There was more planning gone into this competition this year than previous years as the whole traffic layout and racks were different right down to even having a small digger on hand to lift all of the animals. John Bruce had gone above and beyond in organizing this comp, On previous years we had problems with vehicles trying to maneuver around the racks so this year things ran well with only one ute used to bring the animals into a closed off area to be weighed and hang on the racks.
All of the general public could walk around the outside of the racks to see the animals, leaving the centre area for the judges. For this competition it was stated on the entry form that all animals had to have all offal removed nuts in throats, arse and pizzel’s removed. It was good to see that a lot of hunters had taken notice which made my job of scrutineering much easier, however there was still over 50% of the animals had to have something done to them.
The idea behind getting people to clean their animals up is so that it is less likely that the meat will go off and be wasted. By removing the arse and throat you are allowing the air to circulate through the animal better to help keep it cool.
18 deer and 56 pigs were weighed in.
There were two standout animals that came in a 222 pound boar caught by Jacob Crow and his partner Sarah Boyd. This boar was bailed by two dogs just on dark and they had to go in with just a cell phone for a light. I can imagine the adrenaline rush they would have been feeling at the time.
The other was a huge stag shot by Ryan Nesbit that weighed in at 370 pounds. Ryan had to drag this stag down a tussock hillside to a vehicle. This is what keeps hunters so fit.
There was no shortage of prizes to hand out at the end of the day thanks to the many businesses that now support these comps. I was lucky enough to get the job of calling out the prizes and to stand up the front and see the smiles on some of those kids’ faces when they win a prize is priceless.
These are the hunters of the future so I’m sure the slingshots and cross bows will get well used. The weather all day had threatened to open the skies up on us but luckily for us we managed to avoid any big showers.
Kids section
Heaviest hare
1st Jackson Barrat
2ND Quin Brown
3rd Alice Hawkins
Heaviest rabbit
1st Matilda McMillan
2nd Jak Taylor
3rd Tom Brown
Heaviest Possum
1st Laryssa Burrows
2nd Kaylub Musson
3rd Sam Burrows
Heaviest Boar
1st 222 pounds Jacob Crowe / Sarah Boyd
2nd 168 pounds Jack Ashley
3rd 148 pounds Logan Doake
4th 146 pounds Tairi Mullen
Heaviest sow
1st 124 pounds Andy Stewart
2nd 107 pounds Brain Lunn
3rd 104 pounds Phill Bell
Average weight boar 111 pounds Simon Moar
Below average 108 pounds Glen Gamble
above average 118 pounds Gerald Smith
Average weight sow 85 pounds Corey Henderson
below average 84 pounds Brendan Simpson
Above average 86 pounds Tom Caulder
Overall average 100 pounds Dave Burrows
Best tusks 18 7/8 Andy Jones
Heaviest stag
1st 370 pounds Ryan Nisbit
2nd 223 pounds Cody Burton
3rd 220 pounds Duncan Mcintosh
Heaviest hind
1st 228 pounds Clint Stringer
2nd 143 pounds S coster
Average weight deer
191 pounds Jenny McMurdo