Wellington/Taranaki - Weekly Hunting Bulletin 15 May 2025

Wellington Taranaki
15/05/2025

Good Hunting Weather On The Way

There's been the occasional good blow from the nor-west for hunters near the bottom of the North Island which has provided some entertaining and rewarding evening hunts.

While it's been generally settled elsewhere, though, a good weather system for duck hunting is on its way, set to arrive overnight Saturday and lasting through to midday Sunday.

Oscar Gleeson after a productive morning hunt in South Wairarapa (Photo: David Dye)

While the South Island cops most of the rain, coastal areas of Taranaki, Wellington and Wairarapa should see drizzle, light rain and very strong winds.

Check out the Windy weather report below!

Steve McGill with a nice brace of mallards from Lake Waikato, Taranaki Fish & Game region.

There's finally been a decent rain event in the Taranaki region with some solid downpours last Friday. Fresh winds in the lower North Island also made for some great shooting on Friday evening.

As Murphy’s Law would have it, Saturday and Sunday following dawned fine and clear though.

The good front coming in this weekend will hopefully shift the game to favour hunters. Make the most of it and be sure to get out there.

Get Your Must-Haves

If you haven't been out yet this season, this weekend is the one to get in the game. Make sure you get your licence now!

Please ensure you are also familiar with the game bird hunting regulations for Wellington and Taranaki.

If you require the regulations for other regions, please scan the QR code below, which is also on the front of your regulations book you will have received with your licence.

Wind On The Way For Sunday

The brighter the colour, the more intense the wind (Windy.com)

In terms of weather for this weekend, the report is looking promising on the game bird front with cloud, spots of drizzle and strengthening northerly and westerly winds on the cards for Saturday.

Sunday morning should be a particularly productive time to target ducks with strong north to nor-westerlies, and cloud cover from a front working its way in from the Tasman.

The wind is forecast to peak around 8 or 9am, which should stir the birds up and make for a great morning hunt.

Heavier showers are expected to move through on Sunday.

If the rain does eventuate this weekend, birds will seek out prime feeding opportunities in new standing water areas and crop paddocks with emerging grubs and worms.

Keep this in mind as an alternative if the shooting on your usual pond or spot has been slow.

Check out Windy.com for the very latest outlook.

Finding Ducks As We Head Into The Season

Using natural cover, in out-of-the-way locations, will help improve your success (Photo: Hamish Carnachan)

How often does it happen that ahead of duck season the water on your pond or around your maimai is teeming with ducks, but after the initial first flurry of shooting on Opening morning the birds have gone, seemingly disappeared into the ether?

Research coming out of the US indicates that, contrary to much of the rhetoric and populist theories, mallards are simply getting increasingly hunt-smart, indicating that hunters need to hunt smarter to increase their success.

Read how your can improve your odds as the season goes on here.

Win A $300 Hunting & Fishing Voucher

Bolt enjoying a break on his 12th Opening Morning (Photo: Dion Vodanovich).

Send in your favourite photos from this game bird hunting season and you could be in to win a $300 voucher to spend in store at Wairarapa Hunting & Fishing.

We won't blow your secret spot, just include the name of the hunter(s), photographer's details, and general location in the Wellington or Taranaki Fish & Game region.

Click here to submit your entry.

You can send us as many hunting photos as you like.

By submitting images to enter the competition you acknowledge that Wellington and Taranaki Fish & Game, and Wairarapa Hunting and Fishing, can publish and use the photos for publicity material.

Entries must be in by 8:30pm, August 31, 2025. The winner will be notified via email.

Video of The Week - Manawatu Opening

Here's a cool video of Opening Morning in Manawatu.

A bunch of mates hunting a small pond with plenty of banter and enough ducks decoying in to make for a reasonable start to the season.

Click the screenshot above to check out gun-cam footage of how to lead birds.

Hunting News

You may already have received a copy of our 2025 'Hunting News' in the mail.

Click on the cover image above to download a digital version and catch up on the season prospects, new hunting opportunities, recipes, news on what we've been up to and a heap of handy tips to make your season more successful.

A Family-Favourite Duck Dish

This Japanese-inspired duck katzu dish is simple to prepare and will fast become a family favourite (Photo: Hamish Carnachan)

Ducks are in superb condition this season – possibly the best we’ve seen in years – so make the most of that delicious game meat you harvest.

Here’s a recipe for duck schnitzel with a Japanese twist, that goes down a treat in our household and has become a family favourite…

Duck Katzu With Asian Slaw

Duck:

Take four duck breasts, lay them flat and with your hand on top carefully cut horizontally in half to make them thin.
Toss the breasts in a bowl of flour to coat.
Beat an egg in a bowl, coat the floured breasts in egg, then transfer to a dish of panko breadcrumbs seasoned with salt and pepper.
Coat breasts evenly in crumbs.
Fry in oil for three to four minutes on each side (depending on thickness) until golden and just cooked through.

Slaw:

Make a slaw by thinly slicing red cabbage, spring onions, red radishes and the leaves of a large bunch of coriander.
Dress with a dash of sesame oil and good lug of apple cider vinegar.
Season with salt and pepper, sprinkle with lightly toasted sesame seeds.

To Serve: