Raising funds for the Nelson Marlborough Rescue Helicopter and a local cancer battler is the aim of a Tākaka-based hunting event which will lock and load on Friday after a two-year hiatus.
The River Inn Moonlight Hunt started 2008 and has enticed thousands of nationwide hunter-gatherers to the rural town for a good cause.
Jamie Sixtus, who co-hosts the bash with his mother Paula and father Richard, says the rescue helicopter was the target since it had helped rescue friends, and his sister Laura following a severe motorbike crash at Anatori in 2021.
This year, Tākaka local Jack Holland will also share in the proceeds to support his level four melanoma treatment.
“People participate because they see that we’re supporting the rescue helicopter, and that’s what it’s all about, it’s not so much the location or the prizes,” Jamie says.
“In 2008, it started as a one-night hunt and be back [at the weigh-in] at 6am, but in the end, we decided that was a little bit hard on people and the safety side of things.
“It has traditionally been quite a small local pig hunt, and then over the last four pig hunts, we’ve ramped it up and tried to make it a lot bigger for more animals to come in, and we auction them off for money.”
Jamie says the hunt officially starts at midnight on 28 June with final weigh-ins at the River Inn by 2pm on 30 June.
The adult categories include heaviest boar, sow, stag, hind, and fallow stag and hind, as well as biggest tusks, average pig and local’s heaviest boar.
Juniors can also claim prizes for the heaviest hare, possum, goat and herrings, and most hares and possums.
An open category for most goat tails is also in play and a wild game pie competition at the weigh-in provides non-hunters the scope for a place in the event.
“Normally we’ll get around $12,000 to $13,000 [in raised funds], so hopefully this year we will get more than that,” Jamie says.
“We’ve had an amazing amount of sponsorship come at us this year, and it’s actually overwhelming how much people are willing to offer support, we wouldn’t be able to do [the event] without them.”
Entries close on 27 June at 7pm, and are available at the River Inn Hotel, Tākaka Fuels and Fishing, Brightwater’s The Loggers Shop, and Motueka’s Whitwells Menswear. Contact 027 435 0575 for more information.
