THE SHOOTING SEASON.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVI, Issue 14133, 7 August 1909, Page 6

THE SHOOTING SEASON.

■MOST SUCCESSFUL FOR YEARS.

The shooting season just closed has 1 proved the most successful for several years (writes our Huntly correspondent). Duck and teal were abundant, and many good, and numerous moderate, bags have been obtained. After the vigorous shooting of the opening days the birds became wild and wary, and, instead of frequenting the borders of the lakes, were to be 6een in thousands near the middle, where they settled in long extended lines, on the alert for the approach of their would-be destroyers, who seldom, got within 150 yds of them. The lull succeeding the opening gave them more confidence, so that, latterly, some good shooting was done.

The disappearance of the teal was commented upon by most shooters. Most likely the excessive rainfall enabled them to get into the swamps, where they found the safety they sought. Pheasants, and quail especially, have proved more plentiful than in preceding seasons, though of the former few big bags have been obtained, seven and a-half brace being the biggest recorded this year, and that early in May. Hens are reported to be fairly numerous. Latterly, he was a lucky sportsman who could bag a brace of male birds in a day. They appear to have gone back .to the edges of the bush, in, their search for the safety afforded by heavy cover. Quail, both button" and Californian, were abundant, especially in the Matahuru district. If next season is a close one, one or two farmers will do their best to get rid of this bird, as it is too fond of newly-sown grass seed. The failure of the berry crops produced by the native trees accounts, perhaps, for the scarcity of pigeons, very few of which have been shot, and those that were killed were, as a rule, secured at the bottpm of gullies, where they were feeding on leaves. Local sportsmen are almost unanimously in favour of an open season for native game in 1910, but they would like to see further steps taken to protect the pheasant, many being of the opinion that sporting interests would be fully conserved by the imposition of a gun license in lieu of that issued by the Acclimatisation Society, the payment of the pound being "more honoured in the breach than in the observance."