# Hunting > Game Bird Hunting >  Nathan's 2014 season

## Nathan F

Just back home tonight after two very tough days in Canterbury. 62 mallards and 6 Parries for two long days. Off to bed  
Shooting tomorrow and Tuesday as well. 

Photos to follow.

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## Hendrik470

Thats 10x what we got up here :-)

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## Rushy

> Just back home tonight after two very tough days in Canterbury. 62 mallards and 6 Parries for two long days. Off to bed  
> Shooting tomorrow and Tuesday as well. 
> 
> Photos to follow.


Good work Nathan.

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## kotuku

we ended up with 13 but lost 4 in the scrubby tiger country surrounding our ponds.GSP followers dog did a bloody great job in locating two lost ones despite being pushed ,and i give credit where credits due,I dropped a mallard drake who screamed across the end of the pond like a skyhawk flying tactical.he landed in shitty willows broom,gorse and blackberry .Red went in 3 times but couldnt locate him.
still thats rakaia river shooting.
Overall though great fun and  very challenging .
loved the the magnificent hospitality of GSPs family ,the banter and mateship.  also I was seeing some response to my calling which is encouraging.
 not many parries(one less now) but theres a few geese round,including a vast V formation who flew over us at 2000"plus(no suprises there)

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## Scouser

Well done, all we got were 1 duck & 4 swan!!!!...still enjoyed it though

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## EeeBees

> also I was seeing some response to my calling which is encouraging.


Well done, Kotuku...I have a Double Nasty II caller which cost quite a bit (for me anyway)...was told last night very gently that perhaps I should leave the calling to the leader :Grin:  :Grin: 
I dont think I will ever be a duckshooter, might just make the grade one day but sure as heck not any day soon :Grin:

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## initiaz

> Just back home tonight after two very tough days in Canterbury. 62 mallards and 6 Parries for two long days. Off to bed  
> Shooting tomorrow and Tuesday as well. 
> 
> Photos to follow.


Is there no limit on the numbers shot..

I managed only 3 mallards out of which 2 could not be retrieved in 2 days. 

It was may be just unlucky for us as other fellow hunters must have surely managed to reach their limits b4 mid day. I saw ducks dropping from the air near their maimai.. very few birds flew over or maimai except for the swans that were just crossing our way..

Will go mid season now and give it another go..

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## stug

> Is there no limit on the numbers shot..


In Canterbury the limit is 25 mallards per shooter, in CSI it is 50 mallards per shooter. Better move South!

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## Munsey

> In Canterbury the limit is 25 mallards per shooter, in CSI it is 50 mallards per shooter. Better move South!


Didn't help us !

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## Happy

Quiet day round our neck of the woods as well.. Getting sun burnt on opening day again FFS ... !!

Ah well good company and a good time had by all.. Dog was a pleasure to work with as usual 

He was worn out  last night... Wasn t the only one ..

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## Gapped axe

10 mallards for the weekend, not my best opening for sure.

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## kotuku

> Well done, Kotuku...I have a Double Nasty II caller which cost quite a bit (for me anyway)...was told last night very gently that perhaps I should leave the calling to the leader
> I dont think I will ever be a duckshooter, might just make the grade one day but sure as heck not any day soon


 just keep pluggin along me old china ,experience teaches tricks.actually GSPfollower mentioned the same thing to me ,so it was only when it got quiet that igot my callers out and tried to compliment hisand muzilas calling of the birds-if any hove in sight though its action stations as they called them round.
 the main thing though is enjoy the day and your cobbers whoever they are.

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## Uplandstalker

> Thats 10x what we got up here :-)


So you got 6.2 mallarsa and 0.6 parries, what a mess that would be!

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## Hendrik470

> So you got 6.2 mallarsa and 0.6 parries, what a mess that would be!


 :Thumbsup: 



something like that...

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## Nathan F

45 ish mallards today

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## Nathan F

And I shot a triple :Grin:  :Grin:

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## Nathan F

Right back at work today after three full days shooting and a big clean up on the Tuesday. Opening was most enjoyable as always. To be fair the weather didnt really play ball. Saturday was great for sunbathing and hot as hell. Sunday was foggy morning and evening with no wind. Between three guns we managed 60 mallards and some parries for the Saturday / Sunday shoot.

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## Nathan F

On the Monday we shot our other pond . To be fair the action was fast and furious in the morning and petered out as the day went on. Still a great time was had.


The dog was working hard





I had planned to shoot agaon Tuesday but it was fair to say my garage was getting a bit high by Monday night and the birds needed dealing too. A hot nor wester hadnt helped :O O: 



Tuesday was spent cleaning up. The final total was 126 for three days. Good times and plenty of sausage to come.

Until the next hunt :Cool:

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## Rushy

Excellent Nathan.

