Wellington Game Bird Hunting Bulletin - 26th May 2022

Calm Weekend But Wild Weather On the Way
May 26, 2022
An hour into last week's southerly and seven mallards already in the bag (Photo: Hamish Carnachan)
The forecast rang true last weekend and offered up some excellent shooting conditions.
The southerly arrived early afternoon in the lower part of the region and really stirred the ducks up, keeping them on the move for the rest of the day.
What ensued was some sublime waterfowl hunting, with several shooters limiting out well before dark on and around Lake Wairarapa.
The southerly arrived later in Manawatu but with enough time for a great evening hunt for those who got out after work on Friday.
While not quite as busy, shifty winds provided good opportunities right throughout the weekend.
The news isn't so great for hunters this weekend unfortunately, with generally calm conditions across much of the lower North Island.
Quick-fire morning and evening hunts are likely to be more productive than sticking it out all day.
Watch closely though because a very large, deep low in the Tasman is tracking towards the upper South Island and it will send some fireworks our way early in the week.
If you haven't sorted your licence yet, now's a good time so you're set for the weather when it arrives.
Here's the outlook for the weekend...
Weather Outlook
The 'hotter' the colour, the stronger the wind (Credit: Windy.com)
Not a lot to get excited about on the Windy weather maps above with light winds and little rain forecast the next three days.
However, Monday is when things start to get exciting.
A big low draws a moist northerly airstream over the lower North Island bring strong winds and heavy rain from Monday afternoon.
This will be the first heavy rain we've had for a while, so watch for ducks to move into new feeding areas such as flooded pasture or farm ponds and backwaters that haven't had freshwater for a while.
The winds are forecast to swing back and forward from nor-east to nor-west over the next three days and consistently be up around that 8m/s mark, which makes it rough enough to push ducks off the big water.
So, it isn't the weekend we were after but there are going to be plenty of opportunities from early to mid-week for those who can get out before or after work.
Click here for the Metservice update, or visit the Windy website here to track the latest duck hunting conditions.
Tips For Targeting Swan
Ash has her work cut out for her with a long retrieve on a big swan (Credit: Hamish Carnachan)
We've been encouraging hunters to target swan this season in a bid to help farmers by preventing nuisance build-up of the birds on pasture, particularly around Lake Wairarapa.
This prompted readers to request tips on how best to hunt these game birds. Following are some tips for targeting black swan taken from the late Brad Parkes in his excellent book 'Gamebird Hunting In NZ'.
Black swan tend to follow very fixed lines of flight. Hunting them, therefore, is a matter of placing yourself on observed flight lines and waiting for them to come overhead.
While sounding simple, the successful hunter must observes all the rules of camouflage and movement – keep still and stay well hidden as, like all game birds, swan have excellent eyesight.
Swan respond well to decoys, particularly if you can find somewhere to set them out on pasture where they have been grazing. Floating decoys amongst ducks decoys have the added advantage of making mallards confident enough to come into range.
While sawn may appear lumbering in flight, they actually reach speeds similar to ducks so take this into account with your lead on the bird. Also, because of their size, there is a tendency to target the mass of the bird rather than lead so the shot pattern covers the head and vulnerable neck.
Some hunters turn their noses up at swan meat but it makes a very welcome and tasty addition to sausages and salami when mixed with duck and venison.
Please Get Those Band Details To Us
Band information provides us with a wealth of information to help with the management of the mallard population (Credit: Phil Teal)
Wellington Fish & Game staff and volunteers invest a significant amount of time and resources in trapping ducks, identifying their age and sex, and attaching individually numbered bands to their leg before releasing them.
The aim is to get back information how far the birds disperse around the country (and sometimes beyond), and also survival rates to help guide our management of the mallard population.
The biggest issue that the banding programme faces is non-reporting of bands.
We don’t need the physical band, it is yours to keep - we just want the band number, an accurate location of where the band was recovered and the date the bird was harvested.
The easiest way to provide this information is call your local Fish & Game office (06-359-0409) or through the ‘Banding Together’ page on our website. The information you provide is vital for waterfowl hunting in New Zealand, and benefits every game bird hunter.
From the Team at Wellington Fish & Game, happy hunting and please stay safe this season.
Categories
Archive
- November 2023
- October 2023
- September 2023
- August 2023
- July 2023
- June 2023
- May 2023
- April 2023
- March 2023
- February 2023
- January 2023
- December 2022
- November 2022
- October 2022
- September 2022
- August 2022
- July 2022
- June 2022
- May 2022
- April 2022
- March 2022
- February 2022
- January 2022
- December 2021
- November 2021
- October 2021
- September 2021
- August 2021
- July 2021
- June 2021
- May 2021
- April 2021
- March 2021
- February 2021
- January 2021
- December 2020
- November 2020
- October 2020
- September 2020
- August 2020
- July 2020
- June 2020
- May 2020
- April 2020
- March 2020
- February 2020
- January 2020
- December 2019
- November 2019
- October 2019
- September 2019
- July 2019
- June 2019
- May 2019
- April 2019
- March 2019
- February 2019
- January 2019
- December 2018
- November 2018
- October 2018
- September 2018
- August 2018
- July 2018
- June 2018
- May 2018
- April 2018
- March 2018
- February 2018
- January 2018
- December 2017
- November 2017
- October 2017
- September 2017
- August 2017
- July 2017
- June 2017
- May 2017
- April 2017
- March 2017
- February 2017
- January 2017
- December 2016
- November 2016
- October 2016
- September 2016
- August 2016
- July 2016
- June 2016
- May 2016
- April 2016
- March 2016
- February 2016
- January 2016
- December 2015
- November 2015
- October 2015
- September 2015
- August 2015
- July 2015
- June 2015
- May 2015
- April 2015
- March 2015
- February 2015
- December 2013
- March 2013
- September 2012
- July 2012