Four-bird bag limit announced for duck season, committee to be set up

By Shepparton News

Feb 24, 2023

The terms for the 2023 duck hunting season have been set by the Victorian government. Photo by Contributed

The Game Management Authority has announced the arrangements for the 2023 duck season including changes to the start times, daily bag limit and game duck species that can be hunted.

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The 2023 season will start at 8am and will close 30 minutes after sunset each day from Wednesday, April 26, to Tuesday, May 30 (inclusive).

The bag limit is four birds per day.

It is prohibited to hunt Blue-winged Shoveler and Hardhead across Victoria as both species were recently listed as threatened under the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988.

The Victorian Government will move to establish a Legislative Council select committee to examine recreational native bird hunting in Victoria, with a vote on setting up the council to be held next week.

The committee will have wide-ranging terms of reference, including the operation of the annual recreational native bird hunting seasons, arrangements in other Australian jurisdictions, their environmental sustainability and impact on amenity, and their social and economic impact.

The committee will hold public hearings to hear from hunting associations, animal-welfare groups, and regional communities.

The GMA said an interim harvest model had been run to inform the settings for the 2023 duck season.

The outputs of this model have been modified to provide a more precautionary approach to concerns regarding the rates of wounding of ducks, poor behaviour by some hunters, and the fact waterbird abundance, breeding and habitat availability, all show long-term declines.

Hunters and the general public are urged to report irresponsible behaviour as well as any illegal hunting to the GMA through its website www.gma.vic.gov.au or the Customer Service Centre on 136 186 or by phoning Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000, or Victoria Police.

Examples of illegal behaviour include hunting, taking or destroying threatened wildlife, hunting, taking or destroying protected wildlife, hunting in prohibited areas, shooting early during open season, use of toxic shot, failing to immediately retrieve a downed bird and failing to immediately dispatch a downed bird.

All licensed hunters must pass a Waterfowl Identification Test before being permitted to hunt ducks. All hunters must have a valid game and firearms licence when hunting.

Details of the 2023 duck season, including any wetland closures, will be regularly updated on the GMA website, www.gma.vic.gov.au