Shooter: I think of it every day

Cam McDonald. Photo / supplied

A man jailed for a fatal shooting during a hunting trip says he relives the tragedy every day - and he will not appeal against his sentence.

Christopher Dummer, a former president of the Wellington Deerstalkers' Association, was sentenced to nine months in prison for accidentally shooting Auckland builder Alexander Cameron "Cam" McDonald, 29, in Wairarapa in April.

In a statement issued by his lawyer yesterday, Mr Dummer said: "I wish to serve the sentence imposed upon me."

He expressed his deep regret at not identifying his target correctly, saying his actions took Mr McDonald's life.

"There is not a day that goes by that I don't think of Cam, his family and friends, what I have done and the effect on you all.

"I would also like to apologise publicly to my family and children. They, too, are victims."

A tearful Cyndy McDonald, Mr McDonald's mother, said yesterday's shooting was another avoidable tragedy.

'It's just tragic. Here's another family that's going through the same as we're going through.

"Every accident is [because] they're not identifying their target."

She called for harsher penalties for offenders in hunting incidents, and stricter regulation of gun licences.