I went on a Swan cull at the weekend,it was much like an English driven Pheasant shoot,but the beaters were on jet ski's

I only have a few photos as i was busy with video camera and shooting a few myself.


Another rooster

they any good to eat?
i see some getting cleaned up.

I love watching swans when duck hunting and always doubted I could shoot one if it was legal. However I am sure I could when it came time to pull the trigger.

I assume black swans are not native to NZ?

No not really,but they have just been classed native,we were told by a Fish&Game ranger.

We are going to have a real fight over the coming years to keep game bird shooting.

As for eating them i don't,but all the birds were breasted out and taken by other shooters.

What king of shotgun did you use ,here we hunt geese similar in size with 12 gauge 32 grams or more and numer 1,2 or3 pellets.Juan

Remington 11-87 semi-auto,2,3 steel shot or 3,4 lead,are bigger enough if you go for neck/head shots.

Dang .. but I would like to do that someday .. I have shot only one Montana tundra swan .. and that was one gigantic rush !!! I can hardly imagine a bunch coming along and having at it !!! I'd have to be careful one didn't land on my darn head .. I get quite excited some times and I might be looking at swan # 2 ...

Nice work mate, You'd need a bloody big oven to roast one whole

Ahhh New Zealand, I'll get there one day

Let me know when you are coming over,ill take you out for a shoot if you are keen.

Years ago, I went up past Menindee shooting with a mate and we took heaps of the essentials. Beer, ice,cartridges etc.

Ran short of meat.

Shot a youngish black swan (just south of Menindee!!!) and did it in a camp oven as a stew with what we could find. Couple of potatoes, a couple of oninions, apples, carrot, cabungi root, etc. Very nice.


Next day, very hunry and shot a pelican and I couldn't face it. Me mate a good feed but he can eat ring tail possum and think it the best tucker....


He always claimed he was part "native" (but he used another name).


Funny world we live in.


Its very good when we can laugh at our antics.

Sorry about getting side tracked!

Nothing wrong with swan was all I intended to say.

Possum is quite nice,good money for their fur here $75 a kilo

Me mate loves ring tail.

Way too gamey for me, TP.

He stuffed up one of my camp ovens years ago by cooking up a heap of them when I was up the Darling anabranch lifting our nets. It stunk for years until it became a pet food container.

Then, low, he gave me three firearms out of the blue.

But possum cooking is a smell you never forget, I think. STINK!! It creates new images.

Again too side lined.

I always found them hard to skin, particularly as you almost have to let them cold or get fur coming away in your hand.