Man charged after boy shot on hunting trip

A man has been charged after a young boy apparently shot his 10-year-old cousin during a hunting trip in the Bay of Plenty in April.

The boy had been on a hunting expedition with his six-year-old cousin and two men at Waikite Valley, about 30km south of Rotorua. The men's dogs had bailed up a pig.

They had climbed into blackberry bushes to retrieve it, and it was reported at the time they left their firearms on the ground near the 10-year-old and his younger cousin.

It was reported the six-year-old boy had picked up one of the men's .270 calibre rifle and fired a shot which hit the other boy in the stomach.

The owner of the rifle, a 32-year-old from Reporoa, has been charged with careless use of a firearm causing injury and will appear in Rotorua District Court on Monday.

The injured boy was initially airlifted to Auckland's Starship Hospital where he spent several weeks before being transferred to Rotorua Hospital.

He returned to his home in Reporoa about a fortnight ago.

A family member told the Daily Post yesterday that the boy was doing well and was being home-schooled.

Detective Lehi Hohaia of the Rotorua police said the boy had come through the "worst of things" and had had intensive counselling.

- DAILY POST (ROTORUA)