Exceptional stags on offer at Remarkables Park Stud auction

A two-year-old trophy stag billed as “a world class head” will be one of the stars of this year’s Remarkables Park Stud deer auction on Friday (January 14).

High profile Queenstown company Remarkables Park says “exceptional” 2011 results from its Red Deer Stud subsidiary will be available not only to buyers attending it’s annual Helmsman Stud Auction, but also to a wider audience for the first time online.

Former Game Industry Board Deputy Chairman and Remarkables Park Stud Director Alastair Porter said two-year-old stag Agon* had, at this velvet stage, antlers with at least 24-points.

“While our own stud stags have a reputation for being the heaviest line of two-year-olds in the country, 39 this year over 200kg and up to 254kg, what will amaze buyers is that we also have some of the biggest heads with great trophy potential as a result of new AI bloodlines introduced two years ago,” he said.

“We’ve widened our breeding programme to ensure we appeal to the widest cross-section of buyers. Our biggest stags with strong BV’s (breeding values) will appeal to those seeking superior performance terminal sires, with new English bloodlines crossed with our other European bloodlines to provide smaller dual purpose trophy and venison sires well suited to steeper high country properties.”

Fifty-six two and three-year-old stags will go to auction, and Mr Porter said the company’s IT auction development, in consultation with auctioneers PGG Wrightson, was likely to stimulate considerable interest from buyers.

“The online system means potential buyers can go online at www.remarkablestags.com now to see photos of each deer, access details about lineage and genetics, and can bid in real time, together with auction attendees, by following the auction online,” he said.

“We expect other studs will also be keen to use this innovative marketing approach to access more deer farmers in the future. The performance of the New Zealand deer industry would be significantly lifted if more farmers accessed the superior stags produced by the Stud breeding industry.”

Stud Manager Phil Dawson said he believed farmers would find the online system easy to use and the option would work well for North Island buyers in particular.

“Because we’re so distant from the majority of deer farmers, our stud deer sell at very reasonable prices, so in future years as people get used to the system I expect more Northern buyers will take advantage of being able to participate in our auction online, and benefit from free delivery in New Zealand,” he said.

*Agon means “Spirit of contest” and is of Greek mythological origin.

More about Remarkables Park Stud Farm
Remarkables Park was purchased in 1988 by Porter Group Ltd. The stud is in Queenstown, New Zealand and has been a deer farm since 1979.
The Porter family has a strong family heritage in Otago. The great grandparents of the Porter brothers, the directors of Remarkables Park Stud, emigrated to Dunedin in1863, and their grandfather George Cook was the engineer who built many South Island viaducts, including those in the Taieri Gorge.
Alastair, John and Neville Porter started deer farming in 1976 at South Kaipara Head, north of Auckland. Alastair was an early member of the NZ Deer Farmers Council, played a key role in the formation of the Game Industry Board, and was for many years a board member and Deputy Chairman. He chaired the Industry’s Quality Assurance venison programme and initiated the development of Cervena as premium farmed venison brand for New Zealand. Alastair has strongly supported the use of Artificial Insemination technology and was a foundation member of Deer Improvement Ltd until it was merged back into parent company Livestock Improvement Corporation.
The stud’s objective is to breed genetically superior high performance Red deer focussing on temperament, venison and velvet.
The Porter Group has single-sire mated and recorded its mating programmes for three decades. The group focused principally on Eastern, German and Danish bloodlines until recently when it reintroduced some outstanding English trophy genetics with Craigie a 602 SCI trophy head. The group started breeding with European deer imports in 1985, and held its inaugural Deer Stud Sale in 2002.
In 2008 it adopted a Helmsman-style auction which has continued since that date.