Hunting death law change rejected

SHOT DEAD: Alexander Cameron McDonald.

A mother's plea for a law change in hunting deaths has been rejected by the Coroner's Court.

Alexander McDonald, 29, was killed on April 7, 2012, while hunting in Aorangi Forest Park, South Wairarapa.

The Wellington Coroner's Court on Tuesday released its inquest findings -- including a decision against banning hunters from firearms for life, in all fatal shooting cases.

"To treat every recreational hunting death in the same way, demanding the revocation of the hunter's firearms licence for life, would be draconian," coroner Garry Evans said, in response to a submission from the victim's mother, Cyndy McDonald.

The man who shot Mr McDonald was Christopher Dummer, 54, of Wellington, who was later sentenced to nine months in prison for careless use of a firearm causing death, and ordered to pay $7000 reparation.

In his judgement, Mr Evans said the death was avoidable and would nothave happened "had Mr Dummer taken proper care to ensure that the object he was firing at was an animal and not a man".

The inquest into Mr McDonald's death was held in September last year, but the presiding coroner, Ian Smith, had died before being able to present his findings.

On the day of the shooting Mr McDonald, an Aucklander, had driven with a hunting companion from Greytown to a farmhouse in Pirinoa, on a farm owned by the Nga Hau Trust next to the Aorangi Forest Park.

Mr McDonald had shot a stag, and carried its head and legs to the top of a ridge -- before returning to his hunting partner where the pair began tracking another stag in the Williamson's Creek area.

They separated, and then Mr McDonald's friend heard a stag "roar" followed by a gunshot from an unfamiliar sounding firearm.

Unknown to them, there was a second hunting party in the area, consisting of Dummer and one other.

The sound was a shot from Dummer, who had shot Mr McDonald in the head from a distance of around 16 metres, believing he was shooting a deer.

Mr McDonald had been wearing camo clothing and a blaze orange beanie on the back of his head.

Dummer was described as an experienced hunter of some 25 years.

He was a member of the Mountain Safety Council, a firearms instructor of 10 years, and reportedly a former Wellington branch president of the New Zealand Deerstalkers' Association.

Dummer had told police he had heard a roar and had seen through the scope of his rifle what he thought was the red shoulder area of a deer.

He had fired from what police later determined to be a distance of approximately 16.3 metres.

He told police:

"To me it was a deer. It was red. I swear I could see the shoulder blades. I thought its head was down and that I was shooting it on a slight downward angle straight through the shoulder blades".

Mr Evans said McDonald's death was avoidable.

"Effectively, and by his own admission to police, Dummer fired into and slightly above the toitoi," Mr Evans said.

Dummer had written a letter of remorse to Mr McDonald's parents, in which he stated he had no intention of ever hunting again.

However, at last September's hearing, Mr Evans told the coroner he had changed his mind and applied for a new firearms licence in June 2014.

He understood police intended to refuse the licence.

 The Associate Minister of Conservation, Peter Dunne, has announced a review into unsafe and illegal gun use in the outdoors.

In a letter to the coroner in July, Mr Dunne said he was discussing the terms of reference of the review with the Minister of Police, but it will be led by police with input from other agencies -- and he expects it to recommend non-legislative measures to improve safety.