Hunter Gilbert Gauci spreads the news.

Hunters heaved a huge sigh of relief and some shed tears as their representatives declared victory at the Naxxar counting hall just before 10.30am.

Although word of a narrow victory had been making the rounds an hour earlier, phones were whipped out to share the news only after FKNK CEO Lino Farrugia finally told hunters: “Let’s enjoy ourselves but let’s also be careful and respect everyone.”

The declaration brought cheers, chants of “Iva, Iva” and shouts of elation as many called their relatives and friends to break the news and others carried the hunters’ representatives shoulder high.

Gilbert Gauci, who had not slept a wink in three days, shared his deep sense of relief. “I would have left the country if the referendum had passed in favour of the No camp. I would have probably gone to the UK because people there can hunt a particular species from January to December,” the 28-year-old said.

The past three weeks were also somewhat sleepless for Clifton Ellul, who unwinds when he is out hunting in “the quiet countryside”.

“I didn’t even want to think of being locked indoors if the hunting season had remained closed this spring. In autumn we don’t see as many turtle doves. In fact, I only saw one in September.

“Non-hunters don’t know what it’s like to be a hunter, as they consider hunters to be criminals or murderers. If I catch a bird alive, I don’t try to kill it but I do my best to keep it alive,” he said.

Vince Borg, another sleep-deprived hunter, told the newspaper he had feared the No camp would win “because of misunderstandings”.

Scared he was about to lose his hobby, Mr Borg said there were some who did not understand that the referendum was about hunting in spring.

Several arguments about hunting in general had been brought up over the past few weeks, he said, but the campaign conducted by the opposing camp did not focus on quail and turtle doves, the only two species hunted in spring.

The No camp, which has campaigned to abolish spring hunting, conceded defeat a few minutes before FKNK president Joe Perici Calascione and Mr Farrugia addressed the media in the counting hall.

“We did not win anything, we just did not lose,” Mr Perici Calascione said in reaction to the result.

For Domenic Cutajar, from Żebbuġ, the result was “the first step” to avoid putting other hobbies at risk. The result, he added, showed that the Maltese and Gozitans had won, because no one but the islanders themselves should have a say over the people’s pastimes.