Thread: Hunter shot in Kaimai Range near Te Aroha

Originally Posted by GWH

I believe this particular instance was a case of mis-identification of target and the poor bugger was indeed shot by another member of his hunting party.

RIP

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”

Originally Posted by Ryan_Songhurst

So you're saying there's a possibility you could shoot someone because you mistook them for a deer @Tahr?

We're all capable of it. I bet this weekend's shooter thought it would never happen to him, now he has one of our own's blood on his hands.

Commiserations to the deceased hunters family.

Still dancing around the question @Tahr. It's either a possibility for you or it's not. If you are not 110% certain you will never shoot another human in the Bush then maybe take up golf, try not to hit anyone with the ball ...

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”

And maybe that's the answer right there. Make it illegal to shoot anything but an antlered deer between mid of March to middle of may (or whatever). A bit like the tag system in the US. But only applies to the rut period here.

It could make people more consious of what it is that they are shooting at.

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Now we’re thinking out of the box. Not sure how we’d implement that one but it’s the sort of idea we need

yup considering just out of Kumara on the coast had his 12 point pet stag shot out of paddock. so there are people out there who disregard the rules no matter what.
Not quite the same as firearms safety, but more in the vein of the stag only idea. If they can do that, they may still shoot a hind.
Mind you with the amount I get out, if I was looking for a stag and wasn't seeing much a hind may find its way to the freezer on the last day just so the trip wasn't a complete bust?
Maybe not though as I usually only target what I'm originally after but if I can imagine it, I'm sure someone else would do it.

Originally Posted by Ryan_Songhurst

Still dancing around the question @Tahr. It's either a possibility for you or it's not. If you are not 110% certain you will never shoot another human in the Bush then maybe take up golf, try not to hit anyone with the ball ...

Your assertion is flawed Ryan. Does your unequivocal certainty keep other hunters' more safe than my uncertainty does?

My view is that it is a possibility for everyone, including yourself and myself. However, I do and will do everything in my human powers to ensure that it never happens. I back my vulnerability to keep others' safe, not my certainty that I will do the right thing.

I dislike golf.

Originally Posted by Tahr

Your assertion is flawed Ryan. Does your unequivocal certainty keep other hunters' more safe than my uncertainty does?

Well I know if you lined up a team of blokes on one side that were unsure if they might shoot someone in the Bush, and a team on the other side that were 100% certain they never would, and then asked me which bunch of blokes do you want in the Bush with you? I'm choosing the 100% sure team every time.
Anyone who has ever shot someone in the Bush can tell me until they are blue in the face that they were certain it was a deer and all their other silly excuses but I'm not buying it, its not like any of them are ever going to admit the truth which is that no, they weren't 100% certain it was a deer.

Imo there is a huge difference in how human factors affect aviation and hunting. Apart from maybe some visual references they should not be compared.

Having concrete standards whether you are meat shooting or trophy hunting will also help prevent poor decision making imo.

Attitude and mindset are where the problem is imo.

Just a few days ago I had a stag come in on me after yelling out "How are ya going" several times. We were on a ridge and I only roared the once around 5 mins earlier after smelling a stag had been up the ridge where we were.

It had the most pathetic roar and groan I have heard from a deer. I was pretty sure it was another hunter.

My mutt and I got a good look at him as he popped over a knob in front of us in steepish bush. He had that much momentum he just kept running 5 yrds past us and down hill. Dog almost yanked me down the hill after him.




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All the I saw a deer and took 2 minutes to identify the target through both sight and binos stories would be more believable if there were some stories where the offending Hunter just said I heard a deer coming and popped the first thing I saw. No way did everybody that shot somebody spend the amount of time identifying their target as they say they do; it's the east get out of trouble card and as long as they say it amd can convince somebody it's true the they will feel a little bit better about themselves

Originally Posted by GWH

And maybe that's the answer right there. Make it illegal to shoot anything but an antlered deer between mid of March to middle of may (or whatever). A bit like the tag system in the US. But only applies to the rut period here.

It could make people more consious of what it is that they are shooting at.

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This is starting to sound like the answers we are getting to the road toll. Instead of looking at the real problem of NOT identifying your target. We could go one step further and ban bush hunting during the roar but if I remember rightly a few have been shot sitting out in the open.

Originally Posted by tetawa

This is starting to sound like the answers we are getting to the road toll. Instead of looking at the real problem of NOT identifying your target. We could go one step further and ban bush hunting during the roar but if I remember rightly a few have been shot sitting out in the open.

Alot of the blokes pulling the trigger swear they ARE identifying their target tho, the theory is peoples brains are telling them it is a “deer”
Having to identify the type of deer and how good its rack is would surely eliminate this. Anyone who does enough hunting at some stage will know the feeling of thinking something is a deer that turns out is not, you cant eliminate that but you can stop people pulling the trigger on it, worded poorly but you get the idea

Originally Posted by savage270

Alot of the blokes pulling the trigger swear they ARE identifying their target tho, the theory is peoples brains are telling them it is a “deer”
Having to identify the type of deer and how good its rack is would surely eliminate this. Anyone who does enough hunting at some stage will know the feeling of thinking something is a deer that turns out is not, you cant eliminate that but you can stop people pulling the trigger on it, worded poorly but you get the idea

Yea but of course they're going to say that. There's no ifs or buts about it they know they're talking out their ass and trying to make themselves feel better

I always hunt with a dog several advantages - indicating game being one, two a good dog is great company, three they hear & smell better than us multiple times one of my dogs have picked human sound and scent before me

Originally Posted by Ryan_Songhurst

Well I know if you lined up a team of blokes on one side that were unsure if they might shoot someone in the Bush, and a team on the other side that were 100% certain they never would, and then asked me which bunch of blokes do you want in the Bush with you? I'm choosing the 100% sure team every time.
Anyone who has ever shot someone in the Bush can tell me until they are blue in the face that they were certain it was a deer and all their other silly excuses but I'm not buying it, its not like any of them are ever going to admit the truth which is that no, they weren't 100% certain it was a deer.

Im not so sure Ryan, i believe that anyone that thinks that they are above this, or that this situation could never happen to them, could potentially be quite dangerous.

My thinking is that if a person thought that theres no way that they could make this mistake, then it will not always be at front of mind. Whereas if we think that we all have the potential to make this mistake, then surely that must scare us to a certain degree and always be front of mind and we put our own proccedure in place where we perform multiple checks to confirm beyond all doubt that what we are about to shoot is indeed the intended target.