Back 'O' Bourke Boars fundraiser next week

Daily Liberal Dubbo
July 30, 2013





A feral pig hunting competition is planned for Bourke this
weekend to raise money to help support cancer patients
from the town. Photo contributed

AN UNUSUAL fundraiser will take place in the state's west this week
A feral pig hunting competition that will raise money to help support cancer patients from Bourke has attracted entrants from western NSW and much further afield.
The inaugural Back O' Bourke Boar Buster will be staged from August 2 to 4, organiser Courtney Oakman said.
A hunter who has lived in Bourke for 18 years, he said he wanted to help a charity that was close to his town's heart.
"The beneficiary, the Blue Robinson Foundation, was started locally and it helps cancer patients with transport and accommodation when they have to travel for treatment," he said.
Mr Oakman said while the main aim was to raise money for charity, there would be other positive spin-offs.
"In recent times some pig hunters have given the sport a bad reputation, but I wanted to show that there are good ones among us," he said.
Mr Oakman said the local economy was expected to benefit too.
"I see a lot of pig hunters travel through this area and they spend a bit of money while they're out here," he said.
Some of those local businesses were among sponsors who had offered prizes in a range of categories across the weekend.
"Local businesses have donated about $4000 worth of prizes, and I have a few items up for auction ahead of the event on the Facebook page Back 'O' Bourke Boars," he said.
"Plus shops and magazines and hunters who aren't in the area have put up another $4000 in prizes. Some of the stuff includes accommodation, and a 2013 St George rugby league jersey has a few people interested.
"I don't know some of these people from a bar of soap but they're all donating things and being so generous for a worthy cause. They may or may not know someone with cancer but they can appreciate what it's like to have to travel hundreds of kilometres for treatment."
When the Daily Liberal spoke with Mr Oakman, he confirmed that 40 teams had already signed up for the event.
"We've got people travelling from as far as Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney and Longreach," he said.
Strict rules would govern the event to make it as safe as possible, and Mr Courtney had spoken with local police and Bourke Shire Council about the event to brief the authorities during the planning stage.
"Each team will have a minimum of two people and a maximum of five," he said.
"Every entrant will need to have signed permission from the property owner before they can take part, and the vehicles that are taking part will have a special sticker they need to attach.
"All of this has to be done before they enter, so people can't just turn up on the day. They need to contact me first. There are a lot of rules in place to make sure we are doing the right thing.
"It also shows that there are genuine blokes out there willing to jump through a lot of regulatory hoops to have this event happen."
Mr Oakman said the event was open to "shooters, bow hunters and blokes with dogs".
"All dogs have to be wearing GPS tracking collars, and we will have access to make sure they have been where owners said they have been," he said.
Entrants would assemble for signing in from 2pm on Friday, and from there would go to nominated properties to commence the competition, Mr Oakman explained.
Weigh-ins would take place on the Saturday and Sunday mornings after the previous nights' hunting.
Prizes would be awarded in a range of categories, including biggest boar, biggest sow, biggest set of tusks and heaviest load of five pigs.

Children and families would not be left out, Mr Oakman said, with a series of activities having been arranged for daylight hours.

"There will be an obstacle course for kids, they'll have to carry a mock weight that simulates a pig, I'm thinking at this stage that will be a bag of dog biscuits," he said.
Other competitions would include lure casting, an endurance competition that would see a series of tasks such as changing a tyre and a series of chin-ups, a dog high jump, ugliest dog, prettiest dog and fastest-eating dog competitions.
Would-be competitors can contact Mr Oakman on 0427 315 949 for an entry form.

http://www.dailyliberal.com.au/story/1669460/back-o-bourke-boars-fundraiser-next-week/?cs=112