Taranaki > Hunting News July 2008

While the season closed on 29th June for the hunting of dabbling duck, paradise shelduck and swan in Taranaki, hunters are still able to target pheasant and california quail, pukeko and canada geese.

The season for pheasant and quail runs through to 17th August in all parts of the region, with the pheasant hunting so far being quite productive, despite the wet weather. One keen north Taranaki hunter has reported regularly seeing 10 - 20 birds (both sexes) on a hunt this season, with several limit bags of 2 cock birds taken so far. Pheasant have and can be seen out in the rain, especially after a few days of rough weather, so you don’t necessarily have to wait for fine conditions. Mixed dry stock and forestry blocks in frontal hill country areas seem to be holding reasonable numbers of pheasant. There are also still several weekends left to hunt the Wanganui west coast forests, using the $5 F&G access permit.

The season for pukeko also runs through to 17th August in all areas, with a 5-bird daily bag limit. This provides an opportunity for hunters to undertake pukeko drives in wetlands adjacent to maize growing or other cropping areas, where pukeko can cause damage at planting time. Pukeko drives provide a good workout for your dogs and pukeko can provide challenging shooting when they suddenly burst from cover in a low, but surprisingly quick flight. Please utilise your harvest of pukeko as this reduces the pressure from damage done to crops in a number of areas where pukeko numbers are high. There are a number of recipes available for pukeko soup and a good method of breasting pukeko is described by Robert Sowman on the F&G website (http://www.fishandgame.org.nz/Site/Harvest/Pukeko.aspx). The pukeko continues to be an under rate feed and any other recipes for this game bird would be welcomed.

Canada goose can also continue to be hunted through to 17th August in Wanganui and the Waimarino (Areas A&B) and through to 28th September in Area C (Taranaki province). In the Waimarino, canadas can be targeted as they visit some of the larger dams and fly out to feed in cropping and grassland areas. Several coastal dune lakes north and south of Wanganui are currently holding modest numbers of geese. Canadas will also be flushed off local New Plymouth lakes for hunters on Sunday morning of 10th August, but you must organise your own access to farmland between Waitara and Opunake. In all cases, it is best to contact local farmers to see if geese have been visiting.

So, how was the duck season? While opening weekend dawned fine and clear throughout the region, the average Taranaki hunter fared pretty well and the opening weekend Mallard harvest was the best for at least the last six seasons (Table 1). As predicted, this was most likely due to the effects of an unusually dry summer and autumn concentrating birds onto areas of permanent water. Hunters also did well on paradise shelduck and this meant that the average active Taranaki licence holder ended up with 10.58 birds for opening weekend (Table 1). Hunter telephone interview data for the rest of season indicates that this trend has continued, meaning that the season has generally been a good one for Taranaki duck hunters.

TABLE 1. Estimated opening weekend averages for Taranaki active hunters,

2003 - 2008 seasons (hunter telephone survey data)

back to Both Barrels

If you would like to be kept in touch with Gamebird hunting news and other hunting information, please sign upfor Both Barrels, our Gamebird hunting email newsletter.