General News
5 April, 2026
Hunters will be back ‘in numbers after lull’
DUCK hunters would be back on Loddon wetlands over Easter after the “traditional” lull following the strong season opening, said Victorian Duck Hunters’ Association leader Danny Ryan.
Mr Ryan said rain last week would also see birds return to wetlands in increased numbers.
“There’ll be plenty about, just like there was for the mid-week opening to the season. Sure, there was a lull a week later but that’s to be expected after people have spent five or six days arriving and taking part in the opening,” he said.
Mr Ryan said Lake Leaghur would be a popular spot for shooters over Easter and dismissed claims by Bendigo Animal Welfare Services about the behaviour of hunters at the lake during the opening days.
“There were no reports of early shooting and the (protesters) are becoming more intrusive,” he said.
“They make radical claims but these claims have been discredited for years.”
In a statement, BAWS said after the season opening: “The blasting was relentless early on, then continued intermittently until 11am, when rescuers were finally allowed into the water.
“Wading in alongside dedicated rescuers in kayaks, who pushed out into deeper water to retrieve the wounded where there was no doubt shooters wouldn’t have been able to retrieve birds due to the dense reeds - impossible to navigate from the ground and the depth of the water.
“We had already witnessed a shooter fail to retrieve a duck he had just blasted in the reeds before moving on to shoot again.
“From the water and start of the reeds edge, rescuers waited ready to receive injured birds and rush them back to shore for urgent veterinary care. At the same time, searching for spent shotgun cartridges was underway.
“Given the intensity of the shooting just hours earlier, what we found was surprising: very few.
“There was a strong campaign leading into opening day for shooters to be on their best behaviour and for those who weren’t, others stepped up and returned in boats after the fact, collecting dead and wounded birds left behind, along with empty cartridges.
“The absence of the number of bodies and wounded birds normally expect was striking. The clean-up effort was obvious, not because the harm wasn’t happening, but because it was being managed out of sight.”
Fence damage and anti-hunting graffiti at Lake Leaghur and Woolshed Swamp have angered farmers and been reported to police.