“The Red Stag”

“In 2005, I gave Gene a trip to New Zealand to fulfill his life-long dream of hunting a red stag. We spent several days hiking on the ridge tops of the North Island with a friend we had made when showing at the Safari Club International Show in Reno, NV…

It was a trip of a lifetime, and we spent many hours studying various animals through binoculars… It astonished us that there are no predators in New Zealand, therefore the populations of most of the introduced species must be kept in check through the efforts of man. As a result, there are no hunting seasons for the elk, red stag, and other deep species…

Our trip to New Zealand came during the last year of Gene’s life. Shortly after our return, he fell ill with pneumonia and spent a week in the hospital. He created The Red Stag in his hospital room in Corpus Christi, TX, to remember his experiences in New Zealand. The drawings on the piece represent the Maori people with whom he felt a close kinship.

The skull and antlers of his New Zealand red stag hang over my fireplace in Santa Fe….No part of Gene’s animal was wasted.

He told everyone that the trip was one of the high points of his life.”

– Rebecca Tobey – Excerpt from “Partners in Art”