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## Dundee

Great shooting Nathan :Thumbsup:

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## Dynastar27

good shooting

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## Nathan F

First hunt today since opening week. Been busy working. Hunted from 3 pm til dark for one drake. Put off 20 odd mallards on arrival but they never returned. Pics tomorrow

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## Nathan F

A few pics from yesterday afternoon

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## Dundee

old army issue swandri? :Thumbsup:

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## Nathan F

> old army issue swandri?


Yeah mate they are pretty good when its dry eh  :Cool:

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## Scouser

> Yeah mate they are pretty good when its dry eh


Immense Nathan, well done mate....ive got one of those swannis, great by the camp fire too.......

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## Nathan F

> Immense Nathan, well done mate....ive got one of those swannis, great by the camp fire too.......


Yep Ive still got my old plain green one too. Never been washed in 17 years !

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## Nathan F

Went out to the pond on Saturday Morning with very high hopes after reports of good numbers

After sitting there for two hours and seeing /shooting one mallard we were scratching our heads. Further investigation revealed empty lead cartridges around the pond of which none were ours  :Pissed Off: 



Further prompting of my mates  father in law we found out the share milker had jump shot the pond with the neighbour on Friday night knowing full well we were coming Saturday. Not that he should be shooting there at all I might add. With this info on board we were straight around there :Pissed Off: 

Had to go to Timaru in the afternoon to visit a family member in Hospital. With the in laws away( overseas for 3 weeks) I thought it would be rude not to "look after " his pond .



A pair came in right on dark. One got out the other tasted good.

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## Toby

Ratshit, what a dick. Hope you sorted him out

Good looking duck should go nice in the pot

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## Scouser

> Ratshit, what a dick. Hope you sorted him out
> 
> Good looking duck should go nice in the pot


+1....lead shot!!!!....pisses me off.....

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## Dundee

Bastards!!

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## Nathan F

> Ratshit, what a dick. Hope you sorted him out
> 
> Good looking duck should go nice in the pot


Unbeleivable behaviour really .....

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## Nathan F

Had a great hunt this morning. 27 mallards and 1 parrie. Pics to follow

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## Rushy

> Had a great hunt this morning. 27 mallards and 1 parrie. Pics to follow


Bloody brilliant Nathan

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## Nathan F

As above a great morning shoot at our little pond. Had a lot of singles and pairs coming in between 7am and 10 am. 

I also shot this real mongrel half bred/ cross bred drake. Green head , White neck , Parrie female brown underneath and a black back.

All in all another good hunt. Looking forward to Monday. Off to shoot a honey hole thats been left alone for over a year. Crawling with bandits appearantly

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## Dundee

Well done Nathan.How many shooters?  That mongrel drake is a freak alright. :Cool:  Looks a bit like the mongrel head with the ducks :Grin:

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## Nathan F

> Well done Nathan.How many shooters?  That mongrel drake is a freak alright. Looks a bit like the mongrel head with the ducks


Just the three of us mate. Yes a very unusual bird.

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## Scouser

> Well done Nathan.How many shooters?  That mongrel drake is a freak alright. Looks a bit like the mongrel head with the ducks


Dundee buy him and off to the taxidermist.......

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## Dundee

> Dundee buy him and off to the taxidermist.......


Only a trophy for Nathan but if I shot it....would be in the freezer destined for taxidermy. :Wink:

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## Nathan F

> Only a trophy for Nathan but if I shot it....would be in the freezer destined for taxidermy.


Hed have to be good . Look closer at the neck - Shot him from about 7 metres away and nearly took that head clean off :Grin:

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## Scouser

> Hed have to be good . Look closer at the neck - Shot him from about 7 metres away and nearly took that head clean off


Head mount??????....no sweat!!!!!!!

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## Dundee

> Hed have to be good . Look closer at the neck - Shot him from about 7 metres away and nearly took that head clean off


Taxidermists could fix that no problem.

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## Dundee

Closer look just a mongrel drake,be good eating :Thumbsup:

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## Nathan F

> Closer look just a mongrel drake,be good eating


Its a terrible fuckin thing. Im glad my mate took it away.

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## Nathan F

Had a ripper of a hunt this morning in the ice up at Methven. Plenty of mallards shot. Report and photos tomorrow.

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## Rushy

> Had a ripper of a hunt this morning in the ice up at Methven. Plenty of mallards shot. Report and photos tomorrow.


Fantastic.

