The Cooktown Pig Hunt, previously known as the Cooktown Hog Hunt, will return under new management after the last event was held in 2023. Photo: Cape York Weekly.
Nominations are now open for the annual Cooktown Pig Hunt, which is set to make a triumphant return to the community on 20-22 August thanks to a passionate hunter taking the reins.
Previously titled the Cooktown Hog Hunt, the popular feral pig eradication event last went ahead in 2023 after previous organisers Frog and Denicka Danaher stepped down, but long-time participant Jonny Hillhouse and wife Tamara could not bear to see it disappear.
“I’ve only been in Cooktown for about eight years and I’ve been in pretty much every single one since I’ve been here,” Mr Hillhouse said.
“I’m from Central Queensland and I’ve been hunting pigs since I was a teenager. It’s pretty much all I used to do, actually, is just go to work to pay for my pig hunting trips.”
He said he was encouraged to take on the job of bringing the Cooktown Pig Hunt back by the previous organisers who could no longer find the time for the mammoth task.
“No-one else was going to do it, and the town needs it, I think,” he said.
“It’s a good event and it brings a lot of people to Cooktown. The last time they ran it there was just shy of 400 nominated hunters.
“It’s on a Saturday, so they can book a room for the night somewhere in town and they’ve got the Sunday to go to the servo and fuel up, get something to eat – so it’s going to generate quite a bit of revenue for Cooktown.”
The last Hog Hunt in 2023 saw a record 381 hunters from across Queensland and interstate bring in almost 10 tonnes of feral hogs as they vied for more than $40,000 in cash and prizes.
While many fan-favourite categories from the event’s Top Pub days will return in 2026, Mr Hillside said holding the festivities at the Cooktown Racecourse this year would allow for some extra categories.
“How they ran it is exactly how we’re going to run it; we’re not going to change anything, because they did a good job of it,” he said.
“The categories will pretty much be the same. The only thing different is we’re doing an ironman challenge on the day, which they just couldn’t do at the Top Pub because there wasn’t enough room.
“That’s a memorial for a friend of ours that passed, so that’s the Jed Farraway Memorial Ironman Challenge.”
He said the challenge was sure to be a major highlight of the weekend, with the team behind popular Australian podcast Alpha Blokes set to travel up and participate in honour of Jed Farraway, who was “like family”.
There will also be plenty of prizes up for grabs across the nine categories thanks to generous local businesses stepping up to support the return of the event.
“I think the biggest thing for us is to just bring some highlight and some more attention to local businesses,” Mr Hillhouse said.
“We’ve got about 30 grand at the moment worth of prizes already, so a massive thing for us is to keep locals involved, and everyone has been so good.
“I thought we’d struggle getting sponsors and getting this off the ground, but I haven’t really asked many people, they’ve all rung me. It’s been crazy how many people have reached out to us.”
While nominations in the lead-up are steadily flowing in, the organiser said he would love to see more people get involved. Interested hunters can nominate online or in-person at the Sovereign Resort Hotel on 19 August from 10 am to 3 pm. Nominations will close on 20 August at 6 am when hunting commences.
Hunters are reminded no firearms are to be brought into the racecourse grounds for the weigh-in event on Saturday.
