SHOOTING SEASON.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVIII, Issue 17776, 9 May 1921, Page 5

SHOOTING SEASON.

GOOD SPORT OBTAINED.

TATJRANGA AND ROTORTJA.

MANY HEN PHEASANTS.

The experience of sportsmen is that pheasants are to be found i n about the same numbers as last season, writes oar iauranga correspondent. There i* a marked preponderance of hen pheasants. rwo sportsmen who put up eleven birds within easy shooting range counted no less than nine hens and only two cock birds. A resident of the Oropi district a bush area well back from the seaboard and closely settled land, stated that pheasants are plentiful in that district indicating that the birds are already working back to the bush country, which affords thick cover. The best bag so far reported is seven pheasants for a single gun in one day, and another sportsman secured six pheasants. Up till four or hve years ago CaJifornian quail were exceedingly plentiful in the Tauranga district and always made an important adjunct to the sportsman's bag. Inquiries show that to-day these birds are more plentiful in the country thereabouts than for the past three years, and are affording enjoyable sport. Apparently ducks are not very plentiful in this district, but to some extent this may be accounted for by the fact that one of the nrincipal duck haunts—the Waikareao P2stuary an area of 700 or 800 acres—and' certain lands adjacent, have been proclaimed a game sanctuary; hence that locality ia barred' to gunmen, and the ducks there are now immune from molestation. Rabbits which have never been very prolific m the Tauranga district, are providing more sport than usual, but hares are hardly as numerous as in former years It is reported that pigeons have been shot in at least one of the local bush areas, but so far the offenders have avoided detection.

Some good shooting is reported from the Rotorua district. Mr. A. Donald, of Auckland, with a companion, who camped for a few days at Lake Tarawera, bagged about 40 duck and a number of quail, and Messrs. Stead and Riddiford, at Galatea, got 60 duck and 40 quail. Pheasants appear to be scarce. Though several good bags of duck have been obtained in the Whakatane Countv, sportsmen state that the number of pheasants seen is very small. Large numbers of birds have been liberated in recent years, and wide areas have been kept closed, but their number this season is smaller than usual. No satisfactory explanation of the disappearance of the pheasants has yet been put forward. For good pheasant shooting the local sportsmen have found it necessary to enter the Onotiki County. At Te Teko a party had poor luck at duck-shooting, few birds being seen. Bags of one, two, and three were all that were obtained. Near Thornton, on the Rangitaiki Swamp, a small party secured 150 duck, and another man's bag was 30 brace. The Otakiri Gun Club reports some good sport, some fine bags being obtained-