T
he terrible weather 
we have experienced 
around the country 
this year with heavy 
rain and wind is the 
ideal conditions for 
duck shooting.  It 
brings the ducks 
down and they are forced to 
try and land, but with the best 
forecast in a long time of settled 
weather over a week for the end 
of April and into May, it wasn’t 
looking good for duck shooting.
After picking up the new Kia 
Tasman to drive on its first trip to 
Baylys Beach on the west coast 
of Northland.  The drive up on 
the Friday on the eve of opening 
weekend was excellent in the 
big ute and with light winds and 
sunny conditions all the way from 
Tauranga to Dargaville, I thought 
about going fishing instead.
I arrived at the farm to inspect 
the dam in the afternoon and after 
all the rain from the cyclones and 
weather events since January, 
the dam had swelled into a large 
lake!  It was easily 70-80m long 
and about 50m across.  This would 
make it challenging as I was the 
only shooter this year as my usual 
hunting mate couldn’t make it and 
it is difficult to cover such a large 
stretch of water on your own.
The birds will often land at the 
other end of the dam and out 
of range of your shotgun, so I 
hoped by placing the decoys 
in the middle, that they would 
come closer to my position.
Walking into the dam on Saturday 
morning after 6am and the light from the 
full moon was illuminating the landscape.
64  FISHING IN GODZONE MAGAZINE
Hunting

View this content as a flipbook by clicking here.