Male (back) and female paradise shelducks. Photo: Stephen Jaquiery.
The day-long season was in its third consecutive year and was a "great opportunity" for experienced family members to pass on shooting skills and knowledge, he said.
"We often hear that the older hunters actually get more out of the hunt without even doing the shooting.
"It’s a great opportunity — it’s warmer, the paradise shelduck are easy to decoy and the five-bag limit on them entirely possible."
The ‘‘abundance’’ of paradise shelducks was resulting in more complaints about crop damage.
"There’s plenty of Otago farmers having to disperse nuisance concentrations of paradise shelduck at present, so they should be welcoming of any keen young duck hunters."
