Western Southland deer farm manager Kayne Wright had to show the colour of his money after losing a bet to his boss Tom Cruse.
When red stag Mark was about to get its velvet head cut, Mr Cruse offered a bet the 4-year-old would win its age group at the next New Zealand National Velvet and Trophy Antler Competition.
Mr Wright said, in hindsight, it was a silly bet to accept.
"It won by a mile."
Cruse Deer paid $67,000 for Mark, then a 3-year-old stag, at a sale at Peel Forest Estate in Geraldine in January last year, Mr Wright said.
As a 3-year-old, the stag cut 9kg velvet, he said.
When Southern Rural Life visited Cruse Deer last week, the maverick deer farm owner left the interview to continue mustering hinds at the back of the farm and deployed his wingman manager to the farmhouse to front the media.
Prizes Mr Cruse collected at the award ceremony in Invercargill late last year included the Trish and John Fogarty Deer and Livestock Cup for winning the section.
A 8.34kg velvet head of stag 430 placed second in the 3-year-old red section and the 13.4kg head of his 6-year-old stag 480 placed second in the open red velvet section.
Mr Wright said more commercial deer farms, such as Cruse Deer, were winning national prizes, rather than being dominated by elite studs.
Commercial deer farmers buying genetics from the studs was now paying off, he said.
Now many deer farmers were growing big deer with heavy heads, so they were chasing genetics to produce a cleaner style of head.
Cruse Deer runs about 1400 stags, about 500 hinds and their progeny on two farms in Western Southland — about 160ha in Te Waewae Bay between Orepuki and Tuatapere and more than 280ha on the other side of Tuatapere.
The farming conditions had been fantastic this season, Mr Wright said.
"The grass just won’t stop growing — we’ve already made over 2000 bales of baleage and we are probably going to make another 2000 yet."
The warm sunny days had the velvet growth of the herd up more than 1kg on average per animal compared to last season.
Velvet prices were back on last year but they had sold all of their supply.
"So we are pretty happy — you’ve got to take the good with the bad."
Mr Wright had been working for Cruse Deer for more than five years, after having a career change from contract milking on a dairy farm.
He loved working in the deer industry and working with the placid animal.
"It’s cool being close to them."
