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birding aus,
don't kid yourselves that ducks are safe in NSW, the other day I was pulled up
by a worker at some road works, and while waiting, had a yarn with him. He told
me he had just come back from a fishing trip, staying on a property on the
Darling. After telling me about the yellowbelly, yabbies, and cod they had
caught, he casually informed me that his hosts had shot seventy ducks over the
fortnight. Duck season in Victoria is thankfully not what it used to be, far
fewer shooters, and far less lead going into the wetlands due to the banning of
magazine type shotguns, auto and pump. At least there are only two shots fired
at a duck now instead of half a dozen as we used to hear prior to the gun
buyback. After opening weekend in my area, anyway, not much shooting goes on at
the wetlands I visit. Unfortunately there is an element amongst the hunting
fraternity to whom closed seasons, hunting bans, and protected species, mean
nothing at all, and in fact they seem to take a perverse pleasure in breaking
the law. A local hunter was heard yesterday, telling a shop assistant he had
shot three hundred ducks for the weekend, so much for bag limits. There has been
discussion re Latham's Snipe recently, some mongrels still shoot these beautiful
birds, a particular favourite of mine. What's the answer?, I don't know, keep
pushing for a ban on duck shooting Australia wide I suppose, and minimise the
harm that way, and while we're at it don't forget the poor little Quail, which
bears the brunt of things when there is a poor duck season
Duncan Fraser.
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