The first weekend of duck-shooting draws excited hunters from all over Otago and Southland, and this season licence sales have been up on previous years in the Wakatipu region.
One of Queenstown's biggest sellers of duck-shooting gear and licences is the Element store in Frankton, and manager Stephen Bewley said sales "just feel busier" this year.
"The amount of guns and licences that are going out the door is just amazing."
Mr Bewley said three times more licences would be sold today than on any given day this week, because hunters were notoriously unorganised.
"Ammo is a last-minute decision, but the big decisions like buying a gun have already been made."
The store held a "duck hunters' night" last month, which attracted 75 people, and it was involved in a clay bird club demo day that attracted 30 shooters as a lead-up to the big event tomorrow.
Although the Wakatipu is not known for great duck-shooting spots, there are a few hidden "hunters' paradises" around the area on private and Department of Conservation land.
The hunting does not stop with guns and camo; this year, motorised decoys have been a staple on most hunters' shopping lists.
"It's all about movement and noise.""We are also starting to go back to the traditional duck-shooting. People are buying hand-held and self-use duck callers."
Yes, for those wondering, there are duck callers on speaker phones and also ones on which you simply push a button - both saving the use of one's own set of lungs.
The feathered friends will have nowhere to duck for cover, as clear and calm conditions are expected for the weekend.
However, this could be in the winged ones' favour, with hunters traditionally having more success in showery and breezy conditions.
Fish and Game Otago operations manager Ian Hadland said rough conditions tended to keep the birds lower and in circulation for longer periods rather than settling on large areas of open water or out at sea.
Mr Hadland said that in the likely conditions, good calling and plenty of movement in the decoy spread would be essential to get birds into gun range.
"Luckily, duck hunters are gear nuts, so hunters are well prepared. Most ponds we visit have a plethora of robotic decoys which flap, dive or swim about, so I suspect they won't be bothered too much by the conditions and should still do well."
He said observations and surveys by Fish and Game indicated a better-than-average year in terms of duck numbers.
"Up until the recent change in the weather, coastal and south Otago and the Maniototo were holding good numbers of mallards and parries [paradise ducks], but these have since distributed across the region."
Mr Hadland warned that Fish and Game would have compliance teams operating throughout the region, and carrying a licence at all times when hunting was essential.
