Both Barrels April 2025

  • F&G NZ
  • 24/04/2025

Both Barrels April 2025

 

Pre-season preparation

Duckmas is just around the corner. This time next week, we’ll all be frantically packing everything up ready for Saturday morning.

It’s now time to build your checklist to make sure you don’t forget anything.

Here’s our ten-point Pre-Season Preparation Checklist as a reminder:

  1. Get your game bird hunting licence.
  2. Sort your ammo.
  3. Update or refresh gear. 
  4. Confirm access with the landowner well ahead of Opening Day.
  5. Secure any permits you may need to hunt on DOC or Fish & Game administered land.
  6. Double check you’re not working over Opening Weekend – get time off if necessary. 
  7. This weekend, sort out any repairs or camouflage to your maimai this weekend so you won’t disturb the birds. 
  8. Think about your firearms safety plan now, rather than on opening morning.
  9. Get in some practice on some clays if you can, pattern your shotgun if you haven’t already and clean it—you don’t want opening morning ruined by a jamming semi-auto!
  10. Check and clean your decoys.

Above all, remember that hunting waterfowl is something we all do with a passion. We know that ducks are delicious, so let’s share the bounty of our efforts with our family and friends.

 

Fish & Game magazine

If you didn’t receive the latest edition of the Fish & Game special hunting magazine, you can read it online here.

It’s packed full of helpful hints and tips for the coming season.

Read past editions of the Magazine, here.

 

Hunting reports

Several of our regions do hunting reports throughout the season.

Click through to this page to sign up for them.

We quite like the name of the new Otago report – The Game Call – but check out the link above and get the latest hunting intel direct to your inbox throughout the season so you can maximise your hunting opportunities.

 

Anti hunting protesters

We’ve noticed an uptick in anti-hunting activity focused on duck hunting recently.

If you encounter anti-hunting protesters when you are out hunting, we have some advice.

  • Be polite and professional, they may be antagonistic, disruptive and confronting, but they are doing this so they can get a reaction.
  • They will be filming, hoping that they can capture that reaction on camera to make all hunters look bad – don’t lower yourself to their level.
  • Remember to recover all your birds, pick up any rubbish and don’t be surprised if you come across some people. Hunting for food for your family is one answer that they are trying to discredit and limit our access to public land, because they are saying we are hunting for fun, not for food.

So, remember to use the bounty of our harvest and share it widely.

 

Hunting the season long

Remember Opening Weekend isn’t the end of duck hunting,  for some hunters believe the hunting only gets better after Opening Weekend so remember to plan some more hunts during your season.

You might be surprised with how good the hunting is.

 

Warm Barrels,

 

The Team at Fish & Game NZ

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