Canadian hunter pays record $390K for right to hunt 1 mule deer on Antelope Is..

[bearpaw]

Canadian hunter pays record $390K for right to hunt 1 mule deer on Antelope Island in Utah

SALT LAKE CITY — This year's winning bidder to hunt a mule deer buck on Antelope Island paid a whopping $390,000, and that was just for the right to score one set of antlers.

The amount paid by the 24-year-old guide from Canada marked a record in the five-year history of the program run by the Salt Lake City-based Mule Deer Foundation.

The other winning bids have been big, too. Since 2011, hunters have paid more than $1.4 million to the foundation in the auctions, The Salt Lake Tribune reported (http://bit.ly/1JWvRLx). The money goes to wildlife conservation on the island in the middle of the Salt Lake.

"Some of the money raised from the auctions helps us run the show, but the majority of it goes to conservation projects to help all wildlife," said Miles Moretti, president and CEO of the Salt Lake City-based Mule Deer Foundation. "These auctions are helping to conserve wildlife across the country."

The winning bid by Troy Lorenz, a 24-year-old guide from Prince George, British Columbia, came during a recent Western Hunting & Conservation Expo held at the Salt Palace Convention Center. Expo officials say Lorenz also won the bid for a statewide mule deer hunting tag in Arizona, paying $320,000.

"There is no way we could have done the number of conservation projects on the island that we have without this money," Shaw said.

The money was also used to transplant 200 mule deer from the island to other spots in the state, attaching radio collars to the deer for a research project. Moving those deer has helped keep the population on the island close around 350-450, which is considered ideal.

read more: http://tinyurl.com/kthv33f

[bobcat]

Holy smokes!  Wish I had $710,000 to spend on a couple of hunts when I was 24 years old!      (even if I did, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't do it)

Great for the Mule Deer Foundation though. I hope they make good use of all that money.

[bearpaw]

Maybe some of the MDF funds may end up as matching funds for the auctions we are doing on this forum to help plant in the Okanogan.

[baldopepper]

I spent a lot of time on that Island when I was growing up in Utah before it was actually a state park.  I can't really think that would be a very fun hunt, more of a plain harvest.  I'm told by relatives still in the state that there are some real monsters out there, but, man, that's a lot of money to pay for a set of horns, no matter how big. Guess MDF made $39,000 on the deal after returning the 90% mandated for conservation.  They made $71,000 on just the 2 auctions that guy bought. (assuming the Arizona permit also required 90% return).  That's a pretty lucrative night for them.

[elkinrutdrivemenuts]

Is there money to be made if you harvest a monster to warrant that kind of investment?  I assume its for business purposes since he runs an outfitting service?

[Bofire]

  I was just looking at the island on Google, 15X5 miles, 28,000 acres. pretty hilly, sage brush trees 4500-6500 foot elevation. It does not look like an easy hunt to me, but I've never been there. looks like a cool place to visit.
Carl

[Karl Blanchard]

I spent a lot of time on that Island when I was growing up in Utah before it was actually a state park.  I can't really think that would be a very fun hunt, more of a plain harvest.  I'm told by relatives still in the state that there are some real monsters out there, but, man, that's a lot of money to pay for a set of horns, no matter how big. Guess MDF made $39,000 on the deal after returning the 90% mandated for conservation.  They made $71,000 on just the 2 auctions that guy bought. (assuming the Arizona permit also required 90% return). That's a pretty lucrative night for them.

  You mean it was a pretty lucrative night for anyone who hunts and loves mule deer

[pianoman9701]

The only "investment" involved is the money given to the MDF. There's probably some sponsor money available for product placement in the event of a world record. But let's face it: if you're spending $400K on a deer tag, there's a really good chance you're unconcerned about recouping your costs.

[JimmyHoffa]

Is there money to be made if you harvest a monster to warrant that kind of investment?  I assume its for business purposes since he runs an outfitting service?

It might provide a return based on advertising a monster--sell ten hunts at a tenth the price to break even.  But could also be looking at a different investment angle of the money improving mule deer herds and upping quotas, eventually selling a lot more hunts.  Could even be both.

[cbond3318]

Being a guide pays pretty good up north eh?

[baldopepper]

I was just looking at the island on Google, 15X5 miles, 28,000 acres. pretty hilly, sage brush trees 4500-6500 foot elevation. It does not look like an easy hunt to me, but I've never been there. looks like a cool place to visit.
Carl

  As you can see from this picture, that's probably how about 90% of the island looks.  (one heck of a buck though)

[jackelope]

I spent a lot of time on that Island when I was growing up in Utah before it was actually a state park.  I can't really think that would be a very fun hunt, more of a plain harvest.  I'm told by relatives still in the state that there are some real monsters out there, but, man, that's a lot of money to pay for a set of horns, no matter how big. Guess MDF made $39,000 on the deal after returning the 90% mandated for conservation.  They made $71,000 on just the 2 auctions that guy bought. (assuming the Arizona permit also required 90% return).  That's a pretty lucrative night for them.

Which, in turn, is a lucrative night for conservation.

The guy makes a huge donation to conservation, gets a nice tax write off, and in exchange gets to kill a monster buck.

[stevemiller]

  Thats all that really mattered to this guy anyways.Help the MDF any way you CAN.The money spent by him could have came from anywhere by the way.A lot of groups put together money like this then raffle the money to a winner,Then the winner of that group uses that money to bid on a hunt.See it all the time with some of the bigger hunting clubs around the world.I think its very cool,Probably the only way most of us could even dream of an op. at some  exotic hunt.   

[Sitka_Blacktail]

I spent a lot of time on that Island when I was growing up in Utah before it was actually a state park.  I can't really think that would be a very fun hunt, more of a plain harvest.  I'm told by relatives still in the state that there are some real monsters out there, but, man, that's a lot of money to pay for a set of horns, no matter how big. Guess MDF made $39,000 on the deal after returning the 90% mandated for conservation.  They made $71,000 on just the 2 auctions that guy bought. (assuming the Arizona permit also required 90% return).  That's a pretty lucrative night for them.

Which, in turn, is a lucrative night for conservation.

The guy makes a huge donation to conservation, gets a nice tax write off, and in exchange gets to kill a monster buck.

So Antelope Is. gets roughly $350,000 for conservation on an island with basically no hunting other than a small bison hunt and a governors hunt for sheep and another for mulies plus a raffle hunt for mulies, all in a state park. But the island already produces more animals than it can handle. There is a big bison cull (excess animals are sold at auction) every year to try to keep the population at about 550 and they've been shipping about 100 does per year off the island the last couple years to try to keep the population down to about 350, but the current population estimate says there are about 600-800 deer there.  It sounds like instead of conservation, what they need is to open the island to hunting, even if it's a limited draw hunt, to keep the numbers trimmed to a healthy level.

I spent a couple years fishing brine shrimp out of the Antelope Is. marina. The bison would walk right up to you and the deer and sheep weren't too concerned with you when you'd hike up the ridge. I never did see any of the antelope though.

[baldopepper]

All part of Don Peays (SFW) plan. That 71,000 dollars didn't go to conservation, it went into the pockets of Dan Peay and his various associates in his "non profit" groups.  You think maybe the various states donating these hunts could auction them themselves so that 100% if the money went to conservation?  His groups are very similar to the solicitation calls you get for the various police and fireman funds that keep huge amounts of your donation for overhead costs. Do a little research on him and his various organizations and draw your own conclusions about whether or not it's a good thing for the future of hunting.  I have no problem with a guy willing to put out that kind of money for permits, I would just like to see the money go completely to conservation and not into someones private pocket.