Shoal Bay Coastal Reserve

Shoal Bay Coastal Reserve covers around 12,300 hectares of eucalypt woodland, monsoon forest pockets and saline coastal wetlands where the Howard River meets the sea, roughly 35 kilometres east of Darwin. It is the Territory's flagship public hunting reserve: the only one with a designated feral pig hunting area as well as waterfowl hunting in season. Feral pigs work the swamp margins and floodplain fringe country year round, and holders of an NT feral pig hunting permit can hunt them inside the signposted pig hunting area using a category A shotgun (no pump actions or self-loaders) or a hunting bow; rifles and crossbows are not permitted on the reserve. In the declared waterfowl season, magpie geese and approved duck species are taken over the coastal swamps under a separate waterfowl permit, with non-toxic shot mandatory and daily bag limits of 7 geese and 10 other waterfowl. The hunting area is a defined portion of the reserve, so study the official hunting map before you go, hunt only inside the marked boundaries, and use the free NT Hunting Mate app for live boundaries, exclusion zones and season dates. Wear appropriate footwear for the black soil country and treat every waterway up here as saltwater crocodile habitat.