ONE veteran duck hunter has said the number of birds along the Loddon River this season was among the most he had seen.
Marco Pagliaro joined brother Gus and friends Mario Messina and Dino Tomaselli for their annual season opening trip to the Salisbury West area.
The quartet was one of three duck hunting groups camping within a 2km stretch of the river at the weekend.
Marco’s party had arrived last Tuesday and set up ready for the official season start the next morning.
“We make a point of spending our money at local businesses - the bakery, the supermarket, buying wine for the farmers whose properties we camp on,” he said.
“We even buy the dog food here instead of bringing it from home,” said Mario who travelled from Ballarat while others in the party came from Benalla and Melbourne.
Mario said last year’s rains had aided the return of ducks to the region.
“When’s it’s dry, they head north but after getting the rain they come back. In Europe, they go to another country, in Australia it’s over the border to another state.”
Gus, the former Inglewood tradesman who returns regularly and runs hunt dog training sessions, said there had been a good variety of birds shot in the season’s opening days. “The numbers have been good and there have been teal, wood ducks, mountain, black and pink-eared ducks,” he said.
Mario said Loddon people “are nice and genuine and accepting” of duck hunters.
Local highways were busy over the weekend with hunters travelling to and from local rivers and private properties to shoot.
The shortened 2023 season will end 30 minutes after sunset on May 30.