Hunter's actions provoke anger

Rosemary Ives was killed while brushing her teeth at a campsite south of Turangi. Photo / Supplied

Members of an online hunting forum have expressed "disgust" at the actions of a man who shot dead a woman after he mistook her for a animal.

Rosemary Margaret Ives, a 25-year-old secondary school teacher from Lower Hutt, was on a camping holiday near Turangi when she was shot dead on Friday night.

Members of the online forum Fish'n'Hunt were quick to express their condolences to Ms Ives and her friends and family while also expressing outrage at the actions of the man who shot her, forum administrator Alan Simmons said.

After a matter of hours the thread reached 10 pages and was still growing, Mr Simmons said.

Ms Ives was reportedly brushing her teeth in a remote area of bush near Turangi when she was shot by the hunter.

Her partner and other campers spent 90 minutes trying to keep her alive in a remote area of bush near Turangi, rescue helicopter pilot Hendry De Waal told the Herald on Sunday.

A 25-year-old Hamilton man has been charged with careless use of a firearm and will appear in Taupo District Court on November 3.

The Herald on Sunday understood he shot her from the road alongside the camp site, after seeing her in his spotlight and thinking she was a deer or possum.

She died metres from her tent in the Department of Conservation campsite on Kaimanawa Rd.

Ms Ives and her partner were camping alongside four trampers from Wellington and four backpackers from the Czech Republic.

After the shooting the hunters ran to the nearby campsite for help. A man there who rushed to help the woman said the scene was "ghastly".

The woman's partner was severely shaken.

Mr Simmons said it needed to be stressed that the "yahoos" involved in the shooting were not hunters but young men who had access to a firearm and decided to "break the law on many fronts".

"Hunters do not drive around road ends with spotlights. It is illegal and dangerous and not hunting," Mr Simmons said.

Comments on the forum include:

"It's a absolute tragedy for the woman's family and friends and people who knew her, my heart goes out to them. As for the (person) and his party of shooters I don't feel sorry for you at all."

"He didn't just make a mistake - he pointed a loaded rifle at another person, took careful aim at her and shot her - because he couldn't be bothered obeying one of the simplest rules in shooting."

"I personally hope the guy gets done for murder, plain and simple."

- NZPA