Both Barrels May 2025 - Auckland/Waikato

The Auckland Waikato Fish and Game council had six ranging teams in the field on the opening weekend, including two staff teams and four honorary ranger teams. Despite the fair conditions, rangers were pleased to see many hunters getting stuck into it and enjoying a great weekend.

Across public and private lands, 202 hunters were checked, with 18 offence notices issued and 17 firearms seized. Offences included the use of lead shot, unplugged guns, and hunting over fed ponds.

Harvest Survey

Harvest surveys for opening weekend have been completed with 212 random hunters surveyed. Initial results suggest that the fair weather may have meant some hunters went home early (average hours hunted on Saturday decreased from 7.37 hours to 6.33 hours).  However, it was good to see that most hunters still had a successful day. On average, just under four grallards (grey duck and mallard combined) were shot per hunter on the Saturday of opening weekend 2025. This was very similar to last year's average, which saw 3.8 grallards harvested per hunter. The Gamebird Harvest Survey is an important tool for Fish & Game as it allows us to calculate things like average harvest and feed into our population size estimates. Staff will continue to call a random selection of hunters throughout the season, so keep an ear out for a call.

Band Returns

Three hundred and three bands have already been reported in the Auckland Waikato region! This is a great reminder to submit any bands shot on opening weekend. This summer we banded 2,316 birds across six sites. It is interesting to see how the birds have moved around – it seems a few made the trip up to Northland!

To report your bands, either:

• Ring the free phone number 0800 BIRD BAND (0800-247322) or
• Fill in the details via the website here.

 

Figure: Lines indicating where banded birds travelled before being shot so far in 2025. Lines are coloured to distinguish between the six banding sites.