Wanganui hunters are being warned to pause before pulling the trigger this Easter weekend, following the latest hunting fatality in Southland.
This year's prime deer hunting season, 'the roar', which lasts from the end of March until about the end of April, has already seen a run of hunters seriously injured in falls, plus a North Island shooting incident and the Southland fatality.
Father of two Adam David Hill was shot dead through the chest by a member of another hunting party on Sunday morning near Invercargill.
It is not yet known from what range the 25-year-old was shot, or whether Mr Hill had been wearing high-visibility clothing. Police are investigating who fired the fatal shot.
The death follows an incident near Opotiki where a 22-year-old Hamilton man was shot by another member of his party with a high-powered rifle. He lay wounded for four hours while his father gave first aid and his brother ran for help.
Wanganui and District Hunters and Stalkers Club member Gareth Watson said for many hunters, Easter weekend was the main time to head away hunting, with some going to the Ruahine Range and national park areas.
He reminded Wanganui hunters to identify targets clearly, and while high visibility clothing was helpful, it was no guarantee against a shooting incident.
"Some people, they just get so excited thinking they're going to get a deer ... they've seen something [moving] and in their head they've built a picture up that it's a deer.
"By the time they squeeze that trigger it's too late."
Most incidents happened at this time of year, he said.
New Zealand Deerstalkers' Association president Tim McCarthy said the latest hunting death was "disappointing".
Hunters were increasingly using the telescopic scope on their rifle to identify targets instead of using traditionally favoured binoculars, he said.
"That's only a finger movement away from squeezing the trigger.
"The rifle should only be put to your shoulder when you're 100 per cent sure of what you're shooting at."
Some hunters were avoiding heading into the bush over Easter weekend.
"At this time of the year you've got so many people out in the bush that somebody's going to make a mistake somewhere along the line."
He reminded hunters to wear high visibility clothing and not to get lost in "buck fever" - a hunter's emotional state when lining up a target.
"They start to get the shakes and get excited and can't control their breathing - it's a real buzz.
"But you've got to be able to keep those feelings under control. It's better no meat than no mate."
The Department of Conservation (DoC) has issued 48,000 hunting permits in the past 12 months for open hunting areas on conservation land, and about 10,600 permits since this year's 'roar' season began on March 1.