Remarkable deer lead to successful auction

A high calibre of deer and an improving economy contributed to the success of yesterday’s (13 January) annual Remarkables Park Deer Stud auction according to Stud Farm Director Alastair Porter.

Forty registered buyers attended the sale in Queenstown, including a number from the North Island, with some bidders representing multiple purchasers.

Mr Porter estimated buyer interest was up 25 percent on previous years. He said it was pleasing to get many return buyers from previous years and hear from them that Remarkables Park sires were constantly improving their progeny performance.

“Remarkables Park Stud has a strong reputation for consistently producing the heaviest overall range of two-year-old stags in the country and this year was no exception,” he said.

The auction presented 55 red deer stags in total ‑ 50 two-year-olds, one three-year-old and four yearlings. Once again, a feature of this year’s sale was the size of the deer, with 39 of the two-year-olds weighing more than 200kg.

Mr Porter said increasing familiarity with the buyer-friendly Helmsman auction system[1] meant this year’s sale attracted faster bidding and was conducted in a shorter time frame. Bids were made on 38 of the 55 stock for sale.

The top-priced deer, a two-year-old sired by Platinum over an Adonis Cross Hind, went to deer industry legend Bob Swann from Geraldine. It had a BV (breeding value) of 10.26 and weighed 239kg.

WH and BA Clarke and Son, of Otautau, bought the second-highest priced two-year-old stag, a Rossi over a Carl cross hind. With a BV of 14.08 and weighing in at 245kg, it was the top-equal heaviest weight in the sale.

The third-highest sale was a Platinum over an Adonis cross hind which went to Jeff Matthews, from near Whanganui, for $6000. It had a BV of 10.49 and weighed in 232kg.

The highest BV stag at 23.56 was a yearling which was sold to Mr M. Burdon of Lumsden. Mr Porter said it was a good buy at $5,000 and he was delighted it went to Mr Burdon who has been a regular buyer at Remarkables Park auction for many years.

Mr Porter was satisfied with the result of the auction and believed it represented good value for the purchasers who had made the effort to come to one of the more remote deer stud auctions.

He said that refinements made to the stud’s breeding programme in recent years has contributed to the stud’s stags being consistently bigger and a lot more stags having heavier beamed velvet.

“These refinements are going to show up even more strongly in the stud’s 2011 sale, given this year’s yearlings are the heaviest multi-tyned spikers we’ve ever bred. As a result, I’d expect we will have an even more outstanding line of two-year-olds to offer next year.”

For more information about the progeny available, visit the Remarkables Park Stud Farm website at www.remarkablestags.com.