grandfathered” members, with Club Manager approval, may have a secondary stand location (within a 50-yard radius of their grandfathered stand). When a “grandfathered stand” member leaves the club or voluntarily retires his stand, that stand location reverts back to the club to be used as a future Club Stand.
Screw in climbing pegs (aka screw in tree steps) are not permitted to be used or inserted into tree sat any time for any purpose. This rule precludes their use for climbing up to or down from any tree stand as well as using such climbing pegs/screw in tree steps to hang accessories or another stand. All stands must be “portable”, i.e., a self-climbing stand, a ladder stand with access being via an integral ladder, or a strap hung stand with strapped climbing sticks that do not break the bark of the tree. AVC staff will remove all such climbing pegs/screw in tree steps on any existing trees or tree stands.
A particular club tree stand may be reserved up to 7 days in advance through the manager. The goal is to provide access to all club stands for all deer hunting members. No individual club stand may be reserved for more than two sessions (i.e., a morning and evening of the same day or evening and morning of consecutive days) in any week unless no other member wishes to use that stand within 48 hours.
A member and his immediate family, in total, may harvest:
- Up to a maximum of four (4) does in total across the various State of NJ approved seasons. The Shooting Committee will monitor the Doe population and may make in-season harvest adjustments.
- During the earn-a-buck season, a doe must be harvested first from AVC property before an AVC buck can be harvested. If you harvest a doe from other than AVC property, you must still harvest a doe on AVC property first before an AVC buck is harvested.
- Buckshot is not permitted. Only the use of 12g or 20g slugs/sabots may be used and in accordance with NJ state laws.
- A total of only two bucks may be harvested per family across all of the combined six deer seasons.
- The minimum antler size to harvest a buck is 3 scorable points on each side. A member’s child under age 18 and taking his/her first ever buck, may take any New Jersey legal buck. Such a buck will count towards the season and two buck member family limit.
- If a button buck is mistakenly taken during any deer season, it will count towards the member’s season and two buck family limit.
- If a buck is wounded/leaves a blood trail, but is not recovered, it will count towards the Member’s season and two buck family limit.
- Before a Member and his immediate family may hunt or attempt to harvest a second buck during any of the remaining deer seasons, at least one Doe must have been harvested on Club property by the Member or an immediate family member.
- All harvested deer must be checked in with the Club Manager or a Staff member to be weighed and/or examined before leaving the property.
The use and location of deer feeders is subject to Shooting Committee approval. Every effort
should be made to recover a wounded deer, but only on Club property. If you require assistance, please
contact the Club Manager or a Staff member. Bird hunting/stocking is the Club’s priority and the Staff
will provide assistance as soon as they are available.
AVC FISHING REGULATIONS
1. Fishing is restricted to AVC Active, Provisional, Provisional Jr Member (PJM), Preview, Senior, Limited, Nonresident and Honorary Members and their families.
2. Members and their families should use discretion in the number of times anyone fishes the Club Lakes to limit the stress on the fishery and provide an opportunity to other members. The maximum number of fishing visits per month for Lake #2 (the Middle Lake/Fishing Lake by the Point Field) is ten (10). There is no fishing visit limit for Lake #1 (the Lower Lake by Queen Road) or Lake #3 (Upper Lake/Duck Lake by the clubhouse).
3. All fishing in Lake #3 must be done from the shoreline only. No boats are permitted in Lake #3. Please note that during the first or second week in July, the club receives several thousand ducklings that are housed on Lake #3, hence the reference to the “Duck Lake”. To facilitate their acclimatization, neither fishing nor dogs are allowed in Lake #3 from the time of their arrival until the last scheduled duck shoot is completed. Please check with the Manager to see what that date will be. The Board will monitor fishing visits and fish caught, and may revise in-season limits.
4. Children and legal dependents of Active, Provisional, Provisional Jr Member (PJM), Preview, Senior, Limited, and Honorary Members age 18 through 24 and living at home, holding a valid NJ Fishing License, may fish alone with the Member’s consent. Members must contact the Club Manager/Staff to provide consent. Such dependents may also bring guests unaccompanied by a Member, provided such Guests are at least 21 years old, properly licensed, and have signed the age appropriate AVC Fishing Guest Release form. These releases are available to download at the bottom of this page. If your dependents want to bring guests under age 21, the Member or the Member’s spouse must be a part of the fishing party.
