Duck hunters are being urged to lay off drugs and alcohol before handling firearms.
Duck hunting season opens tomorrow with more than 40,000 duck hunters expected to head off to their maimai to enjoy a highlight of the hunting calendar.
The season can run up to three months, depending on the region. For the majority of participants, it's a good opportunity to bag a few of the 4.5 million mallards that populate New Zealand's ponds and wetlands.
Each year, the careless use of shotguns and risky behaviour potentially leads to non-intentional firearms incidents, says Tracy Wakeford, the acting firearms and hunter safety programme manager for the New Zealand Mountain Safety Council.
Injuries can be minor but there were several fatal incidents in recent years.