Last chance to bag a brrrrr... ird

If you can handle the sub-zero temperatures, this weekend is the last chance for Central South Island duck hunters to bag a few birds before the 2011 season ends.

Central South Island Fish & Game field officer Graeme Hughes concedes the season, which was full of promise, turned “a bit sour” as weather conditions conspired against both birds and hunters.

“The floods we had on opening weekend and the mild winter didn’t help those who shoot over large rivers and lakes,” says Mr Hughes. “Those hunters rely on smaller wetlands freezing over to shift birds to open water.

“Now we’re well into a freeze though, which has locked up small streams and inland ponds.”

Mr Hughes says this should mean good last weekend prospects for those hunting the coast, the Waitaki River and the hydro lakes.

“There has been virtually no hunting done over the last month so the birds should be reasonably confident when faced with a block of well-maintained decoys complimented with some judicious calling.”

In the Central South Island Fish & Game catchment Paradise shellduck hunting west of SH1 remains open until September 25.