July 9th/10th/11th 2010

In the weeks leading up to the first ever Blenheim Toyota Boar Slaying Super Comp, old Mother Nature was sending an ominous signal by spewing a series of cold wet southerlies into the normally crisp, dry Marlborough climate. So when Hunting Aotearoa’s Howie Morrison Jnr turned up in Blenheim to host the event and the skies cleared and remained clear for the following eight days, I almost believed he may have brought the fine weather with him from Rotovegas like he was claiming!

As Friday morning approached, our traditional winter weather returned in force and hunters by their hundred tore off with frost crunching underfoot in pursuit of that monster boar, hare possum or rabbit. With entries received from as far afield as Invercargill and Whangarei, boars were going to get a hard time up and down the country for the next three days straight.

Come 12pm Sunday and the first of the successful pig hunters were filing into the weigh station and handing in their catch, which entitled them to claim their free 10kg bag of Champ Max dog biscuits. The first 50 entrants to weigh in boars got one of these, which proved very popular and helped to spread the load out nicely for the Ridgeline judging team.

The constant flow of boars and steady stream of junior entrants proudly carrying/dragging their catches up to the weigh station was pretty amazing and as the crowd grew to a conservative estimate of 800+ people, it was obvious the basic formula used to run this pig hunt was a winner.

Even after turning away more than 40 people who had missed the entry cut-off date, this competition proved to be the largest ever held in NZ. There were 532 entries and 112 boars weighed in. A prize pool in excess of $30,000 and a chance for every open division entry to win the major spot prize of a fully kitted out Toyota Hilux certainly proved very popular indeed.

Special mention has to go to the many hard working volunteers who really made the day happen. Also thanks to Richard, Rowan and Stacey’s great team for working tirelessly behind the bar. And thanks must go to the major sponsors who believed in our concept right from the outset and who went ‘above and beyond’ to contribute to the success of this event.

RESULTS

Heaviest Boars:

1st - Chris Pillans 78.3kgs
2nd - Jake Heywood 76kgs
3rd - Glen Ralston 72.5kgs
4th - Ted Neal 69.3kgs
5th - Glen Ralston 67kgs


Average weight - Alan Shaw 48.4kgs

Best tusks - Peter Harris 21 3/8
Heaviest combined weight - Glen Ralston 139.5kgs

1st - Ben Hyde 62.7kgs
2nd - Cullen Beattie 56.6kgs
3rd - Flynn Struthers 50.6kg

Junior Division: Heaviest critters

Rabbit: Jessica Wilson 2.4kgs
Hare: Rebecca Highman 4kgs
Possum: Dallas Tahana 4.4kgs

The major spot prize of a decked out Toyota Hilux pig hunting wagon was won by Greg Foster of Seddon

The WOODBOURNE TAVERN ~ CHAMP MAX ~ MAINLAND BOAR HUNTING LTD ~ HUNTING 4 ART ~ MAG AND TURBO WHAREHOUSE ~ ZEDTEQ HUNTING KNIVES ~ RENWICK DAIRY