Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting $265,000.00 Utah Deer Tag

Just heard the auction tag to hunt mule deer on the Antelope Island State Park sold for $265,000.00!...

what a joke.

was their only one? or more at that price, put me down for 2!


unbelievable that some people will spend so much, to go shoot a potentially big deer, rather than hunt for one. kinda takes the fun out of it. why not go to a game farm and buy a huge deer?

I'm not jealous of the guy who bought that tag one bit.. But it is worrisome that as more states get in money trouble, that they'll start auctioning off tags to the higher bidder, if they can command a price tag like that.

This particular herd has never been hunted and will pretty much be like shooting one at the zoo.

Hope the "hunter" owns a custom built .300 Mag for the extreme conditions...

These are the hunts where all the pygmies come out of the woods for photo ops right?

These deer have gold antlers, right?

I used to brag on the fact that the DuPonts had no better chance of hunting bighorn in Oregon that I did. Then we went and started auctioning tags.

Utah gives more special interest/auction type tags than any other state. There was a Sportman's Expo here last week that they give 200 permits to alone. I understand the state's desire to raise $$$, but the numbers are completely out of control.

I was at that auction it was CRAZZZY i keep track of all the auction items that night . I will look for the book and see what else sold for crazzy money.

that is beyond rediculous!..id rather miss out on a few years of hunting that animal than spend money like that..my wife to be would kill me if i spent 1000$ on something w/o kissin some serious butt beforehand, how could that guy justify to his wife that he "needs to spends 265,000 to hunt a mule deer"?lol..somme people got more money than sense i guess

Better "ride" in sitting in a brand new Lambo on 22"s for that price..

B8

Tax write off....

Cant wait to see the field pic with 22 guys sitting behind the buck.

Yes it does get crazy... and 80% of the monies paid is a tax deduction if I remember correctly...In 1994 I was at the FNAWS Convention when the Arizona Desert Sheep tag sold for something like $303,000 to an Arizona resident!! A year or so later.. can't remember..the same fella bought the Bighorn tag in Montana for over $300,000....I could be off on this but I think this same fella had $1.5 million tied up in Sheep tags in Arizona, Montana, BC, Alaska and Alberta...

Is there a buck on AI that could possibly be a WR and hence the high price?

Pay it in IRS taxes, or buy a tag. For the 'deep pocket guy's, it's a no-brainer. Nevada has auctioned tag's for over $200,000 also.

I have no doubt..... greybull

I don�t disparage a guy with the resources for spending the money any way he sees fit.

After all if you are either going to have to spend it or be buried with it the choice seems pretty clear, spend it on something you enjoy. Better a good hunt than a gambling trip to Las Vegas in my opinion.

The growing problem is the states monetizing the hunting. By offering such tags to the highest bidder the overall cost of hunting, especially trophy hunting will continue to climb.

Seems the way it is going to go and I don�t see anything that will stop it so enjoy the hunting we have today, most likely these are the �good ol days� and opportunities will continue to be more expensive and good tags harder to draw as the competition keeps getting tougher and tougher.

On a good note most of the monies from the auction tags don�t go to the state�s general fund but usually are used for wildlife conservation or nonprofit groups. Hence the tax breaks.

Even a "tax write off" only saves so much money and not nearly the amount paid compared to the deduction.

Burns is almost right this time, except I think the "good old days" were a few years back and now we're just trying to hang on.