Unlawful hunters in Hawke's Bay risk injuring others, say police

A police officer says unlawful hunters risk injuring people by trespassing on private land with firearms.

Rural Prevention officer Senior Constable Greg Andrew said while illegal hunting was common in rural Hawke's Bay, he had one simple message - don't do it.

The hunters often use domestic farmland to access forestry blocks or bush areas, but Andrew said their presence could put people in danger.

"You're getting the general public affected by this behaviour. They're finding these people on their farm or they're coming across evidence of slaughtered animals or rubbish, or shells from firearms," Andrew said.

"There are rural wives and kids who ride their horses down streams or through farmland thinking they're by themselves and then they come across these people. If that doesn't happen, they're hearing gunshots close-by which of course is very unsettling and unnerving for them."

Andrew said some of the farmers had personally confronted the hunters - an option police did not recommend.

"You don't know what sort of response you're going to get from these hunters and the fact that they're armed with a firearm ... and with hunting also comes knives. I'm not saying they would use them ... but that risk is there."

Police had noticed a spike of offending during recent months due to roaring season.

Andrew said he expected it to rise again due to hunting competitions taking place across Hawke's Bay.

He said while the hunting organisations were compliant with regulations - it was single hunters who would stray from their path, opting to hunt illegally rather than stick to the regulations.

"There are plenty of Department of Conservation blocks as well as forestry blocks to obtain hunting permits for - but there's a deeply entrenched element within that hunting fraternity who believe it's their right to go wherever they want to go without gaining permission."

Police came across multiple illegal hunters on a weekly basis - both male and female.

"It's just a big risk for them to take especially around the forestry blocks, as there could be other hunters in the area they don't know about or there's employees of the forest company. If you pull the trigger and start spraying bullets everywhere, they don't know who's in that area."

Hunters would come from as far as Taranaki, Hamilton and Taupo, with some even flying in via helicopter.

Andrews said if caught, hunters could have everything taken off them, from their weapons, ammunition to their vehicles and even their dogs.

"If they're discovered unlawfully hunting by us or forest security we can seize all of their equipment on the spot.

"They just shouldn't do it. They're putting themselves at risk, putting others at risk along with risking a large monetary loss if they are found by police to be unlawfully hunting."