A wounded hunter has described the moment he was accidentally shot by a friend - a feeling he likened to having a “hot, sharp metal rod” smashed across his back.

Some take part in a competition to kill as many rabbits as possible. Animal expert Sally Hibbard questions the 24th Annual Great Easter Bunny Hunt.

Hunters are being urged to give ducks a fighting chance of surviving the annual season which starts in four weeks.

The young Invercargill man shot dead on Stewart Island had helped build a hunters' hut on the island with his father and been on the local deerstalkers association's executive.

Police have released the name of a young hunter shot dead on Stewart Island yesterday.

Chances are you've probably never heard of Kid Rock. He's not the kind of character who appeals here.

A man was injured after his rifle accidentally went off while he was on a hunting trip near Murchison.

Kiwis for Kiwi is running training sessions nationwide to condition hunting dogs against attacking our threatened national bird.

The parents of a young man shot dead in a hunting accident hope law changes prevent a similar tragedy happening again.

A young man spent hours in near freezing conditions after leaving a hunting group in bush near Oamaru, early this morning, drunk and with no shoes.

A deer hunter has been hospitalised after his quad bike rolled and crushed him in remote forest overnight.

All Black lock Sam Whitelock has defended himself and Crusaders teammates after images of them posing with dead big-game animals were posted online.

Angry friends and relatives of a young Southland hunter walked out of court when it became apparent the man who mistook him for a deer wouldn't be sent to prison.

A man who shot his friend in the elbow on the first day of duck shooting season can now be named.

A man found duck hunting in a wildlife reserve has been arrested.

A string of hunting accidents is proof New Zealand's firearms laws need to be reviewed, a leading gun control advocate says.

'Some muppet has failed to determine his background,' says the Dunedin man who believes a hunter put a stray bullet in his deck.

The duck shooting season has claimed its first hunting injury.

'I've always been a shooter,' the 44-year-old said as she prepared to return to the family's shooting spot on a dammed pond at Maraekakaho today.

About 40,000 hunters will be heading to huts, ponds and rivers from tomorrow as duck shooting season begins.

A man who died after the ute he was driving in rural North Canterbury rolled and crushed him yesterday morning has been named.