Up to 20 wapiti bulls would be offered by private treaty at their Ryenna Wapiti on-farm open day in Dunearn, northwest of Winton.
Mr Saunders said it was a big step to open their breeding operation to scrutiny and he would be nervous, but he was looking forward to all feedback, positive and negative, on their bulls.
"As much as you don’t like criticism, it helps you improve."
The breeding objectives in the stud were to produce a slightly smaller bull, weighing about 260kg, with 50% or more elk genetics.
A deer containing at least 25% elk genetics could fetch a premium for venison in North America.
He was targeting selling his bulls to red deer farmers, who could use their bulls as a terminal sire.
Often terminal wapiti sires weighed 300kg or more.
Their slightly smaller wapiti bull would make it easier for a 90kg red hind to have a fawn, he said.
The Saunders were both raised on farms in Central Southland — she was from a sheep farm and he was from a deer farm.
When they bought into a more than 240ha commercial wapiti operation in Tuatapere in 2012, they were both working in Winton. Mr Saunders was a mechanic and Mrs Saunders a hairdresser.
"We had always wanted to go farming", she said.
They bought the Western Southland wapiti farm outright in 2015 and travelled between Winton and Tuatapere to run it, while working in their jobs and raising a family, she said.
"It was a lot of hard work and a lot of late nights."
They sold the Tuatapere farm, their lifestyle block and their business, Saunders Automotive, to buy their current farm in 2021.
"We have put everything into this," Mrs Saunders
They now run about 1150 deer on slightly more than 200ha of land.
Their children, Ryan, 16, and Sienna, 15, were the fifth generation of the Saunders family to live on the farm for the past 116 years.
The stud name Ryenna was a portmanteau, a blend of their children’s names.
Mrs Saunders said a reason for launching the open day now was because Tikana Wapiti owners Dave Lawrence and Donna Day were no longer holding a sale.
Tikana Wapiti genetics feature in their herd.
The post-sale functions at Tikana were a highlight, she said.
"We will miss those parties afterwards. They were good nights."
Mr Saunders said they were at an age where it was now or never to ensure they had enough time to realise the genetic improvements in their herd in their farming dream.
"We thought ‘let’s give it a decent whack’ because with genetics, it doesn’t happen overnight."
He felt fortunate to be able to seek advice from wapiti farmers, including Mr Lawrence.
Southlanders were willing to help each other and he urged any young farmer to seek advice from an experienced farmer.
He believed wapiti bulls should fetch a bit more at sales due to their potential to produce velvet and venison, Mr Saunders said.
That wapiti bull sale prices never reached the highs of red deer stags was frustrating, he said, as the amount of work required to offer a wapiti bull was the same as for a red stag, he said.
Ryenna Wapiti won three prizes at the 2025 National Velvet and Trophy Antler Competition in Invercargill last month.
They placed second and third in the four-year elk-wapiti section and placed second in the Southland elk-wapiti section.
It was the first time they had entered the competition, he said.
"It was cool to come away with something."
Mrs Saunders said she was enjoying the lifestyle of working and raising a family on the farm.
"When you love what you’re doing, it doesn’t feel like working", she said.
