Both Barrels July 2023 - Southland

Above: Southland Fish & Game field officer Ben Febery plucking a late-season mallard for the table.

Southland waterfowl hunting season wrap-up 

The Southland 2023 waterfowl hunting season came to an end on the Sunday of the Matariki long weekend.

According to our game bird harvest surveys, over one-third of Southland waterfowl hunters took the opportunity to get out with their friends, family, and the dog for one last hunt over the long weekend.

The rain and wind over the weekend made for ideal hunting conditions and many hunters reported that they had some great harvests.

Southland’s late season mallards are typically in excellent condition

Several hunters commented on the excellent condition of our late-season mallards, and they were looking forward to doing them justice in the kitchen.

If you need some ideas on cooking the mallards you harvested this season, you could check out the Fish & Game cookbook.

You could also check out a few of these simple recipe ideas:

The fast roast duck:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDcTcRl7qrI&ab_channel=FishandGameNZ

Duck schnitzel burgers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bI6DtS4YnrE&ab_channel=FishandGameNZ

If you have a Weber BBQ, cooking a perfect duck breast is easy.

Just heat the Weber to 220°C, place the duck breast skin side down on the grill and close the lid for four and a half minutes.

It’s easy to cook a perfect duck breast on the Weber

Lift the lid, flip the duck breast, close the lid and cook for another four and a half minutes.  

This will leave you with a duck breast that is not overcooked (medium) and it will be both flavoursome and tender.

If you don’t have a Weber, a frying pan still works well, and game chef Hank Shaw has a great instructional video on cooking the perfect duck breast on a pan.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7Ab3NAZvZY&ab_channel=TheSportingChef

 Warm Barrels

Cohen Stewart, Southland Fish and Game Officer.