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Feeding to Hit a Moving Target
Words by Dr Rob Derrick
Whilst the old proverb ‘birds of a feather stick together’ may not apply to the solitary kiwi, it definitely applies to ducks and other waterfowl. NRM Duck Tucker has been specifically formulated to attract wild birds to a pond for the duck shooting season.
How to best use NRM Duck Tucker:
• Start offering NRM Duck Tucker at the chosen pond, lake or river for ideally 2 months or at least 4 weeks out from the Opening Weekend on the first Saturday in May.
• If you are new to the site, try 5-10kg NRM Duck Tucker, check how it is being eaten over the next 48 hours and increase accordingly.
• Like labradors, wild ducks are heavily food motivated so feeding them every 2 to 3 days should increase their dependency and numbers.
• Ducks typically feed in the evening or fading light, so it can be best to feed the pond from early afternoon.
• Tip the bags along the water's edge or into shallow water.
• Ducks love searching for food in the water but don’t dive like penguins so avoid throwing Duck Tucker into water more than knee deep.
• Settled ducks will attract more ducks to a pond.
• Don’t stop feeding or feed too infrequently as birds take up residency on your pond because they will go looking elsewhere for food if supplies are not reliable.
• Generous feeding (6 x 20kg bags every second day, 2-3 tonnes over the season) in the right location can support 800-1000 ducks plus Canadian Geese and Black Swans and yield around 250 ducks on opening weekend with enough firepower.
• Wild ducks prefer quiet areas away from human activity with plenty of good shrubby tree cover at the edge of the pond so they can easily find shelter underneath.
• Give the birds a chance to settle for a week or so after the opening weekend and then resume feeding if you want ducks to return and number rebuild for evening shooting in the future.
For the busy landowner with a smaller pond off the main flight paths, a variety of capacity automatic feeders are available to suit a variety of budgets from Hunting and Fishing. Their capacity can be more limited than generous feeding by hand so they may not attract as many birds and won’t be the ideal choice for anyone with trust issues. There’s no such thing as a free lunch and some birds will pay the ultimate price. But for the dedicated shooter the investment in NRM Duck Tucker can be well rewarded.
