b'HUNTINGSpoonbills (aka shoveler) are one of the best-looking waterfowl and the fastest on wing.Editor Matt Hewetson getsThe writer wears quality Spika camo, excited with the arrival ofa must for keen eyed ducks.May and the start of the new game bird season.T his magazine has just hit the shelves in early May, and I will be getting ready to head up to Northland to shoot opening weekend in Dargaville.I have shot here for many years having grown up in this small rural town on the edges of the Kaipara Harbour and Ripiro Beach.I lived there until I was nineteen and left for the bright lights of Auckland, but I have kept returning to my roots over the years for the fishing and hunting available here.The Kaipara region offers top mallard, grey and paradise hunting and excellent pheasant and Californian quail too.There are also high numbers of black swan and pukeko, for the ultra-keen but as I shoot for the table, I tend to leave these two birds alone.82FISHING IN GODZONE MAY/JUNE 2022'