Better no meat than no mate

SURVIVOR: Charlie Death in the clothes he was wearing when he was mistaken for a deer and shot while hunting in the Tararuas on April 5, 1987.

A Wairarapa man who nearly bled to death after being accidentally shot during a hunting trip is warning hunters to take precautions after the latest death.

This year's prime deer hunting season, the roar, which lasts from the end of March until about the end of April, has already seen a run of hunters seriously injured in falls, plus a North Island shooting incident and the Southland death.

Father-of-two Adam David Hill was shot dead through the chest by a member of another hunting party on Sunday morning near Invercargill.

It is not yet known from what range the 25-year-old was shot, or whether Mr Hill had been wearing high-visibility clothing. Police are investigating who fired the fatal shot.

The death comes after an incident near Opotiki where a 22-year-old Hamilton man was shot by another member of his party with a high-powered rifle.

He lay wounded for four hours while his father gave first aid and his brother ran for help.

Eketahuna Community Board chairman Charlie Death nearly bled to death after being accidentally shot by a relative on a hunt in the Tararua Range more than 20 years ago.

He was hit while leaning down trying to spot a deer through the bush.

The bullet went through his right arm and into his thigh, breaking his thigh bone, and Mr Death lay in the bush for an agonising six hours before being flown to Palmerston North Hospital.

He never went hunting again.

Mr Death said Easter weekend was prone to being a busy hunting time and crowded hunting areas were a "recipe for disaster".

He advocated wearing blue or green high-visibility clothing - instead of orange - which was "too close" to the colour of some deer.

Solo hunters should talk or whistle to themselves while walking through the bush, to alert others to their presence.

"Just make some noise, identify yourself," Mr Death said. "If you've got a deer, don't carry it on your back - especially the skin.

"Spend an extra 10 minutes and get the meat off it."APNZ