Last chance to bag a bird or two

This weekend is the last chance for Southland duck hunters to bag a few birds before the 2011 season ends.

While some hunters have reported tough times to date, Southland Fish & Game officer Zane Moss says the recent inclement weather has given ducks a boost, allowing them to gorge themselves on abundant food supplies.

“This results in ducks being in great condition, and what better way to warm the soul than a traditional roast duck! I’d encourage hunters to get out and make the most of the investment they’ve made in their licence.”

As the days start to lengthen through July it opens up opportunities for evening hunting after work. Late in the season birds are more likely to stay out feeding or loafing around on paddocks until later in the morning too, explains Mr Moss, meaning that they return to their resting areas “at a more respectable hour” in the morning to hunt them.

But with plenty of feeding options ducks are well spread out, so it becomes important to target where they’re feeding.

“However, hunters who are most active over this part of the season find that there are plenty of opportunities to pick up a few birds.”

Ducks always become strongly pair-oriented in the last fortnight or so of the season as they await the arrival of spring and their urge to mate builds. This means that a relatively small number of ducks on a pond or riverbank will provide a great hunting opportunity as they’ll invariably return in pairs, rather than in one or two large groups which often happens earlier in the season.

Mr Moss concedes it has been a “poorer than average” season in the Southland Fish & Game catchment, with a lower population of ducks.

“We suspect this is due to last spring’s snow which caused increased mortality of juvenile birds. This causes two problems for hunters – not only are there less birds to shoot, but the birds that are there were wily enough to avoid hunters in the previous season and are harder to fool a year on.”