5. All Members must sign in before fishing and then sign out, recording the number of fish caught and from which lakes they were taken. This applies to all three Club Lakes. The sign-in sheet is located in the Fishing Sign-in mailbox on the entry lane by the bird cleaning building next to the Club Manager’s house.
6. Guests are permitted but limited to two (2) guests per boat, per member. The total number of persons in any one boat may never exceed the number of persons by weight, as specified by the boat manufacturer. Any one individual Guest is limited to 5 fishing visits per year.
7. Members may use their own boats or personal watercraft while fishing (See below for the mandatory measures/restrictions and cleaning protocols regarding ALL such personal boat/watercraft use). Personal boats/watercraft stored at AVC must have the member’s last name listed/painted in BLOCK letters on the transom. Only electric motors or oars may be used on Lake #1 and Lake #2. No boats are permitted in Lake #3.
8. Members may also use one of the club’s two (2) “club boats,” which are available and are marked “AVC” on the transom.
9. All boats must be removed from the Lake #2 dock area no later than the day prior to the opening day of our bird hunting season of each year. Boats may be stored at the AVC barn for the winter. Requests for boat storage should be made to the club manager.
10. Boats that have been used in another water way are not permitted without proper cleaning as noted below.
11. It is entirely the responsibility of the Club Members and their guests to comply with the State requirements of Boating Safety, including, but not limited to possessing the required number of flotation devices.
12. Only electric motors, paddles or oars may be used on the lake.
13. Only 1 rod per fisherman may be used at a time. Additional rods may be in your possession or in the boat.
14. All fishing is to be limited to artificial lures. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHALL LIVE BAIT BE USED ON ANY OF THE LAKES. For those persons fishing with plastic style artificial baits, the use of bio-degradable baits is strongly encouraged.
Use of Personal or Club Boats
MANDATORY MEASURES TO AVOID THE SPREAD OF INVASIVE PLANTS INTO OUR LAKES AND STREAMS:
As most Members are aware, over the past several years we have been struggling with the introduction of European Water Chestnut in our lakes. While we are currently keeping the Chestnut at bay, it has cost the club significant time and money to do so. While our current issue is with Chestnut, numerous other species of invasive plants are prevalent throughout the Northeast and can easily be transferred to our waters.
With prevention in mind, members wishing to fish AVC waters with their own boat/watercraft MUST COMPLY WITH THE FOLLOWING:
1. DEDICATE a personal boat to remain at AVC and fish AVC waters exclusively (Last name must be clearly labeled in BLOCK letters on the transom)
2. DEDICATE a personal boat to fish AVC waters exclusively, which may be stored off-site and transported only to and from AVC for use. Owners/users of such a boat will be required to provide a written certification to the AVC Fishing Chair & Club Manager specifying the boat’s sole use at AVC.
3. Boats that have previously been used in ANY other waterway/body of water are not permitted in our lakes without proper cleaning as noted below. After being properly cleaned, the boat shall be dedicated to use at AVC exclusively.
Members desiring to use a personal boat which has been previously used in ANY other lakes/waterways other than our AVC lakes MUST first contact the Club Manager, who will advise of the necessary boat, motor, accessory, etc., cleaning measures. This must be performed prior to transporting their boat to the AVC property. Written certification must be provided to the AVC Fishing Chair & Club Manager confirming that the prescribed cleaning has been done and that the boat shall be dedicated for use at AVC exclusively.
As stated above, Invasive species are EXPENSIVE TO ERADICATE and as such, the Board is dedicated to prevention. Violators of these Fishing Regulations will be subject to Disciplinary Procedures. Please keep in mind that members are also responsible for the conduct of their guests.
Harvesting of Fish
The AVC Board will monitor harvesting of fish from the Club Lakes. If the Board determines
that harvesting of any specific species is to be suspended, the Club Manager will post a notice on the
Sign-in book indicating that no further fish of that species may be kept.
All bass taken prior to June 15th of each year are to be carefully and immediately released. In
years where it is apparent that spawning activity is continuing past the June 15 date, anglers are strongly
encouraged to continue careful catch and release through the conclusion of the spawn.
All Bass caught on the Lake #2 (aka Middle Lake, Fishing Lake) must be released
immediately. Bass fishing on the Lake #2 is catch and release only at all times.
After June 15th, three bass between 10” and 14” may be taken per angler, per day from Lake #1
(aka Lower Lake) and lake #3 (aka Upper Lake/Duck Lake).
