General News
20 April, 2023
Victorian duck hunting season to start next week
Victoria’s duck hunting season will get underway next Wednesday, despite some opposition. Duck hunting is permitted at local reservoirs including Cairn Curran, Tullaroop, Laanecoorie and Lake Eppalock. Goulburn-Murray Water (GMW) Water Storage...
Victoria’s duck hunting season will get underway next Wednesday, despite some opposition.
Duck hunting is permitted at local reservoirs including Cairn Curran, Tullaroop, Laanecoorie and Lake Eppalock.
Goulburn-Murray Water (GMW) Water Storage Services general manager Martina Cusack urged hunters to be aware and respectful of other water users and residents who used the waterways for a range of activities.
“We ask duck hunters to be considerate of other members of the public and the environment by acting safely and responsibly at all times,” she said.
“At GMW storages, the use of firearms and hunting in public recreational areas and around storage assets is prohibited.
“It is important to note that camping and campfires are also prohibited on GMW managed land, except for designated areas at Dartmouth and Greens Lake, or within commercial caravan parks and leased club sites.
“Hunters will also need to get consent of landholders to hunt or pass through private property that adjoins GMW land, waterways and storages.”
The season goes ahead despite strong opposition from groups like Regional Victorians Opposed to Duck Shooting, which made a 20-page submission to the Game Management Authority earlier this year calling for the 2023 duck and quail season to be completely closed based on the long-term decline of game ducks and their lack of breeding, a decline in stubble quail numbers and adverse impacts of hunting on protected species.
In February Central Goldfields Wildlife Rescue’s India Armstrong told The Advertiser she was shocked to hear the season had been given the go ahead following a recent incident which depleted local bird numbers, with more than 750 birds found dead from avian botulism at Bells Swamp near Laanecoorie.
The duck hunting season will open at 8 am on Wednesday, April 26 and close 30 minutes after sunset on Tuesday, May 30.
Hunters are reminded to regularly check the Victorian Game Management Authority (GMA) website for updates on wetland closures.
For more information on duck hunting at GMW storages and where duck hunting is prohibited visit www.gmwater.com.au/ duckhunting