Sometimes you have to make sacrifices for your sport, but a new mai mai in South Otago means duck-shooting has become a good deal simpler for at least one enthusiast.<\/p>\n
Otago Fish & Game unveiled a new wheelchair-accessible mai mai at its Inch Clutha reserve yesterday, ensuring the region\u2019s long tradition of harvesting wild game birds remained open to all.<\/p>\n
For Pip Martin, a 40-year duck-shooting veteran who has used a wheelchair since a farm accident in 2016, the new mai mai means he can avoid a \u2018\u2018hairy\u2019\u2019 ride in a loader bucket to enjoy his sport.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2018Unfortunately the mai mai I use is on an island in a Catlins quarry. That means once I\u2019m in the chair, the only way to get there is with a lift from an industrial loader, in a bucket, wheelchair and all.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2018That\u2019s fine during the daytime, but a bit hairy in the dark, so this is a fantastic initiative from Fish & Game, allowing myself and others to enjoy their duck hunting simply and safely.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
The Balclutha grandfather described the new mai mai, at the Inch Clutha Wildlife Management Reserve in Chicory Rd, as \u2018\u2018perfect\u2019\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2018It\u2019s the perfect height and design for access and shooting. The ducks won\u2019t even see you setting up, despite being able to park up only 50 metres away and wheel yourself in easily.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
Otago Fish & Game officer Steve Dixon said the project was the result of a collaboration with local businesses, disability advocates and local government.<\/p>\n
Being outdoors had well-documented positive effects on wellbeing, and removing barriers to access was a win for the wider community.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2018This project was a true community effort delivered at as low cost as possible to game bird hunting licence-holders.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2018W Hamilton Building led the design and construction, Livingwell Disability Resource Centre provided access advice, Carters, Freeman Roofing Dunedin and Mike Hurring Contracting helped facilitate and provide materials and haulage, SouthRoads installed the piles, and Otago Regional Council helped navigate the regulatory system to build a mai mai in a public space.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
Mr Martin said the transition to life in a wheelchair had initially felt like a \u2018\u2018series of closed doors\u2019\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2018But duck hunting [is] something you can still do. You\u2019ve just got to approach it differently,\u2019\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2018M\u0101nuka leaves in your coffee, the birds flying past, calling them … just hearing the flutter of a spoonie\u2019s wings. It\u2019s absolutely magic. I\u2019d love to have my grandchild up to sit in the mai mai, call a duck, and just talk to him. I think it clears the head. That\u2019s what grandparents do.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
Eastern Fish & Game opened a wheelchair-accessible mai mai in 2024, and Auckland-Waikato Fish & Game have also built one for the coming season.<\/p>\n
This, the first South Island facility, will be available for the 2026 season opening on May 2.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sometimes you have to make sacrifices for your sport, but a new mai mai in South Otago means…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":373182,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[111,43,139,69],"class_list":{"0":"post-373181","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-zealand","8":"tag-new-zealand","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-newzealand","11":"tag-nz"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373181","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=373181"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373181\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/373182"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=373181"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=373181"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=373181"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}