Say you saw a 165" (approx) straight 8 point buck...

Would you enter every deer contest in Texas that has a Big 8 category and take him?

Say you harvested him for 5k, do you think you could make it back by winning most competitions?

I would shoot him and not worry about any contests. Have him at the taxi ASAP so I can enjoy looking at him everyday. IMO if you are hunting for contests and money you are not hunting just killing.

Amen brother

It would take a lot of time to harvest this deer due to its location.. Not all High fenced Deer are pets and I'm just trying to justify the money, not all of it but some of it. I harvest a good buck every season but not sure about making this one mine. I put a do not shoot on him last season at 4.5yo and he increased 18% this year. As far as the money is concerned its just money and I can't take it with me but I have a 7 mo little girl and a stay at home wife/momma..

I have harvested over 20 great bucks 130"+ and never have entered a single contest, this is why I asked the question?

I should have specified that this post is a debate decider from a discussion we had on the property today, as I totally agree with you alls thoughts/statements

Can you enter HF deer in contest?

I love big 8's

There's got to be 1000 contest, I did a quick search and found ALOT

most rules state whether you can or can't and it's about 75%yes & 25%no

Better get him before he breaks off.

As big as a 165" 8 is, there have been bigger shot do there is no guarantee he will win

I would shoot him no doubt. Whether he is worth $5k I'd up to you. To some folks no deer is worth $5k

Don't think you will make your money back by winning big 8 contests. This isn't the 8 point that Oldfield has is it? I heard he has a big one spotted on his place.

No, Randy was telling me about his though, sounds like another BRUTE!

Most contest give away jackets and trophies, they dont giveway many items of value that you could resale or use around the ranch. Last year I shot one buck and won 6 jackets with him plus several nice trophies and plaques. Several years ago I entered every contest I could find but after a while you just end up with a closet full of jackets. If your looking at winning stuff, your smaller more local deer contest would be the ones to enter. Alot of those give away guns, feeders, or taxidermy certificates. You would probably win around $1,000 bucks in jackets and another $1,500 in prizes if you throw in some guns etc.

I'd like to see a picture of the buck, and think $5k is a good price for that type of buck

I was figuring him at $6,500 but my clients used the 5k figure as a great goal of making some money back, (acceptable loss, so to speak)

I'm thinking of harvesting a 170"-210" down south on one of our places for $7,750. That was the other part of this discussion, both are lifetime achievements in the hunting world as a hunter but which is really rarest, the 8!

Cody, my brother nailed a 165", straight 8, 3 years ago inside a high fence place, trophy hunt. Since we leased other low fence property from the rancher, he gave him the family discount of $3K. As Ranch said, he simply had him mounted for his viewing pleasure. The taxi after measuring him 3 separate times was convinced he was King Ranch bred though he wasn't. Incredible 8..

a 164 type deer runs over 7k on my place... and I am going to start trying to charge more for slick 8's that score up there just because of the demand for them...

5k for a 165 native genetics 8 pointer is a steal.

We have him priced at $6,500, I just said 5k because of the so called acceptable $ loss if it didn't win a lot of $

That's true Amo. The avg. and experienced hunter has a difficult time envisioning what a 165" 8pt. looks like. Heavy Mass throughout rack, lots of beam/tine length and big spread. Why I saw my brother's for the 1st time after he had it mounted, I was very impressed and I've been hunting South Texas for 35+ years. I don't necessarily agree to trophy hunt for one but I won't discredit others for doing so either.

With all this talk I think people are gonna start letting big 8's walk for breeding stock

I just spoke to a client headed in this week and he said he wants him!

Good thing is Travis is a heck of a shot and will cherish every moment of it!

For anyone interested, here's what a 165, 8pt. looks like. The pic is 3 years old and not the best but all I have.

There has always been a big market for straight 8s and always will be!

Randy Oldfield? Did he use to do some Bass fish guiding in east TX several years ago? I know that name from somewhere...

He still guides on Fork, one of the best on the lake.

I am a full time guide on Fork myself that's how I know him

Hmmm, must be alot bigger in person. What is his width?

I believe 22" or so..What the picture doesn't show very well is the main beam length, and point length. As well as the fact that his main beams were about 5" at the bases and the probably 3-4" throughout the beam. He was wide, long and thick.