Boar and Stag Muster raises $20,000 for charity

Young hunter Pippa Campbell (4), of Hampden, helps out at the muster. Photo by Shannon Gillies.
Young hunter Pippa Campbell (4), of Hampden, helps out at the muster. Photo by Shannon Gillies.
About $20,000 will be split between North Otago Land Search and Rescue and the fundraisers for a new hospice in Oamaru, thanks to the annual North Otago Boar and Stag Muster.

Held over the weekend, starting Friday, 425 hunters shot a range of pest animals from deer to rabbits, boars and possums.

Organisers Steve and Craig Gibb were impressed with the event and pleasantly surprised, given the snow conditions some hunters worked through.

Steve Gibb said the reasons  search and rescue and the hospice fundraisers were chosen as recipients  were the valuable service search and rescue provided hunters, and the fact a hospice was a necessity for Oamaru.

"It’s just so people don’t have to travel and it’s closer to their families."

He said the money raised was "significant" for both causes.

Mr Gibb described the weekend’s weather conditions for hunters as not ideal, but people were allowed to hunt outside  North Otago and bring their catches in.

They just had to be at the weigh-in on Sunday by 3pm.

"We’ve been very lucky.

"Conditions were quite bad this year and we haven’t had to call on search and rescue."

Mr Gibb said there were no reported injuries during the event.

This was the third year the competition had been run.

He said feedback from competitors was positive.

"It’s going well. Everybody seems to have had a good time."

Results. — Stuart Eason, from Waikouaiti, won top boar with a weight of 184lb  [83.5kg].

Shanna Moore, from Central Otago, won top stag with a weight of 400lb [181.5kg]. 

shannon.gillies@odt.co.nz

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