Boar's last effort gets better of hunter

A Whatawhata man is recovering after being gored by a boar while pig hunting near Kawhia yesterday.

The 36-year-old man was "seriously" injured while hunting with a friend when their dogs bailed up a large boar on a rural property inland from Kawhia shortly before 4pm.

While killing the pig, the man received a deep gash to his left forearm from the pig's tusks.

His friend applied a tourniquet to the wound to stop the bleeding before the pair returned to a farm house and called for help.

The hunter was flown to Waikato Hospital by the Westpac Waikato Air Ambulance after being treated by paramedics at the scene.

A condition update was not available earlier today.

New Zealand Pig Hunting Association spokesman Geoffrey Fitzgerald told the Times this morning that the type of injuries the hunter sustained were not that common.

The former president of the Tokoroa Pig Hunting club said of their 1000 members, they probably only had one injury every two to three years.

"But obviously it is one of the risks you take," he said.

Mr Fitzgerald said hunters could minimise the risk by using dogs to bail the boar and hold it while the hunter shot it from a distance.

- © Fairfax NZ News