Eastern Both Barrels July 2017

One month left to target pheasants, pooks

Hunters, make sure you get full value from your game bird licence – get out and target some pheasants and other upland game birds in the final days before the season closes on August 27.

The bag limit for cock pheasants is five birds a day for all areas (excluding upland game properties with special conditions) and there are no limits on California quail.

Some of the country’s best pheasant and quail hunting is found in the Eastern Region. Some of this hunting can be found in the production forestry areas of the Bay of Plenty managed by Timberlands Ltd, including Kaingaroa and Rotoehu. Hunters have reported a lot of quail in Kaingaroa this year.

For information on how to get a permit to hunt in these forests contact First Security 07-343-0297. Upland game bird hunters in the Gisborne-East Coast area can apply to Juken New Zealand LTD for permits to hunt game birds in the forest blocks that they manage in the Gisborne and Wairoa area.

Information on permits, etc, is available from the Juken NZ office at 74 McDonalds Rd, Matawhero, Gisborne, Ph 06-869 1100.

Don’t forget that pukeko are another huntable game bird – in season until August 27 with a bag limit of 10 for all areas. If you haven’t read our pages on preparing game birds for the table, now’s a good time do so. You’ll find lots of information including how to breast pooks.Click here.

Of course swan can still be hunted in area A2 (Bay of Plenty and Rotorua Lakes) until the 27th of August as well. 

A few members of the public continue to complain about the numbers, particularly on Tauranga Harbour so the more you can take the happier, they’ll be - and the less likely that Fish and Game will need to intervene.  

More on the mallard season

Aerial counts of mallard just prior to the start of the season start indicated that the Bay of Plenty population was up a little on last year, while the Reporoa area was probably down. 

Overall it was a fairly average season despite some hunters reporting their best season ever.

A Gisborne group's successful parrie hunt.

Licence fees pay for duck research

Mallards have been in New Zealand for 150 years, but not nearly enough is known about them. That’s why Fish & Game embarked on a three-year research project to increase our understanding of the country’s number one game bird. 

Key questions for the mallard telemetry (tracking) project have been: What is mallard productivity, what factors are affecting population growth rates, and what can managers do to better enhance our resource and increase duck numbers? 

If you haven't read about the work by researcher Jenn Shepard and the  team, click here.

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