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## Nathan F

Right so as per yesterdays post it was all on Monday Morning. We had a ripper off a hunt. Im not purely talking Bird numbers but it was enjoyable for many different reasons. Having no mai mai and hiding in the tree's , Battling Ice in freezing conditions to get decoys out, Mallards coming hard and fast from many angles....
I digress , The two of us set of from Christchurch at 5:15am to a pond up in Methven. There was supposed to have been a third shooter but they got lame at the last minute. Unfortunate as we could have done with at least four guns. Man did we have birds dropping in and out. We couldnt cover the whole pond. Its an unusual shape and we shoot off an island in the middle underneath a Rhododenren tree. I have not shot it for over a year and the ducks know its a safe haven. There are massive irrigation ponds all up and down the road which get shot so they tend to pour in here during the season.
Anyway my mate and I got the standing decoys set down the far end then I waded out breaking ice with my shotgun butt to set a few floaters and a swimmer. As soon as first light came we were in business with customers landing straight on the ice.

You can see the swimmer doing its thing in the hole i made with dead customers on the ice. I love hunts like this - Old school :Cool: 
I was having a constant battle with the ice retreiving ducks as my mate had conveniently forgotten his waders :Oh Noes: 
Once the sun hit it helped with the ice and I was able to push sheets around the pond making bigger areas for decoys.

The evidence of mass murder was becoming evident with feathers covering the ice on this cold windless Canterbury morning

The best thing I love about duck hunting is getting them close. I mean real close. Ive got no problem with steel and get sick of people wanking on about lead. Improve your calling and decoy spread, Camo up and get em in. The mate had a drake hovering 5 m in front of him when he pulled the trigger. You can see it laying on  the ice with its wing on the left. Remember all these pics were just taken off the iPhone.

Who says steel dont kill???

Still the action continued. At one point I was in the middle of the pond retreiving when a pair dropped in on top of me. Two shots later two more ducks. Unfortunately I didnt see the other 50 odd trying to get in behind them. I managed another double 30 seconds later when two bandits came over high. Awesome.
We pulled stumps at 11am with 50 ish mallards. We could have kept going but how many ducks do you need??

Even as we were packing up they were still trying to get in.

Will get this baby delivered in the next week or two then go back for another crack at the end of July when its properley cold :Cool:

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## EeeBees

Sorry Nathan but I do not quite understand your rationale for shooting up close...isnt it a waste of a good bird?

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## Nathan F

> Sorry Nathan but I do not quite understand your rationale for shooting up close...isnt it a waste of a good bird?


Ummmmmmm I'm struggling to understand where you're coming from. The whole idea of our hunting is to get ducks in close. Real close.

If one in 50 gets blown up the issue is ? Like I said we pulled stumps after three hours. Could have stayed all day and nailed plenty more. 100 would have been our two person limit where we were. But we will go back in a month or so and have another crack  :Have A Nice Day:

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## Snuffit

:Cool:

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## EeeBees

Sorry, Nathan, I wasnt meaning to sound like an antagonist...as a newcomer to duck shooting I am not sure how close is close...

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## Nathan F

> Sorry, Nathan, I wasnt meaning to sound like an antagonist...as a newcomer to duck shooting I am not sure how close is close...


All good , no harm done. Unfortunately for want of a better phrase - shit happens. 

When mallards are landing gear down fluttering in your face you have to shoot em :Thumbsup: 

Unfortunately that can sometimes be the result. Personally I would much rather have that happen than have wounded ducks fly away
Or run of into the scrub and die a slow death.

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## Dundee

> All good , no harm done. Unfortunately for want of a better phrase - shit happens. 
> 
> When mallards are landing gear down fluttering in your face you have to shoot em
> 
> Unfortunately that can sometimes be the result. Personally I would much rather have that happen than have wounded ducks fly away
> Or run of into the scrub and die a slow death.


I don't want to sound like an ass but why don't you hunt with a gun dog?

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## PerazziSC3

> I don't want to sound like an ass but why don't you hunt with a gun dog?


Not everyone has a dog.... I dont

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## Nathan F

> I don't want to sound like an ass but why don't you hunt with a gun dog?


My mates pup is not ready and I'm between dogs. I'm not building any fences at home until eqc sorts their shit out and I find out whether or not I'm re building. That aside mutts still don't get all woundies.

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## Dundee

Just asking :Grin:

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## Dundee

One that inspired me from Nathans frozen pond.  This is cool :Cool:

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## Nathan F

That's exactly what they do lol. Incoming. 

Don't get me fuckin started Bout eqc

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## PerazziSC3

> Don't get me fuckin started Bout eqc


welcome to my life, bet i have heard it all!

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## Dundee

Yes I'm sorry you fullas are still going thru that shit,this Key hasn't bloody helped down there for sure.

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## PerazziSC3

> Yes I'm sorry you fullas are still going thru that shit,this Key hasn't bloody helped down there for sure.


