The trio- Jenna Huddleston and her sister Kelly Weir, both of Ranfurly, and Sonya Mathewson of Patearoa - managed to track down two boars during the second annual Maniototo pig hunt.
Their team was the only predominantly female one entered in the hunt and, while their 59.9kg and 45kg boars were not the heaviest at the weigh-in in Ranfurly yesterday, the women were stoked with their efforts.
It was the trio's second stint at pig hunting and they caught the boars on Mount Stalker, at Hampden. Their first taste of the sport was the inaugural hunt last year, when they caught "a couple of wee ones, that weighed about 32kg", Mrs Huddleston said.
"We're improving every year though, so look out for next year."
The women teamed up with Ray Smith, of Hampden, and spent all Friday hunting.
"Our first pig we caught straight away, at about 7.30 that morning, but we did lots of walking before getting the next one at about 5 o'clock," Ms Weir said.
The three women have five children between them, aged from 16 months to 8 years old, and were happy to support the hunt, as the proceeds go towards setting up the new Maniototo Kindergarten.
"It's always good to support local things that benefit local people," Mrs Huddleston said.
Her husband, Thomas, was a keen hunter. He was still out hunting an hour before the weigh-in yesterday "trying to get a bigger pig than ours", she said.
"Usually this kind of contest is a bit of a boy thing. Maybe they should include a ladies' section in the prizegiving."
Prizes were on offer for the heaviest boars and the best set of tusks, with $1000 at stake for the entry closest to the average weight of all the entries. The heaviest boar was 80.28kg.
Young hunters could enter boars, hares, rabbits or possums.
The Maniototo Kindergarten will be built on the grounds of the Maniototo Area School in Ranfurly and should be open by March next year.
