Extended season for Auckland/Waikato game bird hunters

Game bird season opens on May 23 for Auckland and Waikato. Photo / File

Saturday May 23 will be opening day for duck season for hunters in Auckland and Waikato, and this year the season has been extended to June 28.

The duck season is scheduled to be five weeks (six weekends) rather than the previous four weeks (five weekends) this year, Auckland/Waikato Fish & Game chief executive Ben Wilson says.

"Game bird hunting is a national tradition and an important population management tool.
The Auckland/Waikato Region has the highest number of game bird licence sales anywhere in the country.

"Game bird hunters throughout the region have been patiently waiting for this announcement, and the wait is over.

"The game bird season is an important national tradition for hunters to come together to harvest game birds for the family dinner table.

"This will allow a fair and equitable game bird season for everyone. This new date also allows hunters and retailers some time at alert level 2 to get a licence and get themselves set up for the new season start date," he says.

The closure date for the pheasant season is unchanged at August 30.

All hunters will have to comply with the restrictions of alert level 2 while hunting and travelling to their hunting spots, and it will be illegal for any game bird hunting to take place before the opening date.

This applies to people hunting on private land, their own land and in publicly accessible areas.

Information about hunting under Covid-19 conditions can be found at: https://fishandgame.org.nz/covid-19-information.