Choked willow hole

Just back from an evening hunt followed up by a morning shoot with Tim and his boy Quinn. Asking if I could slip my leash was less dramatic than I could have hoped; I had expected a night shoot but with permission granted to stay the night at the hut and shoot the morning I wasn't saying no! I packed the boat and hit the road at 1.30, arriving at the landing at 3.00. A massive amount of water was coming from the ponds so I was quite alarmed, but nothing had happened to the weir, it was simply high flow. I got my crap together and set some dekes on one of the ponds. When I returned Tim and Quinn had arrived, so we caught up, made plans and I set off for a night shoot in a choked willow hole. I didn't get within 50 metres before my splashing set up the first wave of ducks, their wing beats thundered under the canopy. By the time I arrived at the hole, more than 100 ducks had got up (my estimate). As I entered the clearing a fat Mallard drake got up and received a load of Hevi Metal for his troubles. I quickly set up my flapper decoy and hid in the willows, almost immediately a hen Mallard set her wings high overhead and dived in. I caught her with my second shot. Ducks flew everywhere, I could hear Tim calling and calling. A hen spoonie charged overhead catching me on the back foot, a few calls and she turned and came back. Again the second shot killed her cleanly and she plummeted down hitting a willow on her way. Later a Mallard drake set his wings to come in but saw me move and pulled out; I could have fired but he would have fallen in a bad place for me to find him. A grey duck was the next visitor and fell at my first shot. It was now getting dark and the flight all but ceased. In the dark another drake dropped in but earned his freedom as i couldn't make him out below the tree line. A fast moving duck was my next visitor but kept going after my shots. I put on my headlamp and switched on - and 2 possums charged towards the light! A charge of #4 cleaned one up and the other escaped. Quite an eventful hunt and typical of June hunting - the spoonies arrive and the other ducks move away from open water to spots with cover and food.

We set a couple of Fenn traps in boxes around the hut and baited them with eggs to try and knock off the stoats that are infesting the area, and then hit the hay after a dinner of hot dogs. All too soon the alarm went and after a coffee and food we hit the ponds. Fog had rolled in which spells death for the hunting, so after a couple of hours I decided to revisit the choked willow hole. Again ducks departed despite my trying to remain as quiet as possible, but this time I managed a spoonie drake as he made an exit. I wandered around under flooded willows for half an hour, knocking down a Mallard and missing an opportunity at a grey as he jinked through the trees.

Quinn with a spoonie

As an experience, this type of hunting is hard to beat. You work hard but it is so rewarding.

We pulled the dekes relatively early and I got back home by lunch time - mission accomplished. I love late season willow bashing.

The prettiest of our ducks - the Shoveler ("spoonie") drake

Scale - Mallard Vs. Shoveler