Separate hunting trips turned to tragedy on Saturday night when a Tolaga Bay man was shot dead inland from the bay.
Police continue to investigate the circumstances.
The man, aged in his 30s, had been hunting on a property in the Tauwhareparae area when he was accidentally shot by someone in another hunting party.
Emergency services were notified at around 10.40pm that night.
Police said when they arrived they found a man critically injured from a gunshot wound.
The Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter was called in and he was flown to Gisborne Hospital, where he died several hours later.
The Gisborne Herald has been told there were two separate hunting parties in the area of Doonholm Hill, 18km up the Tauwhareparae Rd from Tolaga Bay.
One group were in a vehicle spotlighting for possums, and the other party involved the victim of the incident, who was hunting for deer.
”It’s bloody tragic,” a Tolaga Bay resident told The Herald. ”The guy who died was a neighbour of ours.”
Police continue to talk to those who were at the scene and to others in the Tolaga Bay community.
As of Monday afternoon, they had not yet released the dead man’s name as all next of kin had yet to be informed.
The Tauranga Diwali Festival is running until 8pm tonight.