There was nothing boaring about Nyngan on the last weekend of August as the town held its second annual Big Boar Bonanza, which saw over 400 keen pig hunters converge on the area to take part.

The event raised a whopping $120,000 which will be shared between the local Can Assist branch, running for premature babies and assisting a Nyngan local who is in need.

The Big Boar Bonanza evolved after a late-night campfire where chief organiser Robert Pack, wife Aimee and friends Amy March and Duane Hartas, hatched the idea and got to work planning and organising over a few beers.

“We were just sitting around one night and yacking about how we would like to raise some money for the community, and we came up with the idea for this event. We knew it would take some work, but none of us are scared of hard work so we got stuck into it,” said Mr. Pack.

“We started the comp to help people out with cancer and this year it hit even harder as one of our teammates was sitting in Sydney with his mum, whose cancer diagnosis just came out of nowhere, so we asked people to dig real deep this year to help out our brothers and sisters,” said Mr. Pack.

With 114 teams of pig hunters from all around the state, each team had four days to catch the feral pigs, with a weigh in on the last day, helping to eradicate around 5000 feral pigs from the district.

With an average weight of around 50kgs and the heaviest tipped at 98kgs, it worked out to be around 20 tonnes of pigs.

Strict protocols were in place ensuring humane treatment of pigs and no animal cruelty and a no trespassing rule to protect local farmers and properties.

Prizes were also awarded for snaring other feral animals including Biggest Hare (3.5kg); Biggest cat (4kg) and Biggest fox (6.6kg).

The Committee worked flat-out and the event had something for everyone with a dog high jump, charity auction, family activities and music into the night.

Already the committee has plans underway for next year’s event, which they plan on being even bigger and better.

“We are really happy with how it all went and thank everyone for supporting us to help support our community, we gave it a good crack with great results,” said Mr. Pack. “Can’t get better than that.”

TOP 10 BIGGEST BOARS

1. The Lincoln Luggers. 98kg

2. Sporting Bullies 90kg

3. Rack Em Up 89kg

4. Betty’s Boars. 85kg

5. Flipn & Stickn central west NSW. 82kg

6. Muddy Cake Chaps 80kg

7. Frog Dogs & Highway Hogs 78kg

8. Scott’s Brothers 77kg

9. Trouble on The Stubble 76kg

10. Suck That Ear 73kg