Deer prices / auctions??

The breeder market is down quite a bit from previous years but the buck market seems to be holding very steady. I would definitely say now is the time to be upgrading your herd. There are genetics on the market today for not a lot of money that will produce serious trophy bucks. As far as the buck market I feel it is up somewhat from last year and looks to be good for the next few years at least. As for the breeder market, every year since I have been in the business I have seen the prices be low in the fall and then increase substantially at the spring auctions. I expect we will see the same thing again this year. The does that are selling this fall will not be on the market for the same price next spring.

I think the doe market is adjusting to the quality of buck semen that is available. ie 5 years ago there were 5 to 10 top breeder bucks that you had to pay 5 to 10 thousand dollars + to get their semen. Therefore doe breed with this semen was a hot commodity, and you had to pay more than they were worth to get them. Now you have 100+ great bucks to breed to theerfore every one has and can buy great does so there price is down and will stay down.

not bad news but just the way it is. I hope I am wrong, but look at the other livestock markets and that is what you see.

Nothing ever stays the same - the industry and market is always changing. Too many people forget that what drives our industry is the hunting market. If that is down so will everything else. I believe the majority of breeders make most of their money selling to the hunting market. That is what pays the feed bill. If you can sell a little breeding stock as well that's great but it isn't what makes the world go round in the deer industry. There are 100's of great bucks out there to breed to so that money is getting spread around a lot thinner than years ago when there were a just a couple of top bucks. The same for auctions - there are many now so again - the money gets spread around a lot thinner.