Eastern > Hunting News

The game bird season got off to a mixed start on Saturday with fine, calm weather contributing to a quiet opening for many shooters, particularly in the Bay of Plenty. Hawke’s Bay and East Coast hunters fared a little better but it was still very hit and miss with some doing very well while those in adjoining areas had little success.

Fish & Game New Zealand regional manager Steve Smith said that the weekend result was not unexpected given the conditions. “The waterfowl breeding season had been very good and we had anticipated the extra duck numbers to have increased hunter opportunities. As it turned out the weather had a huge influence with ducks able to fly high out of range of hunters and take refuge on the larger lakes or out at sea. In many cases the abundance of paradise shelduck saved the day for hunters as they made up a large part of the harvest in some areas.”

He added that some of the better hunting had occurred in drier Gisborne, Wairoa and Hawke’s Bay areas. “The drought like conditions of autumn has dried many of the smaller wetlands which made it harder for ducks to find a quiet piece of water to hide on. The dry conditions had prompted some farmers to start feeding out maize silage which ducks quickly homed in on. Hunters taking advantage and shooting these paddocks had some very good success for both parries and mallards. Other hunters found the evening shooting better than the early morning start as ducks returned to feed.”

He pointed out that while the majority of hunters had not shot lots of ducks there were good numbers of hunters out on the day with the vast majority well behaved and clearly having had an enjoyable time. Mr Smith pointed out that “Fish & Game officers had interviewed more than 200 hunters on opening day with eleven offences detected, nine of hunting without a licence, one for shooting over limit and one for using lead shot. This is higher than in recent years which is disappointing but also is a reflection of officers targeting areas that had not been ranged in recent years. Hunter behaviour has generally been excellent, however, which is a credit to the thousands of hunters who actively hunt at this time of the year.”

The waterfowl season remains open until 1 July for the East Coast regions of Gisborne, Wairoa and Hawkes Bay with licence holders able to hunt an additional two weeks in the Bay of Plenty and Taupo Waikato areas. Upland game hunters can pursue pheasant and quail until 26 August 2007.

“Hunters can expect some excellent hunting in the weeks to come. There are clearly good numbers of birds this season which is very encouraging. The onset of the winter rains should bring ideal conditions for night shooting while in the meantime there should be some good opportunities around river margins and permanent wetlands.”

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