Rotorua Search and Rescue has been kept busy looking for people "being unprepared and at times taking foolish risks," says the area co-ordinator.
Rotorua police Detective Sergeant John Wilson said in the past 10 days Search and Rescue had spent many hours looking for people who could have saved themselves the experience if they had followed some simple advice.
He said regardless of the causes you could always mitigate the risks by planning your trip, telling someone where you were going and when you would return so they knew when to raise the alarm, being aware of the weather, knowing your limits and having sufficient supplies.
On March 28 they conducted a two-day search for a farmer who got lost when he went to retrieve a deer shot in the bush at the back of his Reporoa farm.
Over the Easter weekend there were four callouts, including a search on Good Friday for a missing waka ama boat and its paddler.