Renowned hunter Te Pikituangahuru (Piki) Amoamo died on March 1, but thanks to gifting part of a massive trophy collection to Ōpōtiki Museum in 2013, his legacy lives on.

In an article written for an Australian hunting magazine, Piki’s friend and fellow hunter/author Murray Thomas described Piki as, “The greatest Māori trophy hunter ever”.

“All his life he was athletic, broad shouldered and softly spoken. He was a tough, hard hunter who carried heavy packs over his lengthy traverses. He is a most remarkable man,” Mr Thomas wrote: “He was greatly respected by the community and his staff. His fantastic dry sense of humour, gentle nature and love of hunting will be remembered fondly by many.”

Piki was the eldest son of Te Whakatohea elder Tiwai and Te Urututu (Gage) Amoamo. He had three brothers Te Riaki, Nelson (deceased) and George.

He was born on his family’s 200-acre dairy farm “Orangipakakino”, up the Rahui Valley where the family leased a further 400 acres of Māori land.

Information supplied to the Ōpōtiki News by the family described a unique lifestyle.

They had the last farm in the valley, bordering the bush-edge. His father bought Piki his first gun when he was 11, a BSA.22. He was taught where all the good grounds to hunt were, especially when the pigeons were fat.

As kids they hunted a lot with other boys up the valley to put meat on their table, home-kill, venison and seafood was also on the menu, along with their own corn, kumara and potatoes.

Living in the Rahui Valley the family milked 50-60 cows and had about 800 sheep. The valley itself was about four miles long, being mostly a farming community with 14 families making it a busy place.

Piki was educated at Omarumutu Native School then at Opotiki College.

They milked the cows before going up the road to catch the school bus.

The family would harness up the draught horse, put on the cart, load up and take the cans down to the cream stand on their way to catch the bus. After unloading the cans, they would put on the empty ones and send the horse home.

The bus took about 20 children; anyone within a mile of the school had to walk or, as most did, ride their horse.  Sometimes the bus children would pass five kids on one horse.

The school role was about 220 children and only three were pākehā.

“We were given one apple or a pint of milk, we wore no shoes. There was a foot bath for those who walked a distance and they had to scrub their feet before going into the classroom,” Piki recalled.

After high school he helped on the family farm and learnt to shear.

In 1960, he and brothers Te Riaki and Nelson started working at Ocean Beach freezing works in Bluff.  He worked as a chamber hand for his first season and played rugby, making the local A-team. The following season he applied for a job on the chain slaughter and was put on the legging table, working there for about five years on-and-off.

At the end of the season, he and his brothers would go home to Ōpōtiki to help their dad on the farm. Then would head south and work for a shearing contractor at Blenheim EB Fitzpatrick.

Piki sheared around North Canterbury for six years during the freezing works off-season.  Eventually in the early 1970s he started working for Mickey Thompson of Invercargill, whose run included the Te Anau Basin.

Some of the farmers in Te Anau approached Piki to see if he would be interested in starting his own shearing run down there as they liked the way he operated; he was an excellent shearer, hardworking with a great personality.

For Piki, Fiordland was a hunter’s paradise, the perfect place to settle down with his Australian wife Kerry-Ann, now living in Australia, and raise their two children, Hamana and Kelly-Ann. These two now live in Wagga Wagga and Queenstown respectively.

Piki and Kerry ran a very large and successful shearing contract business in Te Anau, Southland through the 1970s/80s.

Most of their staff would be from Ōpōtiki, East Coast and Hawke’s Bay. Local identity Dinah Brown worked in the courts at Ōpōtiki and if there were young people coming through the system in need of direction, she would call Piki’s parents and organise for these young men to work for “Uncle Piki”.

“During Piki’s funeral it was wonderful to hear a former shearer speak of how he had come through the courts and was heading down a very different path when the opportunity came to be sent to Te Anau and be employed in the sheds,” Kelly-Ann said.

“Their introduction into the business would first be ‘sheepo’ out in the pens, pushing the sheep up for the shearers; then be put on the press, pressing all the wool bales. Eventually they were taught how to crutch then for those determined, to shear.

“It was good, honest hard work.

“As one former employee said, ‘by having that one chance, “it completely changed my life around’.”

In 1989, Piki and family relocated to Lake Cargelligo NSW, where he continued to shear and set records. He sheared with his son Hamana right up until he was 75 years old.

Primarily Piki made a name for himself as a hunter, featuring in many magazines and books about hunting.  In particular, these covered his years hunting wapiti in Fiordland, though he also hunted extensively in the North Island bush, in Australia and North America.

Though he moved back to his home district of Ōpōtiki in later life, while living in Te Anau, he and Kerry’s fame spread among the international hunting fraternity, as they generously housed and fed many travelling wapiti hunters.

Ōpōtiki Museum manager Judy Forbes said the museum is proud to have a selection of Mr Amoamo’s trophy animals on display.

“He was a great local identity – a great hunter, shearer and family man with such a long history in Ōpōtiki. Piki asked us to display the animals after his container arrived from overseas and because of his legacy here, we were very proud to show off these trophies.”

Mrs Forbes said many children visiting the museum wanted to see the animals and hear about Piki’s life.

“Sometimes they will be walking past the door and ask if they can look at them. Some very small children want to know if the animals are still alive.

“It’s great to be able to share (the exhibit) with the kids of this town because alot of their families are hunters as well.

“But it isn’t only children who are spell-bound.”

Mrs Forbes said many dads are fascinated with the trophy animals. “They wished they could have been on trips like that overseas.”