Labour weekend the 21 of October 2012 was the weigh in day for the annual Waiau pig hunting competition. One of the main organizers of this comp is Joanne Moriarty and this year she has done an exceptional job of advertising and running this comp with the numbers up on previous years. She puts this
down to advertising in the hunting magazines and putting up a site on face book for the Waiau pig hunting comp. Our Ridgeling team this year consisted of Hemi Taurima, Andy Moriarty, Matt Simmons my wife Janice, myself and our newest member of our team Peter Lyall. Peter comes from Wakefield and has had many years of involvement with pig hunting competitions so he did not need any training at all. We had a few pigs came in early at the start of the weigh in, probably because there was
a prize for the firrst animals weighed in. After the first half an hour things went quite for the next hour and a half although there was one group of hunters that came in during this time and asked if we would weigh their pigs for them even though they where not entered in the competition as they where driving past on their way back to Wellington for a competition up their when they saw the pig hunting competition sign out front and decided to stop in. They had
three respectable boars of around the 150 pound mark so I am sure they will do well at their comp. These three guys had to catch the ferry later that day so had left by the time the big mad rush started. As the pigs started rolling in it was good for me to be able to stand back and watch how well our team was working, from giving out tags for hunters to put their names on, to scrutineering and getting the hunters themselves to see if their animals had been cleaned and prepared properly. Then onto the scales and lastly to be lifted onto the racks by the two strong guys that had been supplied by the Waiau comp. Andy Moriarty’s team where hoping that they where going to be the first hunters this year two break the two ton mark at a ridgeling comp down south. However they did
fall short at a respectable 193 pounds. This comp is helped out by the local farmers as well as the pig hunters and for that reason they have a section for sows as well. Along with the children’s section which was very well supported this year. Last year the children’s section weighed in thirty animals this year there was over ninety animals weighed in. A lot of the children had a real good time in the carrying competition. There was a total of 29 boars, 18 sows and three deer
weighed in. This year I sponsored a prize for the junior section of 24 dog training for one junior and one parent.
The results this year are as follows.
Heaviest boar
1st Craig Dewar 193 pounds
2nd Shane Dunlea 177pounds
3rd Andy Moriarty 150 pounds
4th Corey O’Donnell 140 pounds
5th Martyn Satterthwaite 135 pounds
6th Andy Gardner 128 pounds
Junior section
Cory O’Donnell 140 pounds
Average weight
Kane Spinks 98.5 pounds
One each side of average
Beau Moriarty 100.5 pounds
Dan Pemberton 95.9 pounds
Best tusks
Jamahl Cole 18 2/8
Heaviest sow
1st Trevor Loyd 149 pounds
2nd Steve Davidson 125 pounds
First three animals weighed in
Blair Patterson
Steve Davidson
Craig Dewar
Heaviest stag
Curtis Morgan 294 pounds
Junior Section
Heaviest Possum: Samantha Moriarty
Heaviest Hare: Shanya Nickless
Heaviest Rabbit: Tom Bell
Heaviest Eel: Tom Galbraith
10th Rabbit Weighed in: Tom Bell
Kids Carry Races
Rabbit Carry Girls aged 0-6 Katie Gardner
Boys aged 0-6 Jack Satterthwaite
Hare Carry Girls aged 7-11 Tayla Duncan
Boys aged 7-11 Josh James
Hare Carry Girls aged 12-14 Rosa Thompson
Boys aged 12-14 Josh Creedon
Pig Carrying Competition
Kids 6-9yrs (team of two): Angus Gardner & Isaac francis
Kids 10-14yrs (team of two): Kitty Brett & Esther Thompson
Kids 16yrs and under – proper carry: Hannah Forbes
Women’s: Nicky Gardner
Men’s: Gary Nichol