ROD AND GUN Problem Of Providing Ducks For The Shooters

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31366, 11 May 1967, Page 7

ROD AND GUN Problem Of Providing Ducks For The Shooters

(Specially written for “The Press” liy JAMES SIERS)

The sun was shining and the ducks flew high. Good shots in good positions filled their limits, but as is usual each year some were lucky to get even one or two birds. Considering that this is probably their only chance of a shot, it must be a disappointment.

In the Wairarapa, as in similar situations throughout the country, shooters who had enjoyed good positions for years suddenly found themselves without a spot because of massive reclamation works. This is one of the best examples of the constantlyshrinking habitat area and though, particularly in the Auckland Acclimatisation Society’s area, the construction of duck ponds has made excellent progress, the over-all picture is not good. The Wildlife Act. which is to be reviewed in 1969, may have to be altered in line with current thinking if the increasing number of shooters are to get a chance at waterfowl.

The problem is essentially very simple: provide sufficient habitat and you will have sufficient ducks. The law as it stands allows acclimatisation societies to purchase or hire wetlands, but it is unlawful for a farmer to be given a cash payment to encourage him to leave a good piece of wetland on his property, rather drain it for conversion to grassland.

Similarly, farmers could find it profitable to convert suitable gullies into duck ponds. During such arrangements the society would be responsible for negotiations with the farmers and then ballot available shooting positions among its members. A programme of this nature, with an aquisition and lease plan, could go a long way toward solving some of the problems. The question of cropping birds needs to be looked at closely. The only way of being certain whether the population is being affected is through an effective shooters’ diary system. It is up to the |

individual sportsman to meet his responsibility here. It may not be infallible, but it is the only efficient way of determining how heavy the shooting pressure has been. If diary returns show that a hunter can average three birds an hour during one season and only two the next, it is a fair indication that something has happened to the population and corrective measures can be taken.

The other question being considered by various societies at present is the changing nature of New Zealand’s agriculture and the tendency of farmers in some areas to put in extra cash crops such as peas, barley and oats. Ducks can be a problem and various ways of dealing with

them have been suggested. One method calls for co-opera-tion between the farmer and the society. He advises the ranger that his crop is due for harvesting in a fortnight and the society, guided by past experience, takes precautions. If ducks are scared during the initial period just when they are about to start on the ripening crop, they will not touch it. Once they have established a feeding pattern, nothing will stop them. There are authenticated cases of birds dropping behind the farmer into his crops while he is walking through it firing in the air to keep them off. This happens in the night. By the morning the birds have gone and in their wake there is considerable damage. If this continues, it can be disastrous to the farmer.

Another method suggests that if the birds cannot be kept off the crop, the society organises a shoot. A ballot is held and a party is taken down to shoot the offending birds. As they are being shot by licence-holders and reverting to the society, there is no problem.