just thinking out-loud via keyboard with some other discussions in the past few weeks...

IF there is a downward trend in the trophy HF WT biz, could that be also driving up the price of the trophy LF WT biz along with the upward trend in lease prices?

example, instead of paying big $$$ for a 200+ (or whatever number) HF WT, applying similar $$$ towards a LF trophy caliber lease or semi-guided/guided LF trophy hunt

just something that popped into my head while reading thru the above and thinking back to several other recent threads ...

Supply and demand will alway be the deciding factor. I have noticed Don that prices for individual bucks have declined.

There are still high fences getting built as we speak and the testing, while a pain, is still a minor inconvenience for hunting operations. Testing only applies for scientific release sites anyway. If you high fence your native herd your not subject to testing. What hurts the most is the restrictions placed on TTT captures.


What has softened the market the most is people are not wanting pen raised deer with 300" of non typical antlers on its head. The market got saturated and there was enough backlash over those types of deer they are not selling like they used too, the trend has reverted back to clean, typical type deer.

The fact of the matter is there are now just more folks with deer breeding operations. Use to be only a handful around, now there are hundreds. The drop in oil/gas revenue decline and it has a direct effect on the number of people who can afford to hunt one of these monsters. My FIL once said; never invest in anything that gives birth, needs food, water and sunlight. Of course he raised hay and had 350 head of cows when he said it.

Sorry to the point of the post. I don't understand a price drop. I used to be able to go kill and axis doe every summer for 200 bucks but not you can't touch one for under 400. Just keeps going up.

I think the answer to that lies in the species. Axis are going to be sought after for many reason you can hunt year round, something different, pretty hide, and supposedly better eating, personally I prefer whitetail to axis, but in that regard I'm pretty sure I'm a minority.

Hunting prices needed to be adjusted however the economy has suffered and that IMO is the cause.

I think people are getting smarter. They would rather pay to kill a low fence 150-180 than some genetic monster due to criticism from other hunters and friends. Nobody really give a hoot if you go pay 15K to kill a genetic monster bc they discredit it due to the circumstances.

IMO it's a combination of all the above factors. I think the oversaturation of breeders combined with the stigma/issues associated with HF deer increasing over time delivered serious body blows, and the publicity/pressure/new restrictions over disease transmission will likely be the knockout blow.

There certainly are places where monster deer can be taken consistently and rather easily LF, but the number of them pales in comparison to the thousands of HF places where it can be done.

Whatever your personal stance on them, I just think many people in general are growing tired of the HF stuff....

We have seen a general shift away from high fence properties in general although hf places are still selling very well.

That will never change although with today's management you can kill bucks that on lf places that wouldn't have been possible 15 years ago

I will bet anyone HF places won't suffer any more or less than low fence places. Let me know when you figure out how much $ you're comfortable losing.

I will bet anyone HF places won't suffer any more or less than low fence places. Let me know when you figure out how much $ you're comfortable losing.

I wouldn't hesitate one bit to high fence a appropriate size pasture then turn around and sell it for a premium.

So much of the state already is high fenced, we will never see a reversal

Has Glenn Sodd seen a downturn on his HF Breeding Operation over at the Refuge NP....

http://www.refugewhitetails.com/

Seen alot of downturn in the Industry as a whole...
Most Quality Guys down South are still Pumping Along in Quality Markets