Fine, warm and generally calm conditions meant hunting was generally harder than hoped for, although some hunters reported good success.
Eastern Region manager Andy Garrick said there were reasonable numbers of hunters out during the weekend, and as in most years, the vast majority were doing the right thing,
"They ranged from family groups to new hunters enjoying the outdoor recreation and camaraderie that hunting provides, as well as harvesting wild game for the table," he says.
Rangers joined forces with police officers to check compliance and spoke to about 200 hunters in total including 45 in the Gisborne district and 18 in the Wairoa area.
"Pleasingly, overall only a small number of relatively minor offences were found, with breaches of the three-shot rule the most common.
"Seven hunters were using guns which hadn't been pinned to restrict magazine capacity to only two shots as required under Eastern Region regulations.
"It was gratifying to find that all hunters spoken to had current game bird licences, and they were all found to be complying with the new firearm laws."
He said action could include prosecutions.
The game bird season for mallards will continue until June 3 for Eastern and Auckland/Waikato regions, and June 16 for Hawke's Bay.
