When I heard Mark stirring I made us Bacon, eggs and fried potatoes for breakfast and we sat and talked till about 9am. I wasnt in any hurry to head back out as the tide was still going out and there was no way I could get back to where I wanted to shoot.
At 9.30 I launched the boat and quietly made my way down river to the harbour.
My plan was to idle down the main river until I found the entrance to the creek I was in on day one and then let the tide carry me back to the shooting spot. The Harbour is continually changing and I knew the entrance had shifted about 200metres from last year and had silted up somewhat.
When I found the entrance it was only about 8" deep for the first 300 m and consisted of soft mud. Lifting the outboard up, I donned my waders and went over the side into mud just over my knees with 8-10" of water on top. Making sure I didnt lose my grip on the boat, I started pushing it across the mud/water until the banks either side closed in on me and I was in the channel proper. I knew I couldnt drive the boat forward , so turning the stern forward I got back in, set the outboard on shallow drive, started it and began backing up the channel. By doing this and 'pulling' the boat in reverse, the outboard thrust lifted the stern up and with the prop just in the water I made good progress in the foot of water. Interesting, was the fact that as the tide turned and came up the channel, the water flow was still going out. The rain overnight was flooding out of the creek, with the tide pushing into the creek underneath it and raising the level.
This is a pic looking up the creek towards the mangroves where I wanted to be.....
- 20250504_114223.jpg (2.9 MiB) Viewed 1995 times
- 20250504_114229.jpg (2.22 MiB) Viewed 1995 times
BY 11am I was within 150m of where I wanted to be and was so preoccupied with looking up the creek and navigating that I was suddenly surprised to hear someone say " That looks like hard work" !!!!
Turned around and Marks son was right behind me in his commercial Dory. His boat, even with a 60Hp Etech only draws 6" and he had no difficulty getting up the creek. We sat and chatted for about 10 mins and he told me he would be setting his nets across the banks when the tide got high enough.
Finally I got to where I had been the afternoon before, retrieved the mangroves I used for camo off the bank, set 7 decoys and a wing flapper in the creek and found a spot to sit. I was unable to get into the mangroves but managed to position myself with the sun behind me and in the shadow of the mangroves further up the bank.
15 mins later I saw 2 mallard drakes passing about 500m away...a couple of quick calls had them swinging around and coming in. When they were about 45m out they flared left and right. 2 quick shots and they both dropped on the mud opposite me. I knew the shots would get more birds up so quickly reloaded.......sure enough another drake appeared over the mangroves to my left, another quick call and as he came over the decoys my first shot dropped him in the creek and he started floating away in the incoming tide. Pushing the boat off the bank I started paddling towards him......I saw shadows pass over the boat, and in one movement I dropped the paddle, scooped up the 1187 and swung around to see 5 mallards climbing for height over my left shoulder......swinging my body at the waist the barrel caught up with the tail end drake and at the shot he dropped next to the the previous bird. My ribs started to protest but with 4 birds down with 4 shots I ignored them. After retrieving the last 2 bird birds I moved back to my original position and seeing a small groove in the bank, I opened the throttle and slid up the bank into the mangroves with the stern just poking out between 2 large trees. Rearranging the boat camo I became 'one' with the trees and invisible to any approaching birds. Decided at that stage to only shoot drakes and leave the females to breed.
By now the water was creeping across the bank opposite me and starting to float the 1st 2 birds I had shot. I knew I couldnt get to them and was worried they would disappear into the mangroves before there was enough water to retrieve them.....but then the gods smiled down, the wind started to increase and as they floated it pushed them towards the channel. It was just a matter of waiting till the came closer.
Here are a couple of pics from the boat... The 2 birds in the centre of the pic came screaming in from my right as I was about to take the picture and landed. They are Brown teal, fully protected and there are only about 2500 left in NZ. You can also see the first 2 mallards I dropped to their left.
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- 20250504_141602.jpg (4.21 MiB) Viewed 1995 times
- 20250504_141602 (2).jpg (631.59 KiB) Viewed 1995 times
20 mins later I pushed the boat out of the mangroves, the teal lifted themselves off the water and flew directly overhead 20m away....It was awesome to see them especially that close.....lost in the moment I got a rude awakening as a single mallard drake let out a large quack as he flew past me in front and flared.....again, scooping up the 1187, it barked and the drake dropped next to the 2 I was going to retrieve.
5 for 5.....
10 minutes later I heard the raucous noise of Canada's approaching from behind me over the mangroves...lifting the 1187 I waited for them to appear. Most of them ( about 400 birds) passed out of range but the last flight were a lot closer, so, picking out the tail end charlie I dropped him with one shot. When he hit the water I could see he was still capable of swimming and he immediately started heading across the harbour. Firing up the outboard I gave chase, finished him off, picked him up and returned and to my spot.
20 mins later a single drake flew past about 80m away... and then the fun started. He had obviously been shot at and was very wary. When I called, he turned and proceeded to make circles around the decoys about 100m out but wouldnt come any closer. He started quacking his head off and I would respond back, but he still wouldnt come any closer. After about 10 circuits I lost count and we continued back and forth. Finally I must have said the right thing to allay his suspicions and he turned and came straight in but before I could shoot he landed about 50m out. He sat there for about 2 minutes still quacking and our conversation continued....finally he started swimming into the decoys. Its against our game regs to shoot birds on the water ( unless they are wounded) so when he was 30m away I stood up and yelled out to get him to fly. He just sat there...despite waving my arms and shouting and thrashing the mangroves next to me he just wouldnt get up. Finally, I decided the game had gone on long enough and lowering the gun I fired a shot from the hip straight up.....he bounced off the water and when he was about 4m high I shouldered the 1187 and dropped him drt.
15 minutes later a pair of mallards did the same thing, flew past about 80m away and kept going. I managed to turn them with calls and they made 3 or 4 circuits before setting their wings and coming in. They split apart when I stood up and gave me a perfect 'left and right' shot. Dropped the drake on the left with my first shot, swung right and dropped the female with my second.
8 mallards and 1 Canada.....9 birds for 11 shots. (which includes one finisher and the one used to put the reluctant drake up)
Was especially pleased with my shooting as I hadnt picked up a shotgun for 12mths.
Packed up the decoys, got rid of the camo and headed of to find BH... Found him hiding in the mangroves under the geese flypath....
He reluctantly admitted that he was still one bird short of his weekend limit.......which gave me bragging rights
We headed back to the ramp......again the race was on... Because I had taken most of my gear out of the boat I decided to have some fun with him.
We sat side by side for a few hundred yards before I opened the throttle wide and left him in my spray....when I was about 200m in front I turned and made 2 circles around him before taking the lead again..
When we got back to the ramp he couldnt understand where my extra speed came from....until I pointed out that my boat was almost empty...
Oh, and the reason I took the female mallard was that there was something funny about the way she looked......Her hair dresser didnt do a very good job in colouring her feathers blonde as evidenced by the next pics....
Back view from left to right...a female grey duck, the blonde and a mallard/grey cross female.
- 20250505_151326.jpg (5.76 MiB) Viewed 1995 times
- 20250505_151306.jpg (5.52 MiB) Viewed 1995 times
And so ended my 64th opening weekend...
