Tikana Wapiti Stud sale: Bulls share season’s top price of $15,000

Tikana Wapiti Stud owners Dave Lawrence and Donna Day hold the trophy head of bull Hawk, which sold for the equal-top price of $15,000 at their annual sale. Photo / Shawn McAvinue

Award-winning Southland bull Hawk swooped in to share the accolade of being the highest-priced wapiti of the season.

At Tikana Wapiti Stud in Browns, east of Winton, 16 of the 18 bulls on offer sold for an average price of $8345, including two bulls selling for the top price of $15,000.

Stud owner Dave Lawrence said the result was “good” despite there being fewer breeders at the sale willing to pay up to $20,000 for a sire to make genetic gains in their herds.

“That wasn’t there this year, as it has been for some other years.”

The terminal sires for venison production sold for prices higher than the reserves, he said.

One of the bulls to sell for $15,000 was Hawk, who won the 3-year elk-wapiti section at the 40th New Zealand National Velvet and Trophy Antler Competition in Invercargill last month.

The Tikana stud won the top three section spots with bulls Hawk, Crypes and Bruno, respectively.

He had expected the bulls to win those respective spots.

Bull Crypes had been kept at Tikana as a sire because overall his traits, other than his velvet weight, were better than those of Hawk.

Deer farmer Miles Herdman, of South Hillend, bought Hawk because he was the “superior” bull at the sale.

Tikana Wapiti bull Hawk sold for top equal price of $15,000 in Central Southland.

“He’s the best deer here - he’s got terrific potential.”

Rural Livestock agent Craig North bought 3-year-old bull Klondike for $15,000 on behalf of a Southland breeder.

The sale featured 2-year-old bull The Prophet, sired by Prophecy, which sold for the top price of $20,000 last year.

Lawrence said The Prophet’s head sustained some “paddock trauma” on its left side and as a result, was 2cm shorter than the other side.

The Prophet had cut 9.5kg of velvet but he expected his next cut would be at least 15kg.

Tikana Wapiti Stud bull Klondike sold for top-equal price of $15,000 to an anonymous Southland breeder in Central Southland. Photo / Shawn McAvinue

The 2-year-old bull failed to meet its reserve and was passed in at $15,000.

Another bull to be passed in, at $14,000, was 3-year-old wapiti Prestige, which had an “ugly” velvet head, Lawrence said.

He expected Prestige to cut $3000 of velvet a year for at least 10 years.

Deer farmer Miles Herdman, of South Hillend, bought Tikana Wapiti Stud’s Hawk because of its "terrific potential". Photo / Shawn McAvinue

“So if someone wants to pay me $20,000, yes, I’ll let them have him, but otherwise we’ll keep him.”

The conditions for deer farming had been “magnificent” in Southland.

He had not fed out any supplementary feed this season, compared with nearly 80 bales at the same time last season.

“Farmers in Southland have been on the pig’s back.”