Throw down your guns: Rare ducks force closure of shooting season at Tower Hill

Protected bird numbers at the reserve more than doubled the legal threshold for keeping the hunting area open.

Zara Cuthbertson
May 14, 2026

Sightings of 275 rare and protected ducks have forced a full closure of duck shooting at Tower Hill, reigniting calls for the historic reserve to be permanently off-limits to hunters.

What happened: Tower Hill was fully closed to duck shooters last Friday, after a BirdLife Australia specialist documented the protected birds in a section of the reserve opened to shooters.

WIth the season starting on March 18, only the western lake of the site had previously been closed to shooters.

The minimum required number of protected duck sightings to trigger a review of keeping the reserve open is 108.

Satisfied residents: Local Carli Reeve told the Brolga it was “pretty awesome that [the shooting] was able to be shut down.”

“[There] definitely [had been] some shooters, a couple of locals heard shots over the Easter long weekend and a couple of other times, but not too many other than that,” she said

“There’s footage of the 275 [ducks], well over the minimum amount to shut hunting down. It’s fantastic they were able to capture that. Sometimes the birds can be there but no one’s there to witness it.”

The background: In March, local residents opposed Tower Hill partially opening for duck shooting, out of fears rare ducks such as the Blue-winged Shoveler or the Blue-billed Duck could be shot by mistake.

“When you talk to people in the community, the vast majority either aren’t even aware shooting happens – they just go there to visit and see the natural beauty and wildlife – or they are aware and they seem to be outraged it’s happening,” Reeve said.

“Taken us by surprise”: Tower Hill to partially reopen for duck shooters after years of closures

The volcanic crater has been opened for hunting only once since 2017, and locals warn the move could endanger rare waterbirds.

Time for a shift: Reeve, alongside other Koroit and Port Fairy locals, hopes to see Tower Hill remain closed to shooting in future seasons in favour of emphasising the site as a natural landmark.

“More than 250,000 tourists visit a year. Times have changed, it’s ridiculous to have shooting when there are so many visitors,” she said.

Future planning: There is also a push more broadly for Tower Hill to have greater protections. Resident Lex Thomson told the Brolga “a group of us are going to be really promoting it as a vital tourism element”.

“I would like to see it become a national park.”