Thread: Hunter shot in Kaimai Range near Te Aroha

Originally Posted by savage270

Why do people bother meat hunting at the busiest most dangerous time of the year? misidentification shootings would be eliminated in the roar if people hunting in april were only looking for trophy stags. Fill ya freezer up spring/summer. Iv never heard of a mistaken id shooting where the victim was mistaken for a “12pt stag with great length and strong tines” its 100% always just “thought he was a deer”

Perhaps in part, it's because NZ was know internationally as a sparsely populated, bush rich country with deer behind every tree. A 303 to be bought at every country servo and to hunt, our god given right. Sounds plausible until about 35 years ago, when successive governments allowed immigration, foreign land sales and forests' to be sold off. All this in turn, has led to an over exuberance of 'hunters', vehicles and limited huntable land for the masses. This is my take, but I've been wrong before...