Kate Aynsley and her dog, Mia. Photo / Instagram
A Dunedin woman who died during a hunting trip suffered an accidental self-inflicted gunshot wound after losing her footing on steep, slippery terrain, a coroner has found.
In findings released today, Coroner Mary-Ann Borrowdale ruled that 48-year-old Katrina (Kate) Anne Aynsley died on June 3, 2023, after her Marlin 30/30 rifle discharged while she was alone in dense beech forest in the Blue Mountains Conservation Area, near Beaumont in inland Otago.
The coroner concluded the fatal shot, which struck her head, was “a terrible accident in the context of a hazardous sport undertaken in perilous terrain”.
Aynsley, an experienced hunter and well-respected Dunedin administrator, had been hunting fallow deer in the Tramway Block with her fiancé, firefighter Gregory Fagg.
The pair had won a Department of Conservation ballot to access the block and set out early that morning equipped with rifles, GPS devices and their gun dogs.
They initially hunted together, but separated twice to cover more ground, a common practice between them.
Shortly before 9am, a buck deer began barking at the couple from across a creek.
Aynsley radioed Fagg, saying: “The buck is on the other side of the creek. I’m just going to sit here and see what he does.”
Around 20 minutes later, Fagg heard a single shot.
He checked their GPS system and saw his partner’s last location was roughly 350 metres away.
Multiple radio calls went unanswered.
Fagg searched the area for 45 minutes, then moved uphill in case she had been tracking a wounded deer.
After finding no sign of her, he returned to the creek and called for her dog, Mia.
The dog emerged and led him up a bank, where he found Aynsley deceased.
Police later confirmed the movements recorded on both hunters’ GPS units matched Fagg’s account.
Aynsley was located about 10m above the creek on a damp slope angled between 25 and 35 degrees.
She was face-down with her head pointing downhill, still wearing her pack.
Her rifle lay three metres above her, with bodily tissue on the barrel and a shell casing still in the chamber.
The safety was off and the scope cover raised, indicating she had been sighting a target.
Her cap, discovered a metre away, had a bullet hole at the right front temple area.
Detective Constable Shazmeen Khan described the terrain as extremely treacherous. “The ground was wet and very slippery … It was very difficult to walk without assistance, holding onto something such as tree trunks or branches,” she said.
A post-mortem carried out by forensic pathologist Dr Victor Weedn determined the gunshot was fired from an estimated distance of seven centimetres – an intermediate range that ruled out intentional self-harm.
Such injuries, she said, are “unlikely” to be self-inflicted because intentional shootings typically involve direct contact with the skin.
Coroner Borrowdale said there was no evidence of third-party involvement.
Police armourers carried out extensive ballistics testing on the Marlin lever-action rifle, which Aynsley had purchased earlier that year and had used only a handful of times.
The rifle showed no mechanical faults and could not fire unless the safety was off.
However, with the safety off, the weapon could discharge either if the trigger were pressed during a fall or if the exposed hammer received a sharp knock.
The manufacturer’s manual warns: “If dropped or struck with the safety off, the rifle may fire. Such a discharge can occur with or without the trigger being directly struck or touched.”
Police and independent specialists from the Mountain Safety Council (MSC) presented several plausible scenarios.
All involved Aynsley preparing to shoot a deer, having either deliberately switched the safety to fire or having had it accidentally bumped off.
As she moved or repositioned herself on the slick, uneven slope, she likely slipped forward, causing the rifle to pivot or strike the ground.
One reconstruction showed the rifle, just under a metre long, could align under the chin of a person of Aynsley’s height during a fall.
The MSC report also noted factors specific to the weapon and the environment. As a left-handed shooter using a rifle with a right-side safety button, Aynsley may have had reduced control while switching between safe and fire positions.
If the rifle had been slung over her left shoulder, the safety could have been pushed off inadvertently by her clothing or pack strap.
Environmental conditions were considered significant contributors: a steep, changing slope angle, slippery beech litter underfoot, and abundant branches and roots presented “a significant trip and slip hazard”, the MSC said.
Aynsley, described by friends and colleagues as fit, energetic and highly competent, walked everywhere despite a troublesome knee that had required surgery.
The MSC said this knee issue could not be confirmed or excluded as a factor.
Coroner Borrowdale emphasised that no definitive sequence of events could be established.
“No one was present to observe and relate what happened … The scenarios examined by the police and the MSC are helpful because they indicate possible trains of events. But I can take the matter no further than accepting that they are possible,” she wrote.
She was satisfied, however, that the death was accidental.
Borrowdale used the ruling to urge hunters to strictly follow the seven basic firearms safety rules, particularly the requirement to chamber a round only when ready to fire and to ensure the chamber is empty when negotiating obstacles or heavy bush.
She also advised hunters to understand their firearm’s safety mechanisms and ensure the catch cannot be easily switched into firing position.
Aynsley, a mother of one, was engaged to marry Fagg in February 2024.
She was widely known in the hunting community for mentoring women hunters and contributing to training through the New Zealand Deerstalkers Association.
Borrowdale concluded by offering “sincere condolences” to her family and all who felt her loss.
Ben Tomsett is a multimedia journalist based in Dunedin. He joined the Herald in 2023.