PLENTY OF DUCKS

Evening Post, Volume CXXI, Issue 104, 4 May 1936, Page 11

PLENTY OF DUCKS

BUT WEATHER FIERCE

NUMBER OF LIMITS

SWAN NUMEROUSSWAN NUMEROUS

Varying accounts come to hand from sportsmen as to their success for the few days succeeding the opening of the shooting season on "the first," but all are unanimous in the conviction that there were more ducks than they remember to have seen for years. During the blizzard the shooting, particularly of down-wind birds, was tricky, and many sportsmen on Lake Wairarapa had the bad luck to have selected positions which were almost completely avoided by the nights of duck. Those who camped out had not the most enviable of experiences. Tents did not all stand up during the gale, and only those who had taken the most complete outfits were in any sort of comfort. All were cheered by the presence of plenty of ducks, however, and the general estimate is that the season should be one of the best for many years. There were more guns out on Lake Wairarapa than there have been since the "good old days" as one sportsman put it. This is probably because of the better times. Last season 1078 shooting licences were issued, but already this season several depots have been cleared out of licences, and it seems certain that a record number will be sold by the end of the season.

On the opening day on Lake Wairarapa the day was fairly fine, and the ducks were flying high, but in that part of the lake where one man was shooting eight limits were taken on the opening day, and from what can' be learned there must have been a considerable number of limits taken over the lake as a whole, while others got a fair measure of success. This did not apply to all, however; two well-known good shots got practically nothing during their visit. One party of four guns got 48 ducks in three days, and another party of four got 52 ducks in the same period. Limits of swan were frequent. SWAN TOO EASY? Swan.1; were very plentiful, and were killed in considerable numbers. It is the opinion of one well-known sportsman that the season for swan, short though it is, is too long. "They are really not sporting birds," he told a "Post" reporter. "They fly very steadily, not swerving with the same facility as the ducks, and when they are flying into a strong gale, they really do not fly quickly. Their wings move slowly, and they just barge along like a train. There is really little sport in shooting them, and it seems a shame that such big, steadily flying , birds should become the target for tlie pot hunter. The limit is three a day, but they were so plentiful that one' could have shot several limits with ease." Several sportsmen . who were interviewed said that in view of the enormous quantities of ducks, the talk of a closed season was ridiculous; many who were spoken to considered that the limit of ten birds per gun per day was too low. "Ducks were there literally in thousands," said a reliable informant, "and they were flying in mobs of hundreds and fifties. The limit could be raised justifiably. There are many of us who come out-for only the opening' days of the season, and then pack up the guns for the rest."

Though sportsmen round the lake were interviewed by the ranger, so far no instances of men shooting without a licence have been reported.

Reports from the Bulls district, while emphasising the numbers of ducks seen, show that not the best of the sport was had. This was attributed partly to the weather, which filled many hollows in paddocks with water, "and these small temporary lagoons afforded resting places for numbers of ducks, which soon left the ordinary lagoons where the sportsmen were ensconced.

A party which went to the Hunterville district had very line sport indeed, their best general bag for many years. The seven guns in this party all got their limits of duck. During the gale they were shooting over a lagoon in trie hills, a sheet of water in the bottom of a steep-sided bowl, the top of which was fringed with native bush. The birds came into sight with startling suddenness, and when they commenced to descend, came down like stones. "We all burnt a good deal of powder," said one shooter, "and a lot of the shot merely made holes in the air until we found out how much of a lead to give. I have shot ducks for many years, but I felt foolish when I gave a lead of I am afraid to say how many feet to the first duck I hit. We had all been allowing plenty ahead of them, as we thought, but in reality we had been far behind them."

Three of these guns got four pheasants and a few duck each on the same day. TJhe high hillsides were covered with sleet and snow, and an excursion after hares was profitable. No fewer than six hares were seen within range at the same time. Had not the country been covered with the white mantle, probably some of these would have escaped detection, sneaking away quietly in the way hares have, but their slightest movement was seen.

Shooters are confident that when the returns come in this will prove the best season for ducks for very many years.