Game season prospects look positive

Leon Gray-Lockhart | 29th April 2010

WITH the prospect of delicious roast duck on the menu, Taranaki game bird hunters are looking forward to a positive start to the game season, beginning 6.30am, Saturday, May 1. 
A productive waterfowl breeding season and a dry autumn has resulted in good mobs of ducks congregating on farm oxidation ponds, streams, rivers and those ponds that are still retaining plenty of water. 
Allen Stancliff, Fish and Game Officer with Fish and Game NZ said all that is needed now is rough weather on opening weekend to keep the ducks flying low.
Mallard and grey duck enjoyed an extended breeding season last spring, as regular rainfall from the westerly El Nino weather pattern kept wetlands well topped up and provided good conditions for brood rearing. 
Fish & Game staff out doing their January bird counts noted good numbers of mallards this year, with mobs of 150-300 birds lifting off many coastal lakes and ponds and flocks of 20-50 mallard and grey duck present on hill country stock water dams. 
Dry autumn weather has meant mallards remain centred on permanent water wetlands, farm oxidation ponds and river pools, with birds moving out in the evenings to feed in farm paddocks and stubble fields.

This flight pattern should continue if conditions remain dry, giving good opportunities for evening shoots in stubble fields and areas where supplementary feed such as maize silage is being given to stock. 
For hunters whose usual ponds are dry, farm oxidation ponds can hold substantial numbers of mallards and provide good morning or evening hunting in addition to the usual day-time jump-shooting.
Mobs of up to 100 mallards have been seen congregating on river and stream pools containing exposed gravel or sand bars where the birds can rest up in comfort.  Ducks tend to use the same pools year after year, so hunters should ask the farmer where these are located.
Numbers of paradise shelduck remain at very good levels, with 12,000 birds counted at the 43 sites monitored in January. 
As has been the case in recent years, substantial mobs of paradise were present at moult sites on the Taranaki ringplain between Waitara and Hawera and also in the Stratford area. 
With plenty of mallards also seen in these areas, the ringplain will remain a hot spot for hunting activity, particularly up nearer the mountain.
Only a modest harvest of paradise occurred during the 2-day summer shoot held in late February, so there will still be good numbers of parries available for hunters. Paradise are currently congregating on stubble fields and recovering hay paddocks, with many birds returning to lakes and ponds to rest up during breaks in feeding activity. 
Birds will also congregate on farms where maize silage is fed to stock. 
Hunters with a good spread of silhouette decoys adjacent to resting or feeding areas or on flight paths should have no problems obtaining birds.
Canada goose populations remain stable, with 770 birds counted on the Taranaki ringplain during the early January moult. 
Geese continue to be concentrated in the New Plymouth area, though birds are also moving into the Okato-Opunake coastal strip and there is a mob of 150 geese in the Hawera area, extending down into the chain of coastal dune lakes as far as Manutahi. There is an extended hunting season for Canada geese through to September 26, with a daily bag limit of 20 birds. 
Black swan are widely distributed throughout the region, with good numbers present on some of the coastal lakes and ponds located between Wanganui and Waitara.  Hunters can harvest one swan per day throughout the season.
Pukeko can cause damage to emerging seedlings in maize growing and cropping areas and Taranaki Fish & Game issues more permits to disturb pukeko causing damage than for any other gamebird.  An extended season for pukeko through to August 15 is there to enable hunters to undertake pukeko drives after the end of the duck season.
Pheasant are widely distributed throughout the region, with quite good numbers present in areas where rough cover and pine or exotic forest border sheep and beef country. Permits are available at a cost of $5 from Taranaki Fish & Game offices for upland game hunting in a number of Wanganui coastal forests, including Lismore, Harakeke, the Justice Block and Nukumaru Recreation Reserve and also for several areas in the Wellington Fish & Game Region.
Fish & Game Rangers will be out checking on compliance, so please ensure you carry your game licence with you when hunting. 
This year also marks the sixth year of the ban on the use of 12 gauge lead shot for waterfowl hunting within 200 metres of open water.  Any hunter found in breach of the regulations will have their shotgun seized and they will be prosecuted through the Courts. 
Hunters must not have any 12 gauge lead shot in their possession and this includes anywhere in the maimai.