Just glad im not in SOME homeowners shoes, more on the other side of the fence. No i don't work for EQC  :Grin:

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## Dundee

> Just glad im not in SOME homeowners shoes, more on the other side of the fence. No i don't work for EQC


That fat Cnut that works for them would never get were you have been. End. :Thumbsup:

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## Nathan F

Finally getting out this Saturday.  Amped. Have not been out since queens birthday weekend.

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## gsp follower

> One that inspired me from Nathans frozen pond.  This is cool


thats a cool vid dundee

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## Nathan F

26 mallards 2 parries this morning. Some pics to follow.

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## Rushy

> 26 mallards 2 parries this morning. Some pics to follow.


Well done.

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## Dundee

Shit hot :Thumbsup:

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## Nathan F

Went out on Saturday morning for my first shot since queens birthday weekend. Have been rather busy with the new arrival in the house. As it turned out on Friday night someone was screaming the house down so I gave up trying to sleep at 4 am and cooked some bacon and eggs. Was in the mai mai at 6 am having a cup of tea enjoying the peace and quiet. My two mates arrived at 6;40 am and we got a few decoys out. 

The gravel pit we shoot is about 140m long by 20 wide. We have three mai mais down the length of it.

The shooting was good with mallards decoying in at all points of the compass. I shot til 9:00am and pulled pin. The other two boys gave it til lunchtime . I think the final tally was 32 mallards and two parries. Good for late in the season.

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## Scouser

Great result again Nathan....youve got that 'down pat'........

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## Nathan F

Couldn't go this morning didn't get home from Auckland til late last night. Mate went out and got 23 but reckoned he was pretty piss crook. We are both heading out for one last bash tomorrow

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## Dundee

All over down there tomorrow is it?

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## Nathan F

Aye just finishing brekky then out the door  :Cool:

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## Rushy

Good skills on the last day Nathan

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## Nathan F

Well thats 2014 done and dusted.Mate and I shot til 11:30 am this morning and 46 mallards got a trip back to town. Most were drakes as
we were trying to be selective.

In summary a bloody good season. Certainly our best to date. Even with that soon to be unemployed share milker ruining one pond mid season 
it all ended well.
According to my records we ( being my two main hunting buddies and I )Nailed 430 mallards between us and 14 Paradise ducks. It would be fair to say our hunting has been a lot more selective this year. A good example would be packing up and leaving once 50 birds was hit on quite a few occasions. We carefully managed our ponds ( apart from the dickhead incident ) and got good results .
Will be a long 9 months until 2015.

Cheers and thanks for reading.

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## Rushy

Good on ya Nathan.  Thanks for sharing.

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## brad

Well Done.

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## Lentil

Come up here Nathan and shoot 6 a day and a 4 week season. Cheap on ammo thats for sure. I sure hope that F&G get some answers soon, or it will be a closed season for us. I wouldn't even mind that- if it meant a sustainable population long term.
We also picked mostly drakes after opening. Got a bit anxious later on with fewer birds around, but maybe it helped the breeding population a little bit. Any idea why your region has such a good population of ducks? Do you think that your bag limit is sustainable?

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## Nathan F

> Come up here Nathan and shoot 6 a day and a 4 week season. Cheap on ammo thats for sure. I sure hope that F&G get some answers soon, or it will be a closed season for us. I wouldn't even mind that- if it meant a sustainable population long term.
> We also picked mostly drakes after opening. Got a bit anxious later on with fewer birds around, but maybe it helped the breeding population a little bit. Any idea why your region has such a good population of ducks? Do you think that your bag limit is sustainable?


A heap of feeds my guess.  If I was a north islander I'd come south. 6 birds a days terrible. Be all over 2 minutes after first light in Canterbury

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## Lentil

It's all relative Nathan. Six birds a day each for two of us means lots of bullshit talked in the maimai, great big cooked breakfast/brunch, and plenty of time to use the video camera. You really appreciate each bird taken, and remember each bird. I think I'm getting soft in my old age, 'cos it doesn't worry me too much. In my younger years it was all about numbers. I just HAD to get my limit. Now I get more excited about getting it on film.

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## Nathan F

Don't get me wrong . Any day out buntings good. I used to hunt the Waikato when I lived in Auckland. Seriously I don't know why the duck numbers are in decline up there. Lack of food and a lot more people maybe? 
50 per person a day in CSI is probably sustainable given the amount of cropping and food. In saying that we never limited out in csi once this year. Shot it three times and stopped at the 50 mark between two of us. Mainly because plucking ducks is repetitive hard work. We don't shoot them for the sake of it. Drakes are plucked and everything else breasted for sausage. 
One shoot in Canterbury I limited out in forty minutes (25). They were still coming when packing up. There's certainly some great bird hunting to be had.

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## Dundee

Can you chase them up North Island next season Nathan :Grin:

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## EeeBees

Dundee, lately I have seen Mallards everywhere...on the land, in ditches, on the rivers...

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