Both Barrels April 2024 - Wellington

Duck Counts Just Getting Underway

Good numbers of ducks in the lower North Island should mean plenty of opportunities to harvest a few

At time of writing we’re waiting on a weather window to kick off our pre-season mallard trend counts… hopefully we’re in the air counting ducks as this hits your inbox. 

What we do know from anecdotal observations is that mallard numbers are looking good for the Wellington Fish & Game region – they’re reasonable high looking back across the last decade and seem to be stable which is good news for hunters and the duck population.

Without wanting to pre-empt the results of our monitoring, we’re reasonably confident that there should be plenty of opportunity for hunters throughout the season despite the very dry conditions. 

Hunters Should Adapt To The Conditions

Mallards on a late-harvest maize crop

The dry summer looked like it was going to create challenging conditions for duck hunters this season but thankfully the rain last week has helped a little.

There are plenty of birds around after several good breeding seasons, but they have been concentrated where there’s water over what has been a long dry and hot summer.

As wetlands and ponds start to fill, the large congregations of ducks we’ve observed will break up and disperse to those wetlands and farm dams where hunters have their maimais. Hopefully, this happens ahead of Opening.

If not, hunters who are facing low water levels in the ponds they shoot will need to adapt and look for opportunities where the birds are holding – the ducks have adapted to the dry conditions, successful hunters will do the same. 

Duck Nights Coming Up This Week

There are two duck nights being by Hunting and Fishing this week. Details are:

• Wairarapa Hunting and Fishing – Tuesday, April 23 at 6pm. In store at 319 Ngaumutawa Road, Masterton
• Manawatu Hunting and Fishing – Tuesday, April 23 at 7pm. Awapuni Racecourse, Silk Lounge.

Ashurst Eye-Opener Shoot 

The Ashurst Clay Target Club is holding a duck hunters eye opener shoot.

See the flyer above for details. 

Grab Your Licence the Easy Way

There’s an exciting season ahead – get set by grabbing your licence the easy way online.

Simply scan the code below, enter a few details and you’ll be good to go.