FIRST OF MAY

Southland Times, Issue 23182, 24 April 1937, Page 11

FIRST OF MAY

SHOOTING SEASON OPENS BIRDS REPORTED TO BE PLENTIFUL Next Saturday will be the first of May. To some that date will mean little, but to shooters it is an all-im-portant date. It is the opening of the shooting season. Guns will be banging and ducks will be falling from the previously serene skies early that morning. And guns will continue to bang and ducks—if they remain unwary—will continue to fall all that day. Sportsmen are optimists, and, as in past seasons, they are already confident that there are plenty of ducks for all. Most of the experienced shooters have for some time past had their eyes on a favourite lagoon and have been zealously guarding their interests to ensure that there will be much quacking and many casualities when the first streaks of dawn light the sky on May 1. A somewhat remarkable feature of shooting in Southland is that men in the lakes districts often travel to, Awarua Bay for their sport, while Invercargill sportsmen go to the lake country. Early to Rise There is a fascination about the opening of the shooting season. Men who usually drag themselves reluctantly from bed about 7.30 a.m., will leave the warmth of their beds before dawn on May 1. Armed with their recently cleaned guns, plenty of ammunition and decoys, they will venture out into the darkness and make for their previously constructed mai-mais there to wait and silently pray that the early morning will bring suitable weather to prevent the birds from flying beyond the reach of the waiting guns. Suitable weather is really all that is now required to make the opening of the game-shooting season this year a successful one, and the more glorious will the “first” be if the skies are mournful and the weather wretched and miserable. In such weather, the light, what there is of it, is fairly constant and free from dazzle, and the birds thus fly low, coming within more certain reach of the guns. Waituna, Lake Te Anau, Awarua Bay and various happy shooting grounds in the Eastern District are certain to be again well patronized. Already many mia-mias are being erected and those not already prepared will be set up this week-end. Good Shooting Promised An open season for pukeko will give added interest to the shooting season in Southland this year, although most shooters state that there is little sport to be had from killing these comparatively tame birds. “I could have more fun with a gun in my fowl run than going after pukeko,” said one sportsman yesterday. The limit bag for pukeko will be six, and a limit of 15 has been set for grey duck. The Minister of Internal Affairs (the Hon. W. E. Parry) has given authority for the shooting of Paradise duck in places where they are doing damage and has placed no limit on the daily bag. The Minister has also decided, however, that authority to destroy the birds will be given only to the occupier of the property where they are doing harm, or to any one bona fide employee .of the occupier. The wisdom of this stipulation was questioned at a recent meeting, of the Southland Acclimatization Society, and as yet no finality has been reached. Prospects for good opening this season are bright, reports stating that grey duck are plentiful. The birds should be in exceptionally good condition this season, it is stated, because a late harvest provided plenty of grain food for them. Licences for the shooting of game are now being issued, and the rush of inquiries for sporting guns and equipment shows that there will be a big number of sportsmen in the field on May 1. Sports dealers state that there is a great demand for all types of equipment, including a number from men who are making their first venture into the sport.