Southland Both Barrels May 2019

Opening weekend wrap up

Results from our annual game bird harvest survey put our opening weekend harvest at 13.8 mallards per hunter.

This is well up on last year, and very similar to 2017, but for numbers the best opening weekend harvest in the last decade!

Above Right: Fish & Game Officer Cohen Stewart with a successful father daughter team.

While our March population count was well up on last year there were mixed reports across the region with some hunters saying they had seen plenty of birds, and others seeing not much at all.

However, the overall consensus was that there were more birds around than last season.

The weather this year was better than many!

Wind has a big influence on hunter success as it creates movement on otherwise-still ponds, causes ducks to approach from one direction and muffles the noise of shots from other hunters which can disturb ducks on still mornings.

We detected 12 offences this year – 11 hunters were found hunting without a license and one was also using 12-gauge lead shot.

Mallard fajitas

500g mallard meat, cut into thin strips

1 green capsicum

1 red capsicum

1 yellow capsicum

1 red onion

4 ounces beer or apple juice

2 tablespoons oil

2 tablespoons chili powder

1/2 lime, squeezed

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

salt and pepper to taste

flour tortillas

salsa

sour cream

Slice all vegetables into strips.

Heat oil in cast iron frying pan until smoking hot. Add duck meat and spices. Stir fry quickly until meat is medium rare, then add vegetables and fry, still on high heat until vegetables are tendercrisp (about 3-5 minutes).

Add beer or apple juice and squeeze of lime, continue to stir until well mixed.

Serve from pan to tortilla and garnish with salsa and sour cream to taste.

Erin Garrick, Southland Fish & Game Officer.