The Victorian Government has decided to proceed with the 2023 duck hunting season, for a shorter five-week time frame, with much protest from both animal welfare organisations and proponents of the sport.
Duck hunting season in Victoria will begin on Wednesday, April 26 and run until Tuesday, May 30.
The season will run from 8am to 30 minutes after sunset each day, with a bag limit of four birds per person.
RSPCA Victoria chief executive Liz Walker was displeased with the announcement, saying that six out of eight game duck species continued to show significant long-term declines in population.
“Regardless of the reduced season length, based on a 35-day hunting season approximately 87,000 birds will be killed during the 2023 Victorian duck hunting season and up to 35,000 wounded and left to die,” Dr Walker said.
However, a spokesperson for the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party Victoria condemned the decision, saying 2023 offered some of the best conditions in 30 years.
“[This] insults 26,000 law-abiding and licensed hunters, with pitiful claims of poor behaviour and habitat loss,” the spokesperson said.