What would you pay for him???

Thanks all this is a good tread! It's nice to see great input without everyone arguing!

Yes I agree Matt --I am glad I didn't start a war. I am just a small honest business person trying to make a few dollars. Well anyway this is what I came up with for the hunt prices in PA. I did a seach on the internet and found 4 hunting preserves in Penna. I took the average price of the 4 prices for a hunt for a deer that would score 160-169 The average hunt would cost 6348.75 now remember this price is based on the average of the 4 preserves. So lets round it to 6350.00 so I would get a selling price of 3175.00-3810.00 or rounding to 3200.00-3800.00 which would be 50% to 60 % of the hunt charge. So I believe I have come up with my selling prices. I am going to still watch the Ohio sale and the PA sale and see what the prices are going to be. I am keeping my list of rates from each of these hunting preserves for the future. Thanks everyone of all your help and Good luck to each and everyone of you with the coming up season.

I have to say that Steve has stated very well the way things are in this business. We chose to get into high end genetics and hope that we grew a few elite scoring bucks and that the "duds" would be high priced shooters in the 180" and above category. Reality is that only a handful of breeders can command the super high prices for breeding stock. The fact that some of these prices are rigged by friends helping friends is frustrating but a fact of life in the industry. I still believe that the smartest way to go is to buy the best genetics you can afford, and don't overlook the super deals you can get from the little guys with top genetics. You will soon find that you have high scoring bucks that more than pay for themselves at the shooter auctions. And you never know, you may grow something that attracts the attention of the big guys and hit a real good payday once in a while.

Barr's first of all if your a small HONEST business your already in an elite group . Lots of bullcrap goes on in this deer farming thats for sure . Sometimes the prices paid for shooter may seem low for the care and attention you have in an animals but in my book it's still much better than raising beef. Tried that for awhile and $1,000.00 for a beefer is GREAT money and they eat tons more feed ..lol Stevel hit the nail on the head very few get into that big money breeding stock and theres some inside bidding going on in some sales so watch that and use your best judgement. Plan to sell shooters and if something special happens then it's just iceing on the cake . Just a thought !!

Wooden Acres--Not to sure what you mean by "first of all if your a small HONEST business" it seems your responses are not so nice some times. Your first reply--you had to make a dig--by saying something about selling this deer as a breeder and paying that much for one and going on line and purchasing straws. I never once said any thing about selling this buck as a breeder buck my question was about shooters. And now you question about being and HONEST person. You really should read the posting more carefully before giving digs at people. I am first of all a HONEST person--I treat people as I would want to be treated. Also if I do anything that is not honest I have always felt it would come back and bite me in the rearend. My husband feels the same way. I post questions on here to get advice from other deer farmers not to start a war about something or get digged at. Every else that has responsed to my posting has be very helpful and supportive which I am grateful for. For the most part this has been a nice thread. Just my toughts



On another note: My husband and I are just planning on raising only shooters and if something special happens then yes it will be icening on the cake. I do believe that some bullcrap goes on and when my gut feeling tells me to walk away I walk away. I not only deal with the deer business I also deal in the horse business so if you want to talk about bullcrap going on you should try the horse business.

Barr's you took my reply all wrong . I meant if your honest your already in an elite group , the GOOD group . Elite means the CHOICE OR BEST CLASS OF PEOPLE !! Look it up ! We need more HONEST deer people there are already to many dishonest ones . I meant that in a very very good way and in no way meant it as any kind of dig ! HONEST IS GOOD ! Also I know you never meantioned selling your buck as a breeder I only meant many of us are stuck so to speak in the shooter markets me included so the lower prices are something we just need to live with. Hey I broke horses for a living once and just gave my old cutting horse away , so ya I know that business all to well too . Many a good race horse has come from just east of my place including one heck of a great trainer DuWayne Lucas himself . I'm sorry you took my posts as a type of dig , but I meant them in a very complementry way !! If your honest your ELITE !!! Just a thought ...

Wooden Acres-Sorry if I took your replies the wrong way.

Barr's hey thats ok but honestly I meant you the very best ! I'll always favor the small or large HONEST producers over the farms that seem to pull everything and anything on other deer farmers. Beleive me I've been HAD way to many times and had by those that get on here and do nothing but brag up their deer and how wonderful they do business . The deer business often reminds me of a saying in the movie Gladiator . "Win the crowd and you win your freedom "!! Yup win the crowd in this business and you win the opportunity to shaft buyers and get away with it , everyone will believe you did the right thing. Do business with those you trust and I mean TRUST . Ask questions when buying animals and ask lots of them !! There really are some wonderful good honest people raiseing and selling deer and they'll do their very best to give you a great deal and see to it both you as the buyer as well as they as a seller both are happy in the end . I don't mean to sound harsh over the deer business as I really really enjoy it and have met some of the best people in the world , but in 30 years in the cattle business I haven't been shafted or had no where near as much as my 7 years in this business . Learn how to AI your deer and you'll be amazed at how fast your genetic's will take off ! Sorry for the way I came across to you , I didn't mean to . Just my thoughts..

