Up to 2000 hunters, conservationists, outdoor enthusiasts and foodies are expected to descend on Te Anau in early July (1-2 July) to celebrate a century of Wapiti hunting in New Zealand.

Wapiti were first released into New Zealand in 1905 but it was 18 years later (April 1923) before Viv Donald claimed the first recorded trophy bull, at Fiordland's Lake Katherine.

The Winter Wapiti Weekend, hosted by the Fiordland Wapiti Foundation (FWF), will offer a full weekend of trade stalls, seminars including one by Wildlife Biologist Cam Speedy, cooking shows by award winning Auckland chefs Dariush Lolaiy and Tom Hishon, as well as an $18,000 online photo competition.

It will also feature the world premiere screening of the FWF documentary ‘Beyond the Odds’, and a presentation by legendary Fiordland moose man Ken Tustin.

FWF general manager Roy Sloan said the weekend was not only to celebrate 100 years of wapiti in New Zealand but also to share the FWF story and the ground breaking work it is doing.

The foundation was probably the most successful deer management group in New Zealand, and the most successful hunter conservation group in New Zealand, he said

Sloan said it was internationally recognised for its work managing an introduced species within the native environment and alongside native species.

"This year we'll probably spend around about half a million dollars on conservation."

This includes the foundation's deer management, whio and other projects, he said.

With the collapse of the red deer market and soaring red deer numbers, Sloan said New Zealand needed to take a leaf out of their book.

"While the rest of New Zealand hasn't been controlling deer by helicopter, we have been subsidising culling or subsidising the venison market, so we are still able to sell our carcasses."

However Sloan admitted conservation management was a long slow game.

 "The predators don't understand the financial markets, they keep on killing birds and nests."

"We have to just make sure we keep on ticking those boxes year in, year out."

"That's the answer really."

FWF is also looking at ways to better market its Wapiti venison.

"We're now doing a project with a group called WithWild."

"They're a group of chefs and foodies [from] around New Zealand who are marketing wapiti venison around Auckland and our suburban areas ."

And BurgerFuel are about to launch a new promotion where $1 from each burger would go back to the foundation for conservation work, Sloan said.

Sloan said the foundation's success and strength was in working with people but acknowledged that things were getting tougher with volunteers not having the time they once used to.

"We've got to keep adapting."

"We're never happy, we're never comfortable and I guess that is why we're doing pretty well."

CLICK HERE to find out more about The Winter Wapiti Weekend.