After rather a slow start to the Northern Territory waterfowl season (I came home on opening morning with clean barrels!), things are turning out well at last. Regular storms are cutting boggy swaths across the flood-plains east of Darwin on a regular basis now, and the birds are flying well. Best of all, the black-soil plains are now too risky for the 'dunces' to park their white Toyotas out in the open, right under the best flight-paths, as the lazy bastards are prone to do! Consequently, the geese are flighting well within range of the non-toxic shot mandated for the local hunting reserves. I have run out of time to drop more bismuth shot, so will be finishing the season with steel.
This year the season was extended to the end of December, since the whole year has been running about a month late season-wise. Usually we ask Parks & Wildlife to close the waterfowl season mid-December, to prevent damage to the unsealed access roads during the onset of the monsoons, but no need to worry this year.
I watched the sun rise over Harrison Dam yesterday (Boxing Day), and bagged-out on geese in half an hour. We are allowed 7 geese and 7 ducks per day for 4 months, but rarely does a hunter manage his 14-bird limit! I was content with only geese yesterday, spurred on by a request from my daughter on duty in Afghanistan to "make sure there's plenty of goose-meat in the freezer when I get home".
See if you can guess where I'll be at dawn tomorrow!
