Ducks Win First Round Of Shooting Season

Chronicle (Levin), 3 May 1948, Page 4

Ducks Win First Round Of Shooting Season

Providence and .the weather favoured the ducks on the opening day of the shooting season. Few limit • ba'gs were secured iocally. The ducks were plentiful, but were flying high. Most sportsmen sai'd that they wouid not decoy as the majority of flights were led by mallard. At least two of the ringed ducks liberated recently were shot Iocally, and the rings have been returned "to the Acclimatisation Society as requested. The birds generally were on the thin side due to lack of feeding water during the dry summer, The Horowhenua lake was quickly sought as a 'refuge from the sportsmen's guns and yesterday countless ducks were on its surface— the most seen for many years, The opening was the poorest on record in the Lake Wairarapa area. Few ducks ot swans were shot. It Was a cairn, clear day, and the few birds about flew high, v The drought had caused many of the lagoons about the lake to dry up, and most of the birds went to irilan'd feeding ' grounds up the rivers of the distriet. . -There, Shooters had better ldck. In the Waipukurau dict^ct the Weather was fine and the sky .almost cloudless. There was considerable activity along the> shores of Lake Hatuma, but only small bags were secured. In the Manawatu distriet many Sportsmen who had snent mitch time in preparation for the opening were poorly rewarded for their lafccurs. Some limit bags were reported, but the general average was lower than last year's.