Welcome to the Alde & Ore Wildfowler's Association

There is a long history of wildfowling on the Suffolk coast. In past centuries, local fishermen and longshoremen would pick up their guns to hunt the teeming flocks of wildfowl which visited the coastal marshes, mudflats and estuaries each autumn and winter. Some shot to keep themselves and their families fed, others hunted ducks and geese for the market.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The members of the Alde & Ore Wildfowler's Association are heirs to this tradition, though nowadays they hunt for enjoyment, not to keep hunger at bay. Wildfowlers relish the chance to be out and about in wild, remote places, often early in the morning or late in the evening when the river is at its most beautiful, with only themselves and their dog for company. They enjoy the challenge of pitting their wits against the wild and wary flocks of ducks and geese which still fill the Suffolk estuaries as autumn turns to winter, and the chance of bringing home a bird for the table is more than sufficient compensation to keep them out in all weathers.

Today’s wildfowlers appreciate that it is only by conserving and managing the marshes, wetlands and estuaries that they will continue to be able to enjoy seeing wildfowl return there year after year. That is why wildfowling and conservation go naturally together and the club devotes so much of its efforts to habitat improvement and land management.

Where We Shoot

The Alde & Ore Wildfowlers Association enjoys shooting over seven different marshes or shooting areas, from the Waveney valley in the north to Shingle Street in the south, with the bulk of its activities focussed around Aldeburgh. Principal quarry species are mallard, teal, wigeon, pintail, greylag goose, Canada goose and pink-footed goose.

River Alde
Eleven miles of the tidal river Alde & Ore from Orford to Snape are leased by the club from the Crown Estate, offering challenging and exciting wildfowling opportunity, much of it accessible only by boat.

Aldeburgh Town Marsh
The Town marshes come into their own late in the autumn, when they provide the chance for exciting wigeon decoying.

Aldeburgh Town Ponds
The Town Ponds are the site of a major conservation project by the club. A series of silted-up and overgrown ponds has been cleaned out and open water restored to improve habitat for nesting waders and overwintering wildfowl. The project has received major grants from both local and national funding bodies.

Ferry Farm marshes
These salt marshes on the south bank of the river Alde offer wildfowling opportunity with foot access for those without a boat. They intersect a number of regular goose flight lines.

Lantern Marsh
This extensive area, leased from the National Trust, offers challenging and remote wildfowling for those prepared to walk the famous shingle bank south from Aldeburgh. In a north-easterly blow, Lantern marsh can provide exceptional wildfowling.

Barthorpes Creek
This secretive area lies towards the mouth of the River Ore and consists of narrow tidal channels lined with salt marsh.

Geldeston
For those who enjoy the challenge of inland wildfowling, the club owns grazing marshes in the Waveney valley at Geldeston. In late autumn and winter when the marshes are in flood, they are a magnet to large numbers of mallard, teal and wigeon.