Don't really think they were trying to deceive you, they probably thought since the calf was out of a cluby bull, and looked better than their other calves, he was a show calf.
Some of the hobby breeders handle their "show" calves just like they would a commercial calf, no creep, just mama and grass, those calves will not look like the little butterballs that have been on creep as soon as they would eat it.
I have seen steers I would not look at twice while the people standing next to me were absolutely in love with it. I have also picked up a green steer that was passed up on several times that turned out to do very well. I think picking through green calves is the hardest but you can really find a diamond in the rough sometimes.
How many times have we heard about the steer none of the traders would take, it's sold for 2 grand and goes on and when big and often.
I had the opportunity to go look at calves with someone who I think can really evaluate a steer, was quite the learning experience for me. I can pick a good one, he took it to the next level as far as sifting through the good ones to get the best one out of a group of quality calves. When we got to the green calves, that is really where I learned a lot. It is the little things that matter the most.
Hopefully you find what your looking for.
Just out of curiosity what is way over market price, since market is around 1500 right now.
