Kelvin Cruickshank (right) and hunting buddy Adam Blackwood in the new maimai. PHOTO/SUPPLIED
Kelvin Cruickshank (right) and hunting buddy Adam Blackwood in the new maimai. PHOTO/SUPPLIED
Kelvin Cruickshank loves duck shooting - he has been doing it since he was 5 or 6.
He also loves a good beer, but he doesn't think the two should go together.
The Kerikeri man and psychic medium, known for his appearances on Sensing Murder, had a message for punters as duck hunting season kicks off today.
"We all love a good beer, don't get me wrong, we're not nerds, we love a good pint. But only when the weapons are locked away because it's just too dangerous," Cruickshank said.
Cruickshank knows how lethal the combination of alcohol and hunting can be. About 25 years ago he lost a friend to an accident involving guns and alcohol. Cruickshank wasn't there at the time but said every year you hear of accidents.
Cruickshank's outlook on safety has secured him a "dream spot" for this year's duck hunting season.
He was at a game fishing club when a man struck up a conversation about fishing and duck shooting.
"I didn't know who he was and I started going on about how people who drink and shoot, it's unacceptable. He goes to me, 'Well, I had heard that about you. I have had heaps of people wanting to come to my farm to shoot but they all drink so I refuse it. I'm gonna ask you if you'd like to come out and look at my farm'."
A look at Kelvin Cruickshank's maimai. Photo/Supplied
Cruickshank did, and his reaction was "wow", but he is sworn to secrecy about the location.
He said the ducks go through $4000 of the farmer's stock feed each month, so the farmer wanted them gone.
For the past four months good friends have helped Cruickshank design, build, paint, transport and set up his dream maimai.
Named The Ducks Nuts, after something his grandmother would say when something exciting was happening, the maimai , which sleeps four, is decked out with gun safety racks; three dog windows; a dog door; a built-in table and shelving; coat hangers; a barbecue and stove for cuppas; turf; and a storage box for decoys.
"He anticipated a tin shack. We didn't," he said.
Kelvin Cruickshank's new maimai has three dog windows and a dog door. Photo/Supplied
Cruickshank said being a psychic medium means he always has people assuming he can predict the best hunting spots and how well he is going to do - that's not how it works, he said.
"I wish. It doesn't work like that at all, I research.
