She shot her limit at the Ohauiti family farm pond last duck shooting season – now she's planning to do it all again next month, armed with her 20-gauge Beretta shotgun and trusty teenage sidekick.

Duck shooting Jeanette 1516 ZH 001-002: Ohauiti 72-year-old Jeanette Nee is gearing up for opening morning again this season. Photos: Jeanette Nee.

Seventy-two-year-old Jeanette Nee will pull on her camouflage get-up on opening morning with 16-year-old neighbour Callum Fullick in the hope of bagging the limit again.

Fish and Game Eastern Region's new game bird season opens on Saturday, May 2 – with bag limits during the four-week period remaining at six mallards and grey ducks per day.

'I'm usually pretty successful, we've got a pretty good duck pond,” says Jeanette. 'I feed the ducks every day so that there are ducks there.”

Jeanette's been duck shooting since age 12 – and she's not tired of the game yet. 'It's the food, fresh air, exercise – and it's always a bit of a challenge.”

Before she heads out, Jeanette does her homework. She'll check up on any rule changes – and show young duck shooter Callum a few tricks of the trade. 'He's learning to use a shot gun.”

Her's is a five-shot shotgun, but Jeanette says she only needs two to nail her target. That's very accurate shooting.

It's not confidence – it's experience, says Jeanette. 'If a flock of ducks fly up – after two shots they're going to be out of range. So why carry on blasting, you know?”

What else can she teach Callum? 'What works is getting up early, knowing the pond and putting out feed on a regular basis for the ducks,” says Jeanette.

The only thing Jeanette isn't good at is duck calling. 'I just lie low and when they come in I have a bit of a blast.”

Decoys? Jeanette doesn't use any. 'I've got enough to carry,” laughs Jeanette, who says her bag limit will be heavy enough to lug home.

But if a duck lands in the pond, Jeanette won't be able to count on her duck-hunting Collie to retrieve the bird. 'She doesn't like the water,” says Jeanette.

'So we've got a fishing line that Callum throws out with a little hook on the end – and it brings them in if they land in the pond. You don't lose any ducks.”

'All you do there is rather than plucking the whole duck, you just want the breast. You cement the breasts together, stuff the inside and turn them slowly round on a spit. They're beautiful.”