DNR Auction

[Rebel SS]

Bargain time...

http://www.postbulletin.com/sports/outdoors/dnr-to-auction-off-confiscated-guns-bows-and-gear/article_f784a184-9613-5475-821f-cd16e9a3929d.html

[delcecchi]

Zimmerman?    The DNR really knows how to pick their sites to draw a crowd.. confused-3316.gif tut_tut-3315.gif

[Jerkbiat]

It draws a monster crowd and everything seems to go high because of it I have heard.

[glenn57]

thats only a hop skip and jump from where i'm at!!!!!!!!

[Onin24Eagle]

I went to this auction a few years ago.  If you're thinking of going, here's what I learned:

If you're looking for a cheap gun, forget it.  Many of the guns sell for even more than you could buy them for new in the store.  After pondering this for a while I came to the conclusion that this is the result of two major factors.  One, the "I drove all this way and I'm not leaving empty handed" mindset.  The other factor is "Grandpa's gun got taken from me and I'm buying it back no matter what it costs!"  So in terms of guns, you're not getting a good deal on any less expensive ones.  I'd say anything that sells for $800 or less in the store will go for the new price value or even higher.

HOWEVER, if you're in the market for a high end, more expensive gun, there are certainly deals to be had.  I myself did leave with a new gun.  I got a brand new Berretta Xtrema II for $1100 (they sell for $1700 new) The catch to this is that it did not come with the signature Berretta case or any of the choke tubes except the choke tube that was in it at the time.  That's ok though as I had a nice case to put it in and I only had to invest another $100 for tubes.  Saved $500.

Where you will really find good deals is the other items up for auction.  You want a new bow?  I don't think I saw any sell for more than $150 and most were under $100.  A crossbow?  The ones they had there I looked up and were generally $350-$500 new.  Nobody seemed to want them.  You could probably get one for less than $50.  Fishing equipment?  Whole buckets of tip-ups for $10.  Fishing rods are dirt cheap too.  They had some that were bundled together (like 10 rods all sold as a lot) and some of those went for $20 or less.  One lot I particularly wanted to bid on but didn't had a bunch of cheap Zebco and Shakesphere rods but there was a G-Loomis in the middle of it.  I think that lot sold for about $20.  I'm still kicking myself for not raising my hand on that one...