Soon after Tom bought his first Wapiti straight off the chopper of the live deer recovery operator and became hooked on the big beasts.

Within five years the fences of his Southland farm had doubled in height and the sheep had gone, replaced by majestic Wapiti captured in the wilds of Fiordland National Park.

“I am a great believer that big is beautiful,” Tom says.

Mayfield Elk is a state-of-the-art Wapiti unit, with central lanes, generous yards and deer shed which includes a purpose-built sales ring.

Tom was quick to see the advantage of artificial insemination techniques for deer developed by Dr Mike Bringans, from his Central Southland Veterinary practice in the early 1990s.

Biotechnology advances made it easy for Mayfield Elk to add pedigree Canadian Elk bloodlines to its wild Wapiti strain, and in turn, export the semen of its top bulls back to the USA and Canada.

Tom is a founding member of the Elk Wapiti Society of New Zealand, formed in 1984 to help both promote the breed and learn more about it, as well as being immediate past president.

While simultaneously developing one of New Zealand‘s leading Wapiti studs, Tom and his wife Jo raised a family of three children. Their son Josh shares his father’s enthusiasm for Elk-Wapiti and has joined him in the day-to-day running of the property. 

This pioneer of Wapiti farming is still opening the door on new markets for his favourite animal – Tom’s latest venture takes the animals from paddocks to gourmet plates.

In partnership with Invercargill’s Bowmont Meats he’s offering a new delicacy to the south’s top restaurants called, naturally, Southern Elk.