Eastern > Hunting News

Hunters face the encouraging prospect of having plenty of options available when the game bird hunting season gets underway at 6.15 on 5 May 2007. Senior Fish and Game Officer Matthew McDougall said that hunters should enjoy one of the best opening weekends in years. “While different species have done better in some areas than others there will be plenty of excellent options available throughout the Eastern and Hawke’s Bay Regions. Mallard duck have had a particularly good breeding season in the Bay of Plenty and Taupo areas. This together with low natural mortality during the summer has contributed to the biggest population in years.”

He suggested that the absence of avian botulism was likely to have been a significant contributor to this positive situation. “Botulism can kill very large numbers of waterfowl when environmental conditions are suitable. While we do not know exactly what causes botulism to be a problem in some years and not in others it has been a pleasant surprise to not observe any significant outbreaks during the summer months.”

Mr McDougall reported that as a consequence of the high mallard numbers the regulations had been relaxed to enable additional hunter opportunity. The season extended in the Bay of Plenty and Taupo areas for a further two weeks until 15 July.

He added that mallard duck had not faired quite as well in the drier East Coast and Hawke’s Bay areas although hunters should still find more birds this year than in 2006. The season is from 5 May to 1 July in those areas. “East Coast and Hawke’s Bay hunters should see a reasonable improvement in their hunting prospects this year. Mallards will be more prolific though the dry summer has not been ideal for the survival of juveniles. On the other hand paradise shelduck are particularly prolific this year. We have received a significant number of complaints in recent months from landowners of paradise shelduck on their pasture which is a sure sign numbers are up.”

The dry summer conditions which impact waterfowl survival have boosted upland game populations. “Pheasant should have had a good breeding season, particularly in eastern locations, and reports suggest that quail populations in the pine forests have responded well. The apparent increase in quail numbers would be especially pleasing to hunters as this popular species has struggled in recent years due to changes in forest management practices.”

“Canada geese populations also remain strong with good numbers around Tauranga Harbour, the Rotorua Lakes, Tologa Bay and Porangahau in the Hawke’s Bay. Managing goose populations is a balancing act as they quickly attract the ire of farmers if numbers build up and start targeting new grass. We encourage hunters to make the most of the extensive opportunities that are available to hunt this challenging bird”.

Mr McDougall said that geese could be hunted until 26 August in Eastern and 30 September in Hawke’s Bay. He added that black swan were another under-utilised species of game bird and suggested that there were additional hunting opportunities particularly on the Rotorua Lakes, Tauranga Harbour and Lake Taupo.

  A good breeding season.

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