Thread: Whats your solutions to the duck decline?

Ducks on the Coast rely on dairying or the dairying land to be honest. I am convinced of that. Duck numbers are normally high from Karamea down to Fox glacier, mainly dairy districts. South of Fox the numbers thin out even though there is plenty of water in way of tidal lagoons and swamps. The majority of the ducks that are there, are greys and parries with very small speckeling of mallards.

Last season was the worst for numbers that I can remember around the Kokatahi-Kowhitirangi district. Prior to the season there seemed to be ducks everywhere. I missed opening weekend due to work. My usual crew went to where we always shoot the sat and did not do well considering the conditions were perfect. It was the first year that they didnt shoot their limits opening morning in that spot. My mate did shoot his limit the next day in another area.
There are 4 large farms in the family that I shoot. They have numerous ponds and normally awesome numbers of ducks. They were very quiet last season and I have no idea why.
River bed shooting is my favorite passtime during the season. In our valley large rafts of ducks are usually easy to find and with a bit of prep you always get a good shoot. There was a severe lack of birds on the rivers as well.

Apart from last season I have enjoyed being able to do a bit of leg and bino work and always have decent shoots. I no longer go out as much as I used too because of time but if I discount last season, I cannot say that dairy is the cause for a decline in ducks, on the coast at least. I assume our rainfall and run off is a huge help compared to other regions. Something strange did happen last season too the birds no doubt, but I am not sure what.
Again this year there seems to be a lot of birds around the district from what I have seen so it will be interesting to see how this season pans out.

As for other regions, there is most likely man made reasons the numbers are dwindling. Water quality would be a big difference compared to the coast. There is no doubt lead isint the best thing for ducks to be ingesting but I would say it is a very miniscule problem in the scheme of things. I also think a lot of the issues cannot be solved by F&G because of jurisdiction. it will take a lot of effort from many different groups to get to the cause and rectify it IMHO.