When Rundell isn't here he is fishing, four wheel driving. (ABC News: Jane Cowan)Д¬oming home with a feed is only part of the point.

But it's early in the season and he hasn't made any yet.Дuck hunter and Sporting Shooters' Association Hunting Development Manager David Laird crouches in an attempt to camouflage himself from the ducks' sharp eyesight. Now would be the perfect time to gnaw on some duck jerky. The shotgun rests between his knees, hands clasped around the barrel. You get the feeling Rundell doesn't really mind the lull. A Brittany, this is what he was bred for. Tethered to the boat, the gun dog shivers half from the cold and half from anticipation. The boat is dragged between the reeds in an attempt to evade the ducks' keen eyesight.Д«ut the wind is up and the mobs are moving fast.ДЇor long stretches, the hunt devolves into bird watching. Rundell scouted the area the previous day, setting up here to be under the flight path of birds shifting from one swamp to another. They can be arranged in a J or a V, designed to funnel birds into a kill zone, giving the hunter a clear shot. Get Rundell talking and the conversation can eddy for minutes around the nuances of decoy patterns. Made from moulded plastic and weighted to sit a certain way on the water, they do a startlingly realistic impression of a live duck. Tramping through the shallows, he's unfurled painted decoys designed to lure mobs in. Legal shooting time is half an hour before sunrise but the self-employed builder has been in the swamp much longer. At 28, he represents a new generation of hunters who've come to the sport as adults, having to learn its ethics for themselves. Hunter Dean Rundell eyes a passing mob of birds to work out whether they're ducks or another protected species.

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