Category: Both Barrels

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Both Barrels March 2023

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Welcome to our first Both Barrels of the 2023 hunting season.

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Both Barrels July 2022

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With a stable forecast between now and closing day, birds should be predictable, and scouting will be very beneficial.

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Both Barrels June 2022

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When you take up game bird hunting, you quickly realise that the weather has a large influence on success.

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Both Barrels May 2022

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It appears opening weekend brought mixed results across the region, with high levels of success predominantly favouring hunters that did their preseason preparation.

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Both Barrels April 2022

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The long wait until opening morning is nearing an end as the first Saturday of May rolls around.

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Both Barrels March 2022

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Both Barrels will start in earnest in April, giving all hunters access to some of the best minds in game bird hunting in New Zealand.

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Both Barrels July 2021

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Following a frosty start to the month the recent rain has the birds out moving.

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Both Barrels June 2021

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Good numbers of game birds are still being observed across the region.

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Both Barrels May 2021

Olivia Braden and Moose Savage out hunting opening morning.

Excellent weather greeted game bird hunters for the opening weekend of the 2021 game season.

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Both Barrels April 2021

A promsing West Coast hunting spot recently photographed whilst doing preseason game bird counts . Photo credit Baylee Kersten

Preseason counts have been completed by staff and it looks like we are in store for a great season.

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Both Barrels March 2021

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With less than six weeks to go until the game bird season, we welcome our readers of Both Barrels for 2021, the place where we keep you up to date...

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West Coast Both Barrels July 2020

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The weather over the gamebird season has been very settled with long fine periods interspersed with shorter periods of rain and strong easterly winds.

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Both Barrels June 2020

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The long-awaited start to opening weekend on the West Coast seems to have come with a silver lining.

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Both Barrels May 2020

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While the delayed game bird season has taken some getting used to the good news is that under Alert level 2 hunters will be able to enjoy an almost normal...

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Special Lockdown Edition Both Barrels April 2020

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Over the first two weeks of the lockdown, Fish & Game have been scenario planning around what form the game bird season might take.

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West Coast Both Barrels July 2019

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Following a very settled start the season, with blue skies, frosty mornings and mirror lakes, the weather has really taken a turn for the worst, the birds have become very...

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West Coast Both Barrels June 2019

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The first of three organised hunts for the 2019 Game bird season was held on the West Coast this month and I was lucky enough to be part of the action.

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West Coast Both Barrels May 2019

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Weather conditions on the West Coast for opening weekend were pretty good with most hunters experiencing low cloud and moderate winds over much of the weekend.

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West Coast Both Barrels April 2019

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Believe it or not, it's been a relatively stable spring and summer on the West Coast - excluding one or two significant rainfall events - great to see the Waiho...

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South Island Roundup - Both Barrels 2018

Ace game bird chef Phil Hazeldine presiding over a wild game feast.

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Both Barrels August 2018

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As the 2018 game bird season draws to a close, many hunters are reflecting on their success, saying it has been the best season they have experienced for a long time.

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West Coast Both Barrels July 2018

Results of a late season West Coast Hunt Photo Local Hunter Rob Roney

Hunter reports for this year's game bird season, which closes on July 29, have been mixed - with many saying they harvested few ducks while others have called it the...

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West Coast Both Barrels June 2018

The Best Duck Hunting Of The Season Is Just Beginning

As we head into July, hunting opportunities are improving, with the best of the season still to come for many parts of the West Coast.

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West Coast Both Barrels May 2018

Local Hunters Matthew Lowe and Glen Kingan with a few birds from day two of opening weekend

Opening weekend provided just enough birds to make for a good day out for most hunters. Saturday morning while cloudy, didn’t really have enough wind to be ideal for hunting.

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West Coast Both Barrels April 2018

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It’s that time of year that game bird hunters look forward to with eager anticipation...game bird Opening Weekend.

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Both Barrels August 2017

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The game bird season has ended... or has it?

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Both Barrels South Island Roundup

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The waterfowl 2017 season has been and gone. We hope you managed to get out on a few hunting adventures this year and filled the freezer with enough duck to...

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Both Barrels North Island Roundup

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Heath Worsfold’s truck with a nice pheasant and a happy pup named Sneak.

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West Coast Both Barrels July 2017

Pre season Aerial Greylard Counts Westland

Mainly settled weather has continued on the West Coast, with the long-range forecast indicating we'll get some rain between now and the end of the duck hunting season.

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West Coast Both Barrels June 2017

Hunter Targeting Paradise Shelduck June 2017

Game bird hunting continues to be highly productive this season for those who've been getting out, with many local hunters doing better now than earlier in the piece.

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West Coast Both Barrels May 2017

Hamish Malcolm was visiting the Coast for the weekend and was managing a mixed bag when we saw him.

Now that awhile has passed since opening weekend, I have heard from quite a few local hunters.

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West Coast Both Barrels Apr 2017

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It has been a great season for duck nesting, with plenty of surface water around.

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Both Barrels Mar 2017

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Get set to hunt some game birds

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Southland Both Barrels May 2016

Opening day is probably the only day of the year when I wake up and I’m upset by a lack of wind!

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Auckland Waikato Both Barrels May 2016

The mallard, grey and shoveler seasons are now but a memory, and even parries and black swan are off limits with their seasons over.

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Otago Both BarrelsMay 2016

For what must be the 10th year in a row, Otago hunters woke to clear calm conditions for the Opening Day.

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Central South Island Both Barrels May 2016

Opening Weekend heralded fine and pleasant weather.

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North Canterbury Both Barrels May 2016

With the game bird season well underway and the hype of opening day now past, it's time to reflect on hunting successes firstly, then focus on the great game bird...

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West Coast Both Barrels May 2016

Large numbers of hunters turned out in the West Coast Region for Opening Weekend this year, both local hunters and many from other regions.

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Nelson Marlborough Both Barrels May 2016

Fish & Game had three ranging teams out in the field on Opening Day this year, concentrating on private land around Blenheim and Murchison.

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Wellington Both Barrels May 2016

The weather was largely to blame for what can only be described as a patchy Opening Weekend, with very calm conditions in the Wairarapa and resultingly few birds moving around.

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Taranaki Both Barrels May 2016

While the hunter phone survey results are yet to be analysed, initial indications are that hunters were happy with their opening weekend bags – in many areas more mallards were...

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Northland Both Barrels May 2016

Opening Weekend game bird hunting produced a “great variety” of results for hunters around the Northland Peninsula.

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Hawke's Bay Both Barrrels May 2016

Fish & Game rangers along with police officers checked 57 waterfowl hunters over Opening Weekend.

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Eastern Both Barrels May 2016

Hunters can now take advantage of being able to hunt the 20-odd Crown-owned wetlands around the region administered by Fish & Game.

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