Southland > Hunting News July 2008

The end of the season hunt was well attended by Southland hunters with a few reasonable bags taken to tuck away into the freezer for a few nice roast duck meals over the next few months.

Aside from a few no licenses and some people still using lead shot the season has been pretty trouble free.

This season was the first one where we had a shortened season for shoveler in the south. However the numbers of these birds seem to be pretty variable with good numbers being seen mid season then very few towards the end on the Invercargill Estuary at least and this is a stronghold for them.

Mallards are well into the paired up mode now. The last weekend does make for easier hunting as birds are more confident to come in to a pond than they are in June. Now of course they can be left alone to find territories and get set for adding a new batch of young ducks for next season.

Mallard behavior is always changing and with the dairy boom and winter feeding of grain based silage they are taking to the pastures rather than the ponds. Large groups can be seen loafing in the winter sun and it is impossible to get close to them. To hunt these birds it is necessary to use a pasture hunting setup. This requires some decoys on stakes that move a bit in the wind, at least one roboduck, and some good camouflage - even a coffin blind. You have to find out where the birds are gathering and be there before they are so you can hunt them as they return from their night’s feast.

Obviously this is a bit different from the normal maimai hunting situation but if its ducks in the bag you want you have to at least keep up with their predominant behavior patterns. 

Anyway that’s the plan for next year.

Maurice Rodway
Manager.

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