Central South Island > Hunting News June 2007

June Hunting Update.

Graeme Hughes, Central South Island Region.

With fine weather and mild conditions, for the first month rising early to hunt ducks has been reasonably pleasant. Since opening day there may have been one really wet day but with little wind and of course it was mid week when most of us were gainfully employed. More recently there has been an abrupt change inclimatic conditions and we are experiencing days of hard frosts nicely strung together making up for those balmy days we had become used to. Many of the smaller waters are now iced over and although late in coming the ice will send many mallards to open or moving water. Locally there has been an absence of evening shooting with only an occasional shot heard.

From the reports I and other enforcement officers received in the field on opening weekend the impression we all received was that results were well down on the 2006 opening weekend. Fish and Game Officer Mark Webb has collated the results from the hunter interviews and quite a different picture has emerged. The hunter harvest for 2007 opening weekend was about the average for the last 15 years.

Two hundred and one hunters selected at random representing approximately 1 in 10 of all whole season licence holders, were interviewed following the opening. Of hunters interviewed, 17 did not hunt at all and 30 hunted outside of the CSI Region leaving 154 hunters active within our boundaries. On average hunters spent slightly (1%) less time in the field than last year and their success slightly improved (0.5%). These differences are insignificant and realistically there has been no change in opening weekend hunting effort or success over the last two seasons.

The average weekend bag of mallard plus grey duck combined at 15.5 birds per hunter, and of all waterfowl at 17.1 birds per hunter is about average for the 15-year period of record for opening weekend (Figure 1). Harvest rate in terms of birds taken per hour, is a relative measure of the abundance of waterfowl and the hunter’s ability to knock them down compared to other years. This opening, hunters took an average of 1.83 birds per hour which was right in the middle of the range of harvest rates for the last 15 years.

Of the 154 interviewed hunters who were active in the CSI Region, 11 took a one day combined duck bag in excess of 25. Harvest attributable to these hunters taking more than 25 birds amounted to 6% more than if the bag limit had been 25. There is no evidence our duck population cannot sustain this harvest.

Figure 1. Average opening weekend bag of mallard and grey duck combined and all waterfowl for 1992 to 2007 and average bag for the whole period.

Overall harvest by hunters for the weekend within the CSI Region amounted to approximately 23,600 waterfowl of which 21,400 were mallard/grey duck and 1,800 were paradise shelduck.

Hunters have been telling me what I have been telling them for some time, many mallards have become paddock ducks.. Daily feeding of highly palatable stock food, wide open pastures providing ample security, the adaptable mallard has been quick to cash in on these conditions, some of which have been brought about by the increased number of dairy farms in some areas of the region. Winter stock feeding has always been an attractant to ducks and to a casual observer these relaxed looking waterfowl appear mostly untouchable. Pursuit of these “untouchables” by traditional methods is largely a waste of time as construction of any form of concealment will be avoided by knowing mallards. Riding around in feed-out apparatus behind the tractor will net one or two birds however it is not entirely satisfactory and definitely not domestic stock friendly. Improvising is something “Kiwis” are good at and I am aware of desperate hunters, donning sheepskins or cow hides in attempt to approach paddock ducks. They may have a rather small brain, the ducks, I’m not sure about the hunters, but mallards use them very well and are quick to notice major differences between real sheep and cattle and the “Trojan” type shuffling along in their direction. Concealment needs to be a little more “up market” and understandably there is a growing interest in the “layout” or “coffin” type blinds which are low profile, effective but unfortunately expensive. To avail themselves of “paddock ducks”, hunters will need to become more innovative, as I’m sure they will.

As with most Fish and Game officers on opening weekends, fishing or hunting, the big sacrifice is made when we “show the flag” and interview the licence holders of the region, while all weekend wishing we were out there doing it. However “every dog has its day” and a visit to a neighbouring dairy farm two weeks into the season provided me and a hunting companion with a morning of fast shooting. A mere 10 minutes from home I tossed a dozen decoys on a machine excavated rectangular pit filled with thigh deep ground water. 50 metres long by15 metres wide, it wasn’t pretty to look at but it was definitely popular with the local mallard population. Perched comfortably on canvas stools in the branches of a dead willow pushed there at some time, screened by a “camo net” we were entertained as in a strong “norwester” ducks appeared at fence top level and dived down to the sheltered water 12 feet below us. It didn’t take us long to figure that we needed to get down to water level to see incoming birds in the shadows of the opening hour of hunting. The mallards approaching at speed into the gale force wind, cupped their wings for the last few seconds of their flight path presented a fast and diving target, not the most desirable of shots but repositioned we could now see them a fraction longer. Undoubtedly the sound of two “autos” working overtime was dampened by the wind, there was barely time to reload, and on more than one occasion a duck was “shot” on an empty chamber. The barrel of my gun became too hot to touch as the ducks continued to fall. As the sun rose above Station Peak the action slowed. The coffee had barely hit the bottom of the mug when the inevitable bunch of birds arrived catching us out as they do. Although the “curly coat” had retrieved a considerable number of birds, in and around the pond an impressive body count yet to be collected was revealed in the improving daylight. With 62 picked up and three semi consumed by hawks left behind, we rewound decoy strings and anchors while reflecting on some great shooting. Reality and the work ahead, the not so enjoyable task of table preparation was discussed. Fortunately we have a lot of friends who like wild duck. And if you’re wondering; the Central South Island Region mallard daily bag limit is 50.

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