Thread: River shooting opening

Gidday team


So been out and scouted my opening spot. So never shot a river for opening weekend. Currently got 6 avian floaters, 2 black ducks, ripple butt and a lucky duck HD.

So for river shooting I figure a worthwhile investment would be half a dozen of the light bulb full bodies that are coming in? Would there be anything else worthwhile grabbing? Any help without giving away ya secrets would be highly appreciated.

when i use to shoot the aparima river, i would put my deeks on the other side of the river (40-45 yards wide) this way the ducks would fly closer to us on the way through. we had to take first opportunity in shooting as birds flew in range but were not really looking to land. remember river shooting is a lot different to pond shooting, where the ducks are more likely looking for somewhere to land and are cupped and coming in. we only used a robo duck to create movement as the river current moves the deeks really well.

If you can use it.a caller. Don't be afraid to be out in middle of open riverbed with scarce cover n pass shoot... especially after first few hours.

Well funnily enough @Micky Duck. The plan is stand amongst the willows and then there's a cluster of fallen over willows in the middle of the river which we could Jimmy up to be a natural mai mai. I think we will be right. In terms or shot size I was going to stick with my gamebore 3" 32gr 4s. Or would I be better off with some 3s ?

I tend to stick to 3s in the big rivers (usually hunt the Rakaia) as the shootings mostly a bit longer, sometimes 4s right on first/last light. I'll always have a handful of 2s handy on the off chance some geese come past in range too

2 or 3 for me.

Just be aware with riverbed shooting that if you have a bit of a dry spell you may not have any water a couple of weeks later.
Or potentially too much

Csmiffy ....that sounds a lot like lake shooting around here too.

Yeah well the river is well down at the mo so the spot in mind with a bit more rain is showing promise to say the least