West Coast Hunting News June 11

June 2011 Season Update

Well, we are over halfway through the season and we still haven’t had a decent frost! Frosty periods have the birds flocking in larger numbers and to date the large flocks have been notably absent. At the time of writing this report the first frosts were on their way and hopefully as a result the best hunting is still to come. Opening weekend figures from our telephone survey indicate hunter success was a little less than last year.

One trend that has been evident over the past couple of years is the varied success associated with the move from Greys to Mallards. Unlike the Greys of old Mallards tend to congregate near their food source and therefore move between roosting areas.

In turn, this means that some hunters in the right spot and at the right time do extremely well and others do poorly. The main adaptation that hunters have to make is to keep a regular watch on their favourite areas and get into them as soon as they can. A quick change in a farmers feeding out regime could well have all the birds at the other end of the valley!

 
Grey Valley Duck Hunt
The Grey Valley Duck Hunt went off with a bang over the 18th and 19th June with hunters making the most of the mild winter weather. From Taylorville to the Mai Mai Valley 200 enthusiastic hunters harvested 1000 Game birds of which 600 where Paradise ducks.

Fish & Game officer Rhys Adams said that the event was jointly organised by Fish & Game and the Ikamatua volunteer fire brigade. Mr Adams said that from a Fish & Game perspective the occasion was all about enabling game bird hunters to enjoy new hunting opportunities while at the same time managing populations of game birds capable of causing problems for landowners. He said the event could not occur without the cooperation of the farming community and it was great to see responsible hunters and landowners working together for a common benefit.

Mr Adams said the majority of participants were visitors from Nelson / Marlborough and Canterbury and all were hugely impressed by ‘Coast hospitality, in particular that of Fire Brigade members who apart from reaching their goal to buy new water tanker for the brigade, produced a top notch catering effort as well.