Hunt Buck Prices - Higher, Lower?

It's just the end of September. Wait... Some people act like there are a lot of hunt bucks out there because it is to their benefit to say so. I agree with your thoughts about recent EHD outbreaks limiting the number of mature hunt bucks this year. Many more people are selling out this year because they are unable to find hunting ranches who will pay them an adequate price for their farms hunt bucks that supports feeding and upkeep of the stockers and their dams. Selling 200" hunts for 5,900 and paying 3,000 to the producer doesn't allow the producer to balance the books in any real world scenario. These margins are responsible for draining the life out of our industry. When that is realized the bleeding will stop. If not......the end. The terminal market price is the lifeblood of the producer. The preserves who are not raising their own hunt bucks are going to have it very tough in the near future.

I will add that it is very risky to buy bucks now because of the threat of EHD by bringing a reservoir host to the hunting facility and wiping out the existing animals. I personally wouldn't transport an animal to my hunting ranch until 14 days after a documented freeze from the originating location.

In many ways the producers are just as much to blame for the pricing. New people are encouraged to get in the business daily. Sooner are later you have an over supply of hunt bucks. There is no reason that I can see at this point for the price to be $5,900 for a quality 200 inch deer but the price is not going back to $20,000 either.

I had a guy that books hunts for preserves tell me last year that his client had a typical 200 inch deer hitting a feeder like clock work on a large preserve. A few years ago, according to him, that would have been an easy sale at $20,000. They started trying to sale the hunt at $15,000 and finally got a hunter in December at $11,000. This was in Texas. I read the talk on here also about the "smoking prices" in alabama. Well, talk is cheap and hype is expensive. There are plenty of sucker prices posted in alabama but very few takers. The prices here are good but not what I consider smoking. You can find plenty of 200 inch hunts for $12,000 and that price is under a lot of pressure. There is more deer that size every year and less, not more hunters. If you can sale deer on my preseve in Alabama for $20,000, I will give you half the hunt price and I will supply the deer. Offer stands!

200 inch deer are not everywhere for sure but they are no longer rare either. The same people who hype the prices in Alabama are the same ones trying to get newbies in so they can give them a dog and pony show and stick them. I was one of the newbies a few years ago. They can make auction prices look as good as they want too. Just pay attention to who the buyers and sellers are. When the circle buys from each other at auctions the price is high but when anybody else sales at the same auction the result is drastically different. Many of the deer that are sold at "smoking prices" in Alabama never leave the farm.

Brett

Thanks for your straightforwardness and for not sugar coating things. I think the majority of new breeders have very few hunt bucks to sell.

this is mainly because they are genetic raised deer most of the 200 inchers are only 2 and 3 years old let them grow to 5 or 6 and you will get more money JM2CW T&S

I'd agree, not many people would want to buy an expensive buck and have it die of EHD. Heck it could be another month or more before some get a hard freeze to kill the midges. I'd say most guys will try and shoot what they already have or have raised themselves and buy more later when guys start getting more fired up about hunting. It's not much fun sitting in a deer stand when its 90 degrees and the mosquitos are biting and the big bucks aren't moving.