A man who made a fatal decision to jump back into a swollen river to join his rafting mates should have remained on terra firma, says coroner Dr Wallace Bain.
Dr Bain's comments came at the end of an inquest in Whakatane on Thursday into the death of Terry Wayne Mason, of Taupo.
Sergeant Denis Foster said in evidence Mr Mason had just been introduced to hunting and rafting by Graeme Arden, a man who had rafted the Motu River for 18 years.
On October 11 Mr Mason, Mr Arden and his wife, Kylie, Stephen Moncur and a team of hunting dogs had begun a rafting and hunting trip on the Motu River, with the intention of finishing up at the Motu Bridge on State Highway 35 six days later.
On October 15 the group had tried to get over a rapid and all, except Mrs Arden, were tipped into the water. Mr Mason had not been able to hold on to the raft and, shortly after, was seen on an embankment.