Duck hunting season: Central Hawke’s Bay family excited for annual tradition

Lucy, Blair and George Slavin look forward to duck hunting season every year. Photo / RNZ, Alexa Cook

By Alexa Cook of RNZ

Duck hunting season begins on Saturday morning with tens of thousands of hunters all over the country preparing to head out into their maimais.

For many rural families, it is an annual tradition, and near Waipawa in Central Hawke’s Bay, the Slavin family have been counting down the days until the season opens.

Ten-year-old George Slavin and his 13-year-old sister, Lucy, have been game bird hunting with their dad, Blair, since they were 4.

“I like it a lot. Getting out of the house and seeing what’s out and about in the wild... it’s a bonus if you get a duck or two,” George told RNZ.

Lucy’s favourite part is the snacks, and although she does not like getting up early for a hunt, she loves joining the rest of the family later in the day.

“I like going out in the afternoon and then coming home, hopefully with ducks, to have a nice hot dinner,” she said.

“This will be my first season shooting the ducks, but I’ve been going out for quite a while.”

George Slavin. Photo / RNZ / Supplied

Blair Slavin has been duck hunting for over 20 years and said taking the kids out with him is a real highlight.

"I just absolutely love it.

“It’s a great family thing to do and good to do with your mates as well.

“It’s a good sport to get people into - you’re getting outdoors, getting food for your family, and it’s good physical exercise.”

He said safety always comes first, and the kids are taught about the duck hunting rules and regulations from an early age.

“Safety is paramount.”

Make sure you have landowners’ permission, and make sure your shooting zones are safe as well.

“Safety can’t be talked about enough.”

The whole family enjoys eating duck, usually making salamis, roasts and pan-fried duck dishes.

George said that when the season sadly ends in June, they are already looking forward to the next one.

“When duck shooting finishes, we go straight back on and put it on the calendar, if we have one, for next year.”

Game birds are managed under the Wildlife Act, and Fish & Game chief executive Corina Jordan told RNZ it tweaks the hunting regulations every season depending on bird populations.

“It’s to ensure the population is sustainably managed and we don’t take too many, or that there are not birds out there causing a nuisance to farmers, for example, on crops,” she said.

“Bag limits for mallards, for example, vary across the country; it can be a couple of birds or five birds, but in the South Island, bag limits can be a whole lot larger, such as 15 birds, depending on where you are.”

With over 30,000 registered hunters this season, Jordan said Fish & Game had seen a surge of interest from the younger generations.

“We’ve got a lot of excitement across the country as people gear up for Saturday morning.

“[The numbers] are fairly stable, and if anything, we are seeing a lot of younger hunters get back into game bird hunting.

“We’re seeing that growth in our junior hunters coming back into game bird hunting.”

Fish & Game is encouraging all hunters to head to its website and brush up on the rules and regulations.

• The sport follows specific regulations set by Fish & Game New Zealand, and for most of the country, the season runs from the first Saturday of May until the end of June
• Over 30,000 hunters are registered this season, but the real number of hunters is much higher, as landowners don’t have to buy a licence to shoot on their own farm
• Anyone can go duck hunting, but you must buy a game bird hunting licence
• If you don’t have a gun licence, then you have to be supervised by a licensed firearms holder

- RNZ