NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

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 / New Zealand

Pastures Past: Ammunition shortage means a poor duck hunting season in 1946

Kem Ormond
By Kem Ormond
Features writer·The Country·
3 May, 2025 05:00 PM4 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

An ammunition shortage in 1946 would've been good news for ducks. Photo / Warren Buckland

An ammunition shortage in 1946 would've been good news for ducks. Photo / Warren Buckland

Kem Ormond takes a look at the world of farming back in the day.

In 1938, the King of England had a special pond made in the duck hunting ground at the royal estate at Sandringham.

Built with a small island in the middle, it could be reached by a bridge.

There, he could conceal himself in a large barrel positioned on the island.

His guests, meanwhile, were positioned in other barrels.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The King, it is said, would get up at 4 am and go out to the marshes wearing gumboots and a mackintosh.

While it can’t have been very comfortable sitting in a barrel, he was planning to have another pond made on the estate with a high enough fence to screen the guns.

Maybe he could have taken a leaf from New Zealand duck hunters and built a maimai!

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

On the subject of duck hunting in New Zealand, a lack of ammunition caused a bit of tension between Southland and North Island hunters, as reported in the Central Hawke’s Bay Press in 1946.

The shooting season

Prospects in Waikato

Game said to be plentiful

New Zealand Herald, April 28, 1937

[From our own correspondent]

HAMILTON, Tuesday

Unsettled weather is reported to have had the effect of bringing duck shooting water in the Waikato up to the usual levels and to have split up large flocks of duck, a good season thus being indicated.

More than 2000 pheasants of good type were put out toward the end of last season and pheasants as a result are more plentiful than they have been for some time.

Quail are reported to be in fair number, with prospects best in the Kaiwhia district.

Native game is plentiful in the King Country, it is said, and good sport is promised from both pheasant and quail.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Subscribe to The Country edm

Next duck season

Hawke’s Bay Herald Tribune, October 19, 1940

A two-week open season for duck shooting, extended to include three week-ends, will be sought by the Council of the North Island Acclimatisation Societies for next year.

It was decided at yesterday’s conference of the council to ask the Minister of Internal Affairs for such an arrangement.

The chairman, Mr F. C. McKenzie, Auckland, moved that the Minister be asked to review the beneficial effects of the short, 1940 duck season, particularly in regard to its effect upon earlier pairing of the duck, and resultant double clutches, the saving of perhaps a quarter of the duck otherwise shot, the effect of food-plant propagation by societies, the maintained duck population where suitable habitat existed, the improved ranging and urgent need of revenue to pay for it, and the increased efficiency of vermin control.

A Gisborne Herald advertisement for folding boats for "duckshooting" in 1949. Image / Papers Past
A Gisborne Herald advertisement for folding boats for "duckshooting" in 1949. Image / Papers Past

Mr H. M. Bishop said that Hawke’s Bay was naturally well endowed with breeding grounds for water-fowl.

The try-out for the short season had been a very good thing, and sportsmen advocated short seasons, with an occasional longer one if it seemed advisable.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Paradise and shoveller duck had greatly increased.

Ammunition for duck shooting

Central Hawke’s Bay Press, May 25, 1946

Although there are still plenty of ducks, many sportsmen are unable to secure ammunition with which to shoot them.

Quite a number have already expended all their ammunition in obtaining one limit bag, and some have become so desperate that they have bought two licences to get the extra fifty rounds, states the Southland Times.

As much as 17/6 has been obtained at auction for one box normally costing 8/6.

Discover more

  • 'Jealously': The Hawke's Bay ploughing stoush of 1881
  • Experiments in aerial topdressing in 1949
  • 'Vanishing': Farmer's warning about Merino flocks in 1923
  • From Cape Colony to Canterbury: Ostrich farming in the 1880s

Southland sportsmen claim that North Island stores have received ample supplies at the expense of the South, but two men who recently toured the whole of the North Island without obtaining one box are equally sure that supplies are short there.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Whichever is correct, it seems that the duck shooting season will be poor for most sportsmen.

- Source: Papers Past

Save

    Share this article

Latest from New Zealand

New ZealandUpdated

Rotorua council takes back control of parking services

09 Jul 09:18 PM
Kahu

'Exemplar for the country': Historic iwi agreement reshapes water use

09 Jul 09:14 PM
New Zealand

'Dying needlessly': Iwi monitors call for action on low cancer screening rates

09 Jul 09:08 PM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from New Zealand

'Exemplar for the country': Historic iwi agreement reshapes water use

'Exemplar for the country': Historic iwi agreement reshapes water use

09 Jul 09:14 PM

The partnership secures 60% of Rotorua's drinking water and returns ancestral land.

'Dying needlessly': Iwi monitors call for action on low cancer screening rates

'Dying needlessly': Iwi monitors call for action on low cancer screening rates

09 Jul 09:08 PM
Rotorua council takes back control of parking services

Rotorua council takes back control of parking services

09 Jul 09:08 PM
Ōpōtiki: Emergency services responding to car crash

Ōpōtiki: Emergency services responding to car crash

09 Jul 09:01 PM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

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
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • 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
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP
search by queryly Advanced Search