I type slow so there will be more posts before I get done making my post I would guess.
The best way to learn what it takes to have animals "good enough" to make the larger sales is to attend as many sales as you can. Take notes, jot down all the sale prices, take notes on what was said in the front of the room like, will rebreed, or guarantees on fawns or whatever. All those things help with the final sale price. But foremost is the pedigree of the animal or how it is bred.
As was said you can't take a really good pedigreed doe to a sale and breed her to ol' 3 leg and get top money. Now a days the bar has been raised so high you might not get in the sale with that doe bred to ol' 3 leg in the first place.
Like it or not people pedigrees matter in the breeding market. This isn't only about what grows big deer. It is about marketing and who you know
AND who knows YOU.
Over the past few years I and and a friend of mine would talk about this deer stuff. Breeding, feed, medicines, semen, auctions, and the like. I distinctly recall during one talk about 2 years ago when my friend said and I quote... "Guys like McQuaig, Billy Sage, the Walk's and those guys aren't ever going to buy from guys like us. Our market is the little guys who are trying to build a good herd like we are."
Now when he said that I was a little turned off by that. I felt kinda down and hurt by it. I felt I was spending good money and making good decisions with my breeding program, and my purchases. I felt I had put a ton of research and thought into each step I was making over the years. I truly believed I had not only a good doe herd, but an exceptional one. (Small in numbers but very high quality) I had raised some really nice bucks. (keep in mind this discussion I am referring to took place about 2 years ago) I had sent some 200" boys to the hunting ranch we are partners in. I had grown a 170" yearling. (again, keep in mind we were only breeding about 4 does each year back then) My point is I felt we were doing well all things considered. But now my friend says we would never sell to guys like the big dogs.
Well, I am proud to say that since then we grew some more good bucks. I attended many sales auctions, state meetings, and NADEFA meetings. I participated in the fly-in to Washington D.C. and I contribute a fair amount on these forums. I have always tried to help anyone that asked for my help through calls, emails, and this forum. In other words I was active. In the past 2 years I have got my name out there more than ever before. 2 years ago I made the decision to not only be serious with my breeding but my marketing as well. This past summer we were lucky enough to have produced a pretty special buck. My years of planning paid off with a buck with a good amount of antler on his head, and a pedigree that is deep, productive, and made up of blood that has a history of holding its value in the industry. So this past July I got real serious about my marketing. I attended the first auction ever held in OK and took along video of my buck along with his pedigree and pictures. I showed everyone I could corner long enough to get them to watch it. I followed that trip up with trips to the Ohio Trophy and Breeder auction, Indy Mid America sale, the Chupps sale, the Top 30 sale, the Midwest Select sale, and I took a trip to other states in late summer making farm visits. My only regret was not going to more sales like down in TX. Well that will change this next season. I will see ya down there Henry
What did all this do for me?
I sold semen from my latest big boy to Dave McQuaig, Craig Crystal, Billy Sage, Jake Yoder, Vern Yoder, and several other quality deer growers. I was also approached by several people with interest in buying my buck or half of him.
None of this is meant to brag. I am proud, but this is only meant to help others and encourage others to try. I hate that some get on this forum and try and run down those who have worked hard and built up their business. And in the process they discourage others from trying to be a success with their own farms.
I am here to say that if you try and make good choices you too can sell to the big dogs like Dave McQuaig and Billy Sage. (And no, not a single straw was given to a big name breeder to get them to use my semen. I did give a couple of straws to 2 different farms because I choose to. No offense to them, but they are not big dogs in the industry. I was just being nice is all.)
To those who choose to be negative and run others down, like a friend of mine says, PISS OFF!
