Right: Victoria's floods were good news for duck shooters, with the government extending the 2011 season.
Arguments in favour of the extension of the duck hunting season
Arguments in favour of the extension of the duck hunting season
1. With the end of the drought duck numbers have grown large enough to make duck hunting once more sustainable
It has been claimed that duck populations have grown since the end of the drought, making it safe to again have a duck season.
Kylie White, the Executive Director of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, has stated, 'Significant rainfall over the past 12 months has increased habitat for waterfowl including game bird populations."
This in turn has triggered extensive breeding and wide dispersal of waterfowl across Eastern Australia's wetlands. As a result, Victoria can sustain a return to normal seasonal arrangements in 2011.'
Ms White further stated, 'The 2011 Victorian duck hunting season will run from 19 March 2011 to 13 June 2011, and the normal regulated bag limit will provide adequate protection for game duck populations, based on these favourable environmental conditions.'
Kylie White, the Executive Director of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, has stated, 'The Victorian Government will continue to work closely with the Victorian Hunting Advisory Committee to ensure that the duck season is safe and sustainable.'
The media release issued by the Department of Sustainability and Environment on January 12, 2011, further stated, 'The structure and arrangements of the 2011 duck season are based on regular monitoring and on-site assessment of waterfowl and the environment.
DSE will work in partnership with hunting organisations to ensure adequate information about the current hunting arrangements and regulations, including season dates and bag limits, are provided to hunters.'
Field and Game Australia has stated, 'Claims that duck hunting threatens the viability of duck populations is simple mischief making. Duck numbers are studied all year round in all parts of the country. There is no evidence to show that the well managed and limited duck seasons in Australia have any adverse impact on duck numbers.'
2. Duck hunters do not inflict avoidable pain on their prey and most birds are killed outright
Duck hunters dispute that they leave large numbers of birds injured and perhaps to die slow and painful deaths.
Field and Game Australia Inc has stated, 'Hunters respect their quarry and their constant aim is a quick kill. Contrary to widely circulated myths about duck hunting wounding rates; US research has indicated that the reality is that more than 90% of birds taken are killed outright.'
All members of Field and Game Australia Inc adhere to a 'Hunting Code of Conduct and Ethics'. The first element of this code I animal welfare. The Code states 'Every animal is a living creature and should not suffer unnecessarily as a result of hunting.' The Code goes on to elaborate, 'Every hunter's objective is to achieve the instantaneous death and efficient recovery of every targeted animal or bird.'
The Code further states, 'Having positively identified a target species, hunters should only shoot if they are sure: it is safe to do so; the target is within range; the gun/cartridge combination being used is appropriate for the type and size of animal targeted; the hunter is confident of hitting and killing the animal or bird; the hunter is able to recover the shot animal or bird.'
Field and Game Australia Inc stresses that its members are ethical people who strive to hunt in an humane manner without inflicting unnecessary suffering on the birds they hunt. The final point in its members' code states, 'It is important to...be considerate and courteous always demonstrating to the public that hunters behave responsibly and practice ethical and sustainable hunting practices.'
The Department of Sustainability and Environment has produced guidelines for the ethical hunting of waterfowl. These include the following recommendations, 'Once you are sure it is a game species: single out your bird; do not fire into flocks, as this may injure other birds, including protected species.
Further, it is very important to make sure that the bird is within range, before you pull the trigger. Good hunters know their personal shooting capabilities and the capabilities of their firearms and do not shoot at ducks beyond a range of 30 metres.'
The same ethical guidelines include the following statement, 'All ethical duck hunters will ensure that ducks are not unduly harassed during a hunt. The improper and illegal use of boats or vehicles is considered to be highly unethical and is inconsistent with the concept of "fair chase".'
3. Substantial measures have been put in place to ensure that only game birds are shot and that endangered species are protected
The Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) defines game species as those that 'are resilient to harvesting and able to adapt to extreme and unpredictable environmental conditions ... occur in relatively large numbers, have a high replacement potential, mature quickly and can breed at an early age, have high rates of turnover, are fast escapers and are very wary in nature.'
