Asked about his tally over the years, Darcy Kingi (77) just shrugs. He loves the location of the pond, on Kyeburn farmland, the company of the other hunters and introducing young people to the sport, but the number of ducks, well . . . that's less important.
"It's not really about how many ducks you get," the quietly-spoken hunter says.
"There's about 18 people shoot on this property on opening weekend and we all get together to pluck the ducks, but everyone goes home with some, regardless of how many they shoot. When we've got enough, enough is enough."
Mr Kingi and his wife Jean travel from their Wingatui home to spend every opening of the duck shooting season at Kyeburn and this year was a special occasion.
A hangi was put down and "a bit of a shindig" held on Saturday night to celebrate 40 years of shooting on the same pond.
Mr Kingi's family and friends and fellow duck-shooters were invited and about 150 people were there to mark the occasion.
He is grateful three successive property owners have allowed him to retain his connection with the pond and says the current owners, Jock Scott and Trish Hayes, like their predecessors, are "good people."
Mr Scott repays the compliment and said the area of farmland around Mr Kingi's mai mai will be turned into a "reserve, of sorts."
"People coming to Darcy's 'do' were asked to bring a native tree and we're going to plant them around the pond and hope those trees will establish and provide a good habitat for ducks.
"Over the years Darcy has done a tremendous job in introducing young people to duck shooting, and that's been a big plus for us," Mr Scott said.
Mr Kingi's connection with the property started through his friendship with the late Bill Strode, who owned the Kyeburn farm.
"I met him through golf and he asked: do you shoot ducks? I said: in a fashion, and it all started from there."
Successive owners of the land had "inherited" him but were happy to keep up the association.
"What's so special about the pond? It's beautiful up there, such a quiet site and so peaceful. Cellphones don't work there either, which is a bonus."
He used to work as a supervisor for the Ministry of Works and later as a taxi driver, but has been retired for about 14 years.
"It's nice being part of it all here. As it gets closer to opening weekend, the calls start coming - are you all ready?"
These days he takes more of a back seat and is happy to sit back and watch the younger shooters test their skills.
"I've coached a lot of young guys in rugby [at the Brighton club]. Eventually they followed me up here."
Mr Kingi is responsible for the opening morning breakfast cook-up and all the shooters on the surrounding ponds converge on his mai mai, aptly named Do Duck Inn.
"That keeps the boys happy. The most we've ever had in the mai mai was 26 people, but usually there's only about six of us."
The mai mai boasts electric lighting, a noticeboard with photos of previous duck shooting weekends and, of course, a kitchen sink - handy when it comes to preparing meals.
