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Three guns on small pond. Finished day with ten mallards,one greylard and one parries.old dog is shattered and young dog happy. We lost 3birds in long grass n old dead horse.no matter how hard we all looked just can't locate them,will have burrowed in under something n putting out no scent for dogs. Happy day all around in great company.it was an absolute pleasure to introduce someone else to the sport.
Blanked today no birds came into the pond AM or PM,full sun all day no cloud or wind. Seen some trippy shit at dark and they weren"t satelites chasing each other,dunnno what the stars in the sky were doing but it looked like they were playing tag?
Saved the beersies till I got home and had a witness with me so i was not off my rocket.lol
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Yep as soon as that fog lifted in meremere it was game over till later that evening
Six mallards come in this morning.bri in law gave them two barrel salute for zero result. I swung onto departing Greenhead and dropped him neatly out in the grass.
Shooting in the same spot I first went with my dad 63 yrs ago.....(Kaipara Harbour north of Helensville )
Had my 8 limit by 7.55am.....and 1 unlucky Canada goose that came too close.....then practiced calling for the rest of the day.....Must have called in over 60 birds. At one stage I had 18 on the mud in the decoys.
This morning I had my limit by 7.40am......
Got the go ahead to shoot on a swamp we've shot before but never opening. set up 2 blinds.
Had 7 guns. Blind A saw all the action on opening morning, Blind B managed to score 2 and got to watch all the ducks dive straight into blind A. It was entertaining though as most of the ducks got away.
Went to town for brunch and back to the swamp for the evening flight, down to 4 guns so blind B was retired and I finally got to do some shooting.
Returned this morning and had a few more come in. I left my gun empty and concentrated on the caller and the dog for most of it.
We collected around 35 - 40 birds over the 2 days. Young fella's got to shoot some, couple of novice shooters got a couple in the end and even the grumpy old buggers that set it all up were allowed to shoot a couple in the end.
Interesting how the younguns claim every bird they point at, and the grumpy's say 'well shot young fella' as they quietly slip another round into the mag.;)
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Another frost and even heavier fog this morning, like till midday ffs! Anyway I decided to do a lot of calling blind and it worked somewhat. Finished the day with 4 mallard and 4 parries. Over the two days 16 in the bag and 3 lost. One mob of geese came over high, heading nth but I called them and 5 .inutes later they were high but in view. I was able to call them in but they flew a little high on the approach then virtually dive bombed into the goose decoys in back of pond, just out of ideal range so I didnt shoot . I then let dog go hoping he would circle fat enough back behid them in the carex . He did well but cut into them a little short and they flushed out to the side still out of range. Hope they come back in a few days time. Pretty quiet compared to previous years but count myself fortunate to still be able enough to do it. The cover in and around is heavy flooded carex and crack willow so ery hard for dog to get 100%. The lost 3 were winged but he's averaging 85% which is not too bad. Gave him a massage tonight and he's enjoying the fire wrapped in a swanny :) My 85 year old beretta with bismuth #4 does ok averaging 3-4 shots expended per bird. Misses are my fault, not the gun ha ha. Fog made for difficult snap shooting and my reaction times are not what they used to at 78. Eyeballs not so hot either :)
First time blanked on opening weekend. Dog loved watching the sky.
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Bit of a dry opening weekend here in Manawatu. Was a bluebird with day not a cloud or breeze and hardly any ducks in my particular corner. I ended up spending the day repairing a dam which had been leaking and was dry as a bone this year. Kids shot a few plastic bottles and the most I saw were the 2 mallards we spooked and missed and the 2 parries which flew past close enough to almost whack them with the spade that I was using to back fill the dam. The shotgun was only 10ish meters away too :oh noes:
Good opening weekend in Otago on a back water off the Clutha, got our 2 man limit of mallards by 11:30 on Saturday and managed another 43 by lunch on Sunday. Calls got a workout but the birds responded well.
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Good Weekend with the family and dogs in the Manawatu. Alot of shooters reporting lower than average bags and the ducks being very cagey. Most birds shot were mature rather than juveniles which explains alot. Ended up with 38 mallards for the weekend.
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We got 12 mallards opening morning in the Waikato- better than average for our pond. We stopped shooting by 9am as was crystal clear and calm and nothing flying. For the evening shoot we didn't see a duck. Sunday was a tough day with only 2 mallards shot - plus missed a couple of easy ones.
Apart from the good yarns the best part of shooting for me is seeing the dogs doing there thing!
Finished with 17 for weekend really slow.2 geese and 2 swans and a possum.
