Both Barrels April 2026 - Hawke's Bay

Well, not many sleeps to go now, with some good rain recently, more forecast and plenty of birds around things are looking positive for a good gamebird opening weekend, after a dry spring. The countdown to Opening Day 2026 officially began with Game Bird Licences going on sale on the 12 March and Pegging day on 29 March. The Duck hunters practise shoots at Hawkes Bay Sporting Shooters Club on  Ben Lomond Station on the 15 March and Patangata Clay Target Club on 29 March, have had great attendances, unfortunately their open day where they encourage shooters to  “come along and have a go” at Patangata on the 12 April was impacted by Cyclone Vaiano, but on a positive note, the cyclone did bring some rain hopefully topping up everyone’s ponds. The Patangata Clay Target Club will be running further open days on the 14 June and 9 August intended as a fun, non -competition day for the more casual shooter to come along and have a go, with DTL trap, skeet and compact sporting clays options available for a minimal cost to non-members.

Our recent aerial game bird counts are showing Dabbling duck (Mallards and Greys) up especially in CHB, Paradise Shelduck numbers up about 20% on last year and black swan also up. With several lots of good rain in January and February things are looking positive after a relatively dry spring, with good broods sighted on rivers and ponds throughout the bay. The ample feed will be helping the upland gamebirds, with staff seeing lots of pheasants, and quail when they have been out doing field work and ranging over the summer and autumn.

Our Pukeko counts showed very strong numbers too, so we remind the experienced hunters out there, that pukekos are a great opportunity for novice hunters – they don’t fly quite as fast as our other game birds, nor do they duck and dive like pheasants or quail through the trees making them easier for novices to hit. As we all know the best way to learn to shoot moving game with a shotgun is to start with the easier targets and progress to faster, more challenging targets from there, whether they are clay targets or game.

Many growers have issues with pukeko on crops, so approaching growers for permission to hunt Pukeko with your junior is recommended, and who knows what opportunities it might lead to. There will no doubt be duck and goose hunting opportunities on maize stubble throughout the bay this season, but please do the right thing and ask land owner permission first.

Image above – everyone’s target on 2 May - photo John Lumsden

Opening Morning – Photo Dylan Urlich.

Junior Opportunities

Driven Pheasant Hunt.

Juniors are reminded of the wonderful opportunity they have of getting a day’s driven pheasant shooting on Hawkes Bays newest preserve; by simply buying a full season junior Gamebird Licence, you have the opportunity to go in the draw – keep an eye on our website for further information.  

A Prime HB pheasant – Photo John Lumsden

Junior Clay Target Shooting Event  - 13 April HB Clay Target Club

A 2025 junior event - Photo John Lumsden

The junior Fin and Feather event at the Hawkes Bay Clay Target Club followed the Hawkes bay Fish and Game open day at our game farm, where many juniors had the opportunity to try out our new shooting simulator – think movie screen with a variety of hunting/ shooting options projected onto it. The new technology allows shooters, young and old to practise a variety of hunting/shooting scenarios from clay targets; DTL trap, skeet, simulated field, through to duck hunting on a lake, driven pheasant hunting and even running boar. The moving target is projected onto a lifelike background, and the hunter shoots a laser beam from a model gun at the chosen moving target, successful shots are displayed dramatically, and the fall of the missed shots are displayed with an image of the shot pattern or bullet relative to the target, so the shooter can  adjust and learn.

Bring Your Mate Back To The Blind

Feeling the pinch? You’re not alone — but getting out hunting might be exactly what you need. Fresh air. Good mates. Real food on the table. A reset from the daily grind.

To get you (and a mate) back out there this game bird season, we’re giving away the ultimate pre-season boost, for 3 lucky hunters.

• $50 Fuel Voucher
• A Game Bird Season Licence for your mate (they must not have held one in the past 2 years)
• A session on our brand-new hunting simulator for both of you
• A Fish & Game Cookbook to turn your harvest into something epic

To enter:

Purchase your 2026 Game Bird Full Season Licence before Sunday 26th April then click here to enter the draw for 1 of 3 prize packs to be won: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/r/yCH8jTAByy

Because hunting isn’t just a hobby — it’s how we feed our families, look after our mates, and keep ourselves grounded.

Entries close Sunday 26th April 2026 with winners drawn and notified Monday 27th April 2026. Prize is not exchangeable for cash. Simulator session must be booked in advance and used by 30th June 2026. Licence subject to standard Fish & Game regulations and eligibility. Fuel voucher subject to issuer terms. Winners names and photos will be published on Fish & Game channels. Winners must claim prize before 2nd May or a new winner will be drawn.

Compliance

Fish and Game will have teams out all over the bay this game bird season and we want to be hearing about your successes, not be issuing offence notices, it spoils our day too.

Please make a point of carefully checking your ammunition prior to going waterfowl hunting this season, our ranging teams found far too many hunters who had a mix of steel and lead ammunition at their duck ponds last year, where they had mistakenly taken lead ammunition. As a general rule, non - toxic ammunition will have what it is – eg Steel or Bismuth printed on both the box and each cartridge, lead shot doesn’t normally have the shot type printed on each cartridge, so our advice is if it hasn’t got a non - toxic shot type printed on it assume it is lead.