Duck Season opening

While I don’t generally take clients duck shooting because of the duck identification test requirements, I still go myself.

This duck opening was spent on private property near the Murray River. After a very slow first 1 hour the ducks finally started moving around and after a hectic 45 minutes we had our bag limit and were heading in for breakfast. The following morning was also a cracker with the ducks decoying beautifully, allowing some close pass shooting.

While my English pointer Ella is no duck dog prodigy, she was happy as could be swimming around and rounding up the birds for me.

I remember as a boy preparing our duck hides with dad and my brother months in advance, setting up the decoys with their weights and getting no sleep the night before opening while camped at the wetland listening to the birds cackling through the night.

Of all the outdoor activities I do, nothing has more fond childhood memories and nostalgia than duck opening and I am still yet to miss an opening since I got my licence as a youngster all those years ago.