Other fish species may be harvested from Club Lakes in accordance with NJ Fishing
Regulations. As mentioned above, during the first or second week in July the club receives several
thousand ducklings that are housed on Lake #3. As you can well understand, neither fishing nor dogs are
allowed in Lake #3 from the time of their arrival until the last scheduled duck shoot is completed.
Guest Policies for Fishing
Fishing guests are permitted at no charge. Fishing guests must also complete the “Fishing guest
agreement and registration form” which is located in the green fishing sign-in mailbox and at the end of
this section . This release must be signed by each guest each time they come to AVC to fish, just as is
done when guests come to bird hunt. Any one individual guest (including a Limited Member or
Nonresident Member) is limited to 5 visits for fishing. Those individuals on the top ten of the wait list
can fish as a guest of an AVC Member for 10 visits per season. A minor guest must also have the
Minor’s Release signed by their parent or legal guardian. This two-page document is also listed below in
this section.
Picnicking & Camping
Picnicking is permitted at Lake #2 (Middle Lake) boat launch area during the non-hunting off
season for Members, their spouse and children/legal dependents living at home, age 18 through 24, and
their guests who have signed the appropriate Release.
Members may host a personal business or social picnic for 25 attendees or fewer at the
Middle Lake and/or the Clubhouse. Arrangements must be made at least 2 weeks in advance
through the Club Manager and requires AVC Board approval. There is a minimum $250 fee for
such a group picnic.
Outside entities may have a club member sponsor fundraising and other events limited to the
clubhouse parking area, the field directly north of the clubhouse parking lot, and the Clubhouse.
A detailed written proposal must be submitted to the AVC Board at least 4 months prior to the
date desired and satisfy the following:
- 1: A minimum grounds fee of $3000 be submitted to AVC Treasurer 4 weeks prior to the event.
- 2: COI naming AVC as additional insured to include wording “coverage is on a primary and non-contributory basis and waiver of subrogation applies”.
- 3: Deadline date for receipt of COIs from the primary entity and any/all participating vendors must be sent to both the AVC Secretary and AVC Manager four weeks prior to event or they will not be allowed to participate.
- 4: If merchandise is to be shipped to AVC in advance of the event date, all shipping, delivery & handling arrangements must be coordinated with the Manager. He can be contacted by phone between 7:00AM and 2:50PM Monday through Friday to coordinate the when and where specifics. The clubhouse can be used to store items but the driver/ delivery people must be able to deliver all items into the interior of the clubhouse. There are three steps that need to be negotiated from the parking area to the porch level leading into the clubhouse. A “drop ship" delivery cannot be arranged unless representatives of the primary outside entity are available to receive and able to move the merchandise by themselves into the clubhouse during the above hours.
- 5: If #4 above will enure, it will be necessary to ensure those items are covered under the COI and the primary outside entity will provide an indemnification agreement for use of the grounds and prior to taking deliveries of any such items.
- 6: No discharging of firearms, arrows, bolts, projectiles or any similar type items are permitted at any time before, during, or after the event.
- 7: Should clean-up of grounds be deemed insufficient, those costs will be billed directly to the sponsoring member.
Camping is permitted in the Lake Field at the boat launch area. Be sure to not block the launch
area for boaters. Please coordinate camping with the club manager.
Goose and Turkey Hunting
Goose hunting is currently not available on Club property. The only exception is if the Shooting
Committee approves a special group hunt.
Only Active Members are eligible to participate in the Turkey hunting lottery. All Turkey hunting privileges on AVC property, either owned or leased, is subject to all NJ State Hunting Laws. Turkey hunting will be done on a lottery basis held by the Club Manager and overseen by the Shooting Committee. The Shooting Committee will monitor the overall Turkey population on club property and may limit the hunting of Turkey on club property.
A Member who is selected in the club’s Spring Turkey hunting lottery is limited to hunting in his assigned area for any given day. The Club Manager will designate the club property into hunting sections and will oversee the rotation of hunters through these sections as appropriate. No guests may hunt or assist a member when turkey hunting. A Member’s spouse or a child/legal dependent under the age of 25 and who is a resident of the same household, may hunt with the Member either assisting or being the designated hunter using the member’s “lottery” designation. Another Active Member may assist a Member when turkey hunting.
Adult Guest Fishing Release
(18 years old and older)
Minor Guest Fishing Release
(17 years and younger)