Referring specifically to ducks, the DSE notes, 'In normal years, eight species of native duck may be hunted in Victoria. These species are: Pacific Black Duck, Chestnut Teal, Grey Teal, Hardhead (White-eyed Duck), Australian Shelduck (Mountain Duck), Pink-eared Duck, Maned Duck (Wood Duck) and Blue Wing Shoveler.'
Before obtaining a licence to hunt duck in Victoria a shooter must pass a Waterfowl Identification Test to ensure that he or she is able to discriminate between a game bird and other non-game or protected species.
The DSE further notes, 'Recreational duck hunting in Victoria is managed on a sustainable basis and bag limits, restrictions on species hunted and season dates are set to ensure that hunting does not threaten the conservation status of any game species.' Normally these game birds can be hunted for a maximum of 12 weeks a year in what is referred to as the open season.
Not only are there limits imposed on what birds may be shot and when, there are also limits imposed on where these birds can be hunted.
In state forest and other unoccupied Crown land game duck may be hunted during the open season only. In State Game Reserves game duck may be hunted, but only during the open season. In sanctuaries Game duck may not be hunted at any time. In Melbourne Water Catchment Areas hunting of any type is not permitted at any time.
In Forest Parks, Flora and Fauna Reserves and Nature Conservation Reserves hunting of any type is not permitted at any time. In National Parks, State Parks, Coastal Parks, Wilderness Parks Generally, duck hunting is not permitted at any time, however, there are some exceptions. In Alpine Resorts hunting of any type is not permitted at any time.
On Leased Crown land game duck (only during the open season) may be hunted, but only with the permission of the lessee. On Licensed Crown land generally, game duck (only during the open season) may be hunted at any time, unless the land is licensed under the Land Act 1958. On private land game duck (only during the open season) may be hunted, but only with the permission of the land owner/manager.
4. The Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) and other interested groups monitor the duck hunting season
The Department of Sustainability and Environment has stated that it will monitor the duck hunting season to ensure that duck populations remain viable and that regulations are abided by. They will also monitor wet lands to ensure that hunters are abiding by the regulations that have been put in place.
In its media release of January 12, 2011, announcing the extended Victorian duck hunting season, the DSE stated, 'The Victorian Government will continue to work closely with the Victorian Hunting Advisory Committee to ensure that the duck season is safe and sustainable.
The structure and arrangements of the 2011 duck season are based on regular monitoring and on-site assessment of waterfowl and the environment.
DSE will work in partnership with hunting organisations to ensure adequate information about the current hunting arrangements and regulations, including season dates and bag limits, are provided to hunters.'
It has been noted elsewhere that not only does the Department of Sustainability and Environment monitor the wetlands during the duck hunting season, this role is also taken on by the Field and Game Association of Australia Inc. The Association stated in its media release of January 12, 2011, 'Field and Game Australia and DSE will continue to monitor Victoria's wetlands.'
5. Many of those opposed to duck hunting have an extremist view
Those who defend their right to hunt claim that their opponents are not simply opposed to extended hunting seasons or to the injuries inflicted on some animals, they are opposed to hunting per se.
Duck hunters claim that their most active critics are animal liberationists who challenge that human beings have the right to kill other animals at all.
In 2005 Field and Game Australia Inc noted this of the international animal rights organisation, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). Field and Game Australia Inc noted, 'Instead of consuming animal products, we should all get our protein from beans, and we should stop all reproducing, because there are just too any of us. A vegetarian world, according to PETA and other animal rights organizations would be a happier, healthier, kinder world!'
This point has also been made by Associate Professor Graham Hall of the School of Animal Studies, University of Queensland. The professor has stated, 'The proponents of closing or banning duck seasons are driven by animal rights philosophies and openly publicise a social agenda of stopping all uses and killing of wildlife.'
Professor Hall then went on to argue, 'Proponents who wish to see a duck season closed or banned are opposed to hunting animals - an activity that they consider cruel...However, a season being closed or banned is just the thin edge of the wedge. Such an action threatens the rights of all people who hunt and the action will not end when the duck issue is resolved. If government was to decide that shooting ducks was cruel, how could they sustain a logical argument that shooting other animals was not cruel?'
Defenders of the rights of duck hunters claim that they are also defending the rights of all other hunters, including deer hunters and fishermen. They claim that if the arguments of animal rights activists gain acceptance among governments then these other forms of hunting are also likely to be banned.