The demise of the Freckled Duck.

Yes Bill that is the thinking of some of them, the older generation seem to
be more tuned to doing the right thing.

Most Freckled Ducks shot aren’t identified till they go to pick them up,
that is why the later starting time was brought in to try and stop the
shooting in the half light.

They are not easy to identify when flying as they are often flying with
other breeds of ducks and often when shots are fired into a mob the duck
that they aim at is

not hit and ducks mts behind fall.

I’m told the identification test had two questions on the identification of
the Freckled Duck and you had to get them both right but now you only have
to get one right.

There is no fear of retribution as inspectors haven’t been seen in some
areas for years and in some cases the nearest one can be hundreds of km
away, they congregate

on opening day where the most shooters are.

When I was a young bloke and you were blasting a can off a post for practice
it wasn’t long before the Fisheries and Wildlife Inspector ( as they were
called in those days)

would go cruising past the farm gate just let you know he was in the area
watching you.

One must feel for the D P I guys as they are dealing with people holding a
gun, not the sort of people you want to get into a heated argument with,
while some don’t have

a good grasp of the English language.

This fear is why no shooters where identified after the slaughter of
hundreds of non-game birds at Box Flat a few years ago.