Waikato Herald
  • Waikato Herald home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Rural
  • Lifestyle
  • Lotto results

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Lifestyle
  • Lotto results

Locations

  • Hamilton
  • Coromandel & Hauraki
  • Matamata & Piako
  • Cambridge
  • Te Awamutu
  • Tokoroa & South Waikato
  • Taupō & Tūrangi

Weather

  • Thames
  • Hamilton
  • Tokoroa
  • Taumarunui
  • Taupō

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Waikato News

Sober habits essential for safe duck hunting

Hamilton News
3 May, 2013 07:00 PM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Duck hunters are being urged to lay off drugs and alcohol before handling firearms.

Duck hunting season opens tomorrow with more than 40,000 duck hunters expected to head off to their maimai to enjoy a highlight of the hunting calendar.

The season can run up to three months, depending on the region. For the majority of participants, it's a good opportunity to bag a few of the 4.5 million mallards that populate New Zealand's ponds and wetlands.

Each year, the careless use of shotguns and risky behaviour potentially leads to non-intentional firearms incidents, says Tracy Wakeford, the acting firearms and hunter safety programme manager for the New Zealand Mountain Safety Council.

Injuries can be minor but there were several fatal incidents in recent years.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"The message, is that all incidents can be avoided if duck hunters maintain responsible shooting behaviours and follow the seven basic and common sense rules of the Firearms Safety Code," said Ms Wakeford.

Points to remember:

Avoid alcohol and drugs: It's fine to have a drink or two when all the guns are safely stored away but hunters who choose to imbibe alcohol, or drugs before or during shooting, put themselves and others at risk. Mixing alcohol and firearms is also illegal and a breach of rule seven of the Firearms Safety Code

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Maintain a safe muzzle direction: Many shotgun injuries are caused by carelessness and complacency. Maintaining a safe muzzle direction is critical when using the safety catch with a semi-automatic shotgun.

Safety catches are mechanical devices and can malfunction, so whether it's loaded or unloaded (or safety catch on or not) never point a firearm at yourself or anyone else.

Unload your shotgun when not in use: Firearms users should always unload their shotgun before leaving their hunting area.

Injuries and deaths have occurred when firearms have discharged accidentally while being transported in a vehicle, during cleaning, or when shooters move from one hunting area to another.



More about firearms and outdoor safety at www.mountainsafety.org.nz/firearms.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Waikato News

Waikato Herald

Man hides out in bush for 5 months after slicing victim with machete over $20

Waikato Herald

'Everyone could have died': Drink-driving mum who left 6yo critical in crash avoids prison

Waikato Herald

'It's on in the Tron': Robertson looking forward to final test


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Waikato News

Man hides out in bush for 5 months after slicing victim with machete over $20
Waikato Herald

Man hides out in bush for 5 months after slicing victim with machete over $20

Christopher Millen went bush, stealing a rifle, tools and a sheep from a nearby house.

17 Jul 08:00 AM
'Everyone could have died': Drink-driving mum who left 6yo critical in crash avoids prison
Waikato Herald

'Everyone could have died': Drink-driving mum who left 6yo critical in crash avoids prison

17 Jul 07:00 AM
'It's on in the Tron': Robertson looking forward to final test
Waikato Herald

'It's on in the Tron': Robertson looking forward to final test

17 Jul 05:00 AM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Waikato Herald e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Waikato Herald
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP