POOR OPENING DAY

Wairarapa Times-Age, 9 May 1939, Page 5

POOR OPENING DAY

SHOOTING ON WAIRARAPA LAKE. TESTIMONY OF WELL-KNOWN SPORTSMEN. In spite of statements published in Wellington papers that there were plenty of ducks about m the Wairarapa Lake district on Saturday and Sunday, when the shooting season opened, Masterton sportsmen of many years’ experience maintain that they have never experienced such a poor opening shoot; Many never even obtained a single duck and statements to the effect that everyone secured some game arc incorrect. One Masterton shooter who has visited the Lake for the past forty years stated definitely that it was the poorest opening he had ever seen and his testimony in this respect is borne out by others. Although the dry weather earlier in the year and the fine weather on the opening morning may have been contributing factors, it appears to have been the general experience among those shooting in the Lake area that fewer ducks were seen this year than was formerly the case. Some ducks were seen flying exceptionally high, well out of gun range, while others,, when they settled, were fired at at long range and put on the wing again. The ducks did not seem inclined to come down to the decoys, though, as one shooter said, there were none flying over to see the decoys. One party of four Masterton shooters who spent Saturday and Sunday on a private property in the Kahautara district had more good fortune than the average party, their bag totalling 23 swans and 35 ducky. The owner of the property agreed, however. that it was the poorest openipg day he had ever seen.