Community Rules

Welcome to the Community Rules page. These rules govern submitting content to the community. We may update this page from time to time so please check it frequently. By registering or participating on the community you agree to these rules. By visiting this site you also agree to the Terms of Service. A link to the Community Rules and the Terms of Service can be found at the bottom of the website.

Refugeforums.com is a waterfowl hunting community where the discussion of hunting and the outdoors is encouraged. Criticism or discouragement of legal hunting activities and/or harvests by non-participants in the sport is not permitted.

Swearing is prohibited. This site employs a profanity filter. Please use appropriate language. Character substitutions, spacing, spelling variations or any form of modified spelling in order to get the word to pass through the filter is absolutely prohibited.

Do not post content, photos, or links that are sexually oriented, contain nudity, are vulgar, are obscene, or are racist.

Do not post copyrighted Content.

All fundraisers and raffles need to be approved by the advertising department. Please contact us prior to posting.

In order to use the classifieds section you must agree to the classifieds guidelines.

Do not post threatening content. Continued threats against a member, moderator or administrator will NOT be tolerated. Do not post as a means to threaten a business, product, or service.

If you had a bad experience with a business, product, or service in the hunting industry and intend to share your experience as a means to inform fellow members, the experience must be your own and not written on behalf of someone else. If the business you are going to post about is a sponsor, don't post it. The sponsors support the site. If you have a negative experience with a sponsor, take it up with the sponsor by contacting them directly.

Do not hijack a thread to begin an off topic disagreement with the original poster.

If you would like to report content that violates our terms and rules, please use the report post button.

Posting discouragement of permitted content is not allowed. If you are unsure if content is allowed, please do not post to the thread asking if it is allowed. Please reference the Community Rules section to learn if content is allowed. If it is still unclear whether the content is allowed use the report post button.

Hunting reports are allowed. Please do not share exact location in a hunting report.

Do not bash a sponsor. Sponsors support the website, enabling it to be free for our members. If you do not have a positive statement about a sponsor, do not say anything on this website. Do not hijack a sponsor's thread or attempt to take it off topic.

Public criticism of the moderators, administrators, and the website is not allowed. Do not post to ask why a thread was removed. Do not post to ask why a member was banned. Do not publicly complain about the advertising unless you are experiencing a technical issue related to advertising. Do not promote the use of ad blockers. If you have a question about the way the website is run, please contact the moderators via the contact us form or private message.

Promoting a Business
Businesses are permitted to list items for sale in the classifieds section.

If you plan to promote a business in any section other than the classfieds section, you must be a sponsor. If you intend to be a sponsor, please contact the advertising department before your register so we can set up a sponsor account. Businesses can not promote, reference, infer or imply that they are in business without being a sponsor. This includes references to having customers, and sharing examples of products/services with or without specifically sharing your business name. Non sponsored businesses have no opportunity, either openly or discreetly, to promote themselves on this website.

Businesses Providing Customer Support
The only time a non sponsored business can represent themselves on this site is to provide customer support. In an effort to offer our members the right non commercial answer, a non sponsored business that wishes to offer customer support to a member that specifically asks a question about their product/service must receive prior written consent from the site's advertising department by contacting us using the contact us link.

Members Suggesting Businesses
All of our registered members here at the Refuge Forums have an open policy to post about any product or service they find beneficial to others provided they are not a representative of that business. We all love a particular duck call, goose call, blind, or decoy. Maybe you've used a guide service that was great and you want us to know about it. This is a great tool that has helped many of our friends here at the forums. We must ask that you do not make excessive posts on one particular subject or group. If you are going to suggest a business that is a non sponsor, we ask that you do not share links to their website. Feel free to share their business name along with information on why you would suggest that business.

Pro Staff
If you are a pro staff for a business, the business must be a sponsor and you must be officially set-up as a representative of that business to list your pro staff information in your posts or signature.

Members' Personal Websites or Social Media Pages
You are welcome to share your personal website address or social media page, provided you do not sell a product or service.

Non Sponsored Spam
If you are not a paying sponsor at The Refuge you can not promote, reference, infer or imply that you are in business. You can not make references to having customers, or share examples of products/services with or without specifically sharing your business name. If by chance you do not already have a non sponsored business account, your account will be changed to a non sponsored business account. If you already have a non sponsored business account, you are knowingly disregarding our rules and your account will be deactivated.

Rates & Sponsorship Considerations
Discussion of advertising rates, purchasing, renewing, or discontinuing a sponsorship is not permitted. Should you ever deactivate your sponsorship, the advertising department makes no announcement of your choice and we ask that you do the same.

Non-Profit Waterfowl Organizations
All Non-Profit Waterfowl Organizations may post their website here at The Refuge Forums. Please follow these normal sponsor guidelines to submit the organization's info to us to get the website posted. Every Non-Profit Waterfowl Organization must also provide a 501(c)(3) Article that has been issued by the Internal Revenue Service. This is the only document that will be accepted as proof of Non-Profit.

PMs (Private Messages) and Emails
Please do not use PMs or email addresses here at The Refuge Forums to solicit your products, services, or websites. If you are asked about your products or services, it is fine to respond. Unsolicited PMs and emails will not be tolerated, and your posting privileges may be suspended.

Username/Screen Name as Business Name Non sponsors will not be allowed to have a Username/Screen Name to be too closely affiliated with a Business-related name. If a member has a Username/Screen Name that is considered too close to a business name, their posting privileges may be suspended until their username has been updated to a new name.

If you do not agree with these terms, please do not register or use this Service.