Hunter shot dead in Kaingaroa

Police car. Photo / Glenn Taylor

A weekend hunt in the Kaingaroa Forest, near Taupo, ended in tragedy when one member of the hunting party was shot dead.

Police have divulged few details of what led to the man being shot shortly after 1pm yesterday.

"One firearm had been discharged and one man was dead," police said after the incident, which happened in a remote area near Tiriti and Western Boundary Rds.

A spokesman for St John, Mark Tregoweth, said crew were called out to a young man with gunshot wounds at 1.15pm.

It took the responders just over an hour to reach the man, who died at the scene.

Last night, the area where he was shot remained cordoned off as police continued their investigations. Other members of the hunting party were being spoken to by officers.

The Kaingaroa is the North Island's largest forest, covering 2900sq km from Lake Taupo in the south to Kawerau in the north.

There's a small settlement, also called Kaingaroa, 50km southeast of Rotorua.

On Mother's Day this year, two young men were killed in two similar hunting trips gone wrong.

A 16-year-old out duck-hunting with a group was fatally shot in Matamata and a 21-year-old was shot while hunting in Ruatiti, near Raetihi.

It's believed the latter incident happened when the young man's firearm discharged as he was crossing a fence.