It is now just over one hundred days until the 2025 Victorian duck season commences on Wednesday,19 March.
The Victorian Government has committed to using the Adaptive Harvest Model to inform seasonal arrangements from 2025. Unfortunately, advice to the Government from this model will not be available until mid-to-late January 2025. It has been acknowledged that this is far from ideal, and active steps have been taken to ensure that the advice is available considerably earlier going forward. Given the sustained favourable breeding conditions, SSAA Victoria’s expectation is that the recommendation will be for a robust bag limit.
Those coming into duck hunting in 2025 should start to familiarise themselves with the material in the Waterfowl Identification Test (WIT). There will be numerous WIT training and testing opportunities available in 2025, in the meantime, the Game Management Authority (GMA) website has excellent educational videos and a practice test.
Hunters (new and experienced) should also take the hundred days left before duck hunting as an opportunity to brush up on their shooting skills. SSAA Victoria has five stand shotgun shooting available for the public at Eagle Park as well as monthly 100 target sporting clay shoots with our affiliate ACSSA. A number of regional SSAA Victoria ranges also offer regular shotgun shooting opportunities.