Pig hooey

I went possum shooting as a little fellow with my dad who had a big shotgun. Possums are a bit of a pest in New Zealand. From 20 onwards, I went out more with my uncle. I stayed at his place a few times and he took me to shoot rabbits. And then six years ago, I got my gun license and have bought the odd gun.

Now we mainly hunt pigs in Taranaki on the western side, halfway down the North Island. I travel way out, walk about for half an hour in the bush to a particular little spot I go to. Once you shoot the pig, you cut it all the way down to the gut, cut off the head, carry it, skin it and cook it. It's beautiful to eat - lean, with no fat. After the Second World War, the eastern part of the country had got really bad. When the men returned, they found hundreds of pigs eating up farms, destroying grounds. So everyone went out to shoot them.

I've never come close to being attacked by a pig. I shoot when I'm about 100 to 200 metres away from them, using little .243mm bullets. There are some hunting programmes on Sky that I enjoy watching.

I will be taking part in the Champions League, playing for Central District. I hear Dale Steyn, who will be there with the Royal Challengers Bangalore, is a keen hunter as well so maybe I'll have a chat with him about it. Maybe I'll learn something from him and we'll go out for a hunt in South Africa. That will be cool.

In Sri Lanka, I looked out of my window every day and went "ohhhh". Some of these boys here with guns could have taken me out for a hunt perhaps but maybe that would have gotten me into trouble. I am also rather afraid of snakes which Dambulla has plenty of.