New to AI going to try it this year. I can normally tell if a person is giving me BS or not. One of the reasons why I am so honest is that this is my deer farm and I don't want to get a bad name for my farm. I want to make sure that my name is out there and it is all good talk when the farm name comes up. So far the deer farmers I have done business with have been all good experances.

Barrs, i pretty good judge For Bs,also,if you stick around you will find Ole ross,Speak with a true tongue,tells it like it is,wished was more like him,we get burned from jumping into things, for the homework, honest people trust all,(once). and it only takes once,DC

I'd pay right $2250 now if he was is TX

$2250 is more in line than $3200-$3800

Josh--If anyone knows me you do ---Randy just told you this weekend what he wants for this buck and we both know he wants to much for him. Like we talked about on friday we are going to keep him another year. Thanks for taken the time for us on friday enjoyed our visit with you. Hope to see you in Johnstown.

Barr's,

I will give you some advice. Sell the buck, breed with the one year old, and don't feed him another year. He could die, get smaller or grow some. I wouldn't expect him to grow much and his width is not the best. I figure you being new to the business you may have moved him there. If so that usually sets them back and he probably won't recover enough to pay for the extra feed. Also in the future when you buy more deer, don't chase those high scores. Go after deer that are wide, heavy and tall. You are wanting to raise shooters and thats as good as it gets. There aren't many customers out there wanting to shoot 300 plus inch bucks. They all want to shoot wide, tall, heavy deer with drop tines.

Keep in mind if you are not in the game of chasing paper around, you can get very good genetics without puting a second mortgage on the house. The best producers on my farm are those same old does I've always had. The ones I have with the fancy papers don't seem to get it done. All the stuff Steve said is also right on. You also have to watch Wooden, he and I have a whole nuther language. Its from being raised poor and honest. Most of the time growin up I wore three boots, 2 on my feet and 1 up my rearend. Good luck in the future and you can feel free to e-mail me any questions you have.

I gotta Say spoken with a tru tongue! good advice, glad you found us, Dc

Look forward to seeing you and Randy as well. Heed Tim's advice. Sell him...Take care.

I would sell him but my husband will not. So what do I do. Tim --I didn't move the deer here I purchased him 3 yrs ago as a fawn so he has been raised here.

At three years old you know whether or not they are going to be a breeder or a stocker buck ......I would agree with what Tim said and sell him..........get your money out of him while you can..........I hate to say it as I think everyone knows but really doesn't want to admit it........with this economy where it is right now we are in for a rough few years.........people are cutting their spending and the first thing that gets cut is luxuries.....like buying a hunt.......and with this being said, there are many....many farms out there with shooter bucks to sell..........the hunt bookings are down.....meaning the market will soon be flooded with very nice bucks everywhere for sale.........unfortunately, we have little control over this and just have to hunker down and hang on for the ride........but with this all said.......sell the deer if you have a buyer!!

Well Barrs, you asked a very good question and got a lot of good answers from a lot of different types of breeders and buyers. There's some good advice in the answers. I dont know what you paid for the buck as a fawn but I'm guessing thats got something to do with your husband not selling and its understandable. The numbers arent adding up. I know I over paid on deer early on and I had to cut my losses and start moving in the right direction, this may or may not be your case but I hope whatever decision the two of you come to it works out for you. This is how you "trim the fat" and get your program moving the direction it needs to be to fit in the market and be profitable for you. This is definently one business where you either lose money starting off or you pour a ton of money into it to get it right in the first couple of years.



Honestly, if you wouldve done the things 3 years ago that you did in the last week and knew about what that buck fawn would be worth today at that size would it have changed some of your decisions about things along the way? Dont get me wrong, I do everything I can to keep my deer healthy but I have a number that I try not to go over by the time I get a deer to 3 years old and that includes a 20% mortality rate for that age class of bucks. Its a great business to be in and I dont think my family will ever do anything else but it is a business and sometimes its hard to make the best business decisions. Hell, I have 3 bucks in my pens that wont ever leave this place because thats whats best for my marriage...... I'm sure there's probably others in the same boat. Just do whats best for you in this situation and use what you've learned moving forward. Best of luck

Gosh every day we raise these critters and everytime we sell one as well as buy one ,it's a learning experience. THATS FOR SURE . These guys are on the right track , theres so many variables from year to year and the economy stinks right now . I figure everytime I get a buck sold and out of here I've accomplished something , may not be just what I had in mind but it's something . Ya some of us have a different language and we have it for various reasons but I always tell it like I see it and no bullcrap just the good old truth , it's the only way I know how . It's how I was raised too. Yup Tim many of us had those three shoes and we only wore two just like you said . I can't see people getting taken in this business or any other business and just look the other way , I just can't because I think it's wrong . Wrong wrong wrong !! If I get so called black balled some day for speaking up and telling the truth then so what no big deal in my book it was worth it. Learn how to AI your deer and learn how to do it yourself it's the best tool there is in my book for raiseing deer . I'd really like to get out and about AIing deer for people , but I'd only do it for those I thought were on the up and up 100 percent honest farms and I'd do it for free if I had the time . Just a thought .