OPENING OF SHOOTING SEASON

Auckland Star, Volume XLIII, Issue 106, 3 May 1912, Page 2

OPENING OF SHOOTING SEASON

i SO LARGE BAGS RECORDED. It wouid be hard to imagine more un--1 favourable weather than that which '» ushered in the opening of the shooting c season. A biting sou-wester, with oc- ; ' casional heavy showers, made matters " unpleasant enouph for the town-dweller. 3 and th-e lot of the temporary exiles in ■ the eilent places who are looking for 1 what they can devour in the way of feathered game, was, indeed, an unhappy 1 on: , . With such unfavourable elements, the odds are distinctively in favour of the birds, and up to the present the ""bags" have been anything but large. One party at Whangamarino secured .J 72 ducks in the lakes and lapoons there, but the sport was only medium. There are a larjre number of enthusiasts at Lake Waikare, and one or two have secured the maximum of 25 birds. At • Lake Roto-ngaro one party of four i ' (including Major-Oeneral Godley) bag- ! ged 30 birds during yesterday fore- ' noon. . j Apart from the scarcity of the game, ■! the birds are reported to be very shy, . keeping well out of range of the guns. /Dummies" have proved of little assist--1 ance, the wild durk having looked upon j them with the cold eye of suspicion, and . kept weil in the h^'kground.