Great weekend in Mid Canterbury, three shooters hit around 80 for opening day, a quiet patch around 2-4pm and then it picked up until dark again. Sunday pushed the numbers up to 100 I believe (I was just there to watch and learn for next season :)) The dogs weren't too keen on fetching yet, still young and learning. I'm looking forward to participating in shooting next year.
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Got a drake only limit Saturday Sunday then a bit of mixed bag today in another spot
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LOTS of good eating there....
Quiet opening for us. Probably the least amount of action i’ve had in the Manawatu. Still an awesome weekend with mates and we still managed a few birds. Saturday they were scarce and very cagey but Sunday morning we did get some real nice decoying pairs with some good shooting. On Saturday I got a phone call from my 5 year old son Hunter “Dad can you take me duck shooting?”. Fast forward to Sunday night we only had two opportunities on last light but a nice drake hit the water and he was a happy lad.
It was a relatively slow opening weekend for me in Kaipara/port Albert. I had my cousin, along with the "take a mate hunting" licence, who spent most of the time behind the gun. Stoked he had an awesome time, and I (as a relatively new hunter) was able to give him an opportunity in a family that otherwise doesn't shoot. The dog Bruce is in fine form, even lying down and holding among the decoys as dumb Paris landed around him. Lots of time working on his steadiness paying off. I managed around 30 pairs and 10 mallards, so I was not unsuccessful, but hardly what some on the forum are boasting above!
More recently, I have been marching around forestry blocks without success. I would love some advice on the following if anybody wants to throw me some pointers off the main forum:
- Muzzle for the pup in forestry? (Dont want him scavenging poisoned animals)
- Tips in general for success on pheasants in forestry
- Advice on what to look for when searching for ducky spots on public/fish and game land
- Shooting from a dingy.
There is lots of gamebird season left.
Tough season so far in the Manawatu. I keep watching the weather forecast waiting for decent rain and wind but three weeks in we still have calm clear days. The lack of water and weather is making it pretty tough going for the plebs like myself who hunt public areas and don’t have private ponds and access to bounce between. Still making some good memories none the less. Maybe the rain will come in June!
Rain tuesday
Not half bad by the looks. Just need multiple days of it rather then these short stints.Quote:
Originally Posted by Woody
Yes.
two rounds of kent 3" #3 fired through the berretta this afternoon.... two fat mallards came home after young poppy retrieved them.
awesome afternoon sitting in maimai in damp dull conditions.
Opening weekend result for us in Northland
35x Mallards / Greys
36x Parries
Highlights
Getting the old boy out, like an adopted grandad to me, 86 years young this year
Catching up with the other standholders over a game of darts at night
Working the hairy dog
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After opening weekend we return to the Auckland Waikato region and hunt mostly Fish and Game and Doc land, weathers been a drag but we are slowly getting our share
Highlights
Best mate shooting his first band
First rooster for the season on the forestry permit
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Got a couple days of wind in Auckland / Waikato and boy what a difference
Highlights
My first band in a few years (Second ever)
Limits on two consecutive days
3x Man limit on pheasants in a day
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Not much beats a good day out on the roosters, that's for sure.
Been hard going in the Manawatu and Eastern region after opening.
09 may, 2 mallards 1 pukeko
11 May, 4 Grey's 1 Canada
25 May, 2 Greys
Another good day on the Kaipara....
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Left home at 9.30am.....16 birds between 2 of us and home by 2.30.
With the wind gusting to 30knts at times it made for some very fast shooting with birds appearing like fighters on strafing runs !!
Mate had a cracker in the whangamarino swamp yesterday 15 for the day for 2 of them.said unreal flight .
Bring on the weekend
Snuck out for half an hour.
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Well been a whirlwind season with plenty more birds taken since my last post. This year I took the whole of May and first week of June off work to pursue waterfowl and I was not left disappointed with the results
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Got a pair of Parries the male looks like a x dresser.
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Took dog for walk around local dairy farm.made lots of loud bangs.two hares,two pukekos and one expensive possum up a huge poplar tree.i was sure it was a half grown possum but nope a very big doe.them trees are big,taller than the Lombardi's so thirty yards high.
i forgot exactly how handsome -ya dog is!Quote:
Originally Posted by Micky Duck
nice goin old chap .suprised ol jacko didnt get the .270 cure!
Id intended top do a scoot &shoot but my back even though its on the mend was still playin up so its rest up ,no other option ,bugger it .
A quick morning stroll. There is a hare 2m in front of the dog in the last photo
I see the hare :D
Pheasant season finished for us today.
Plenty of birds but the shooter was not on his game. Fun all the same.
