A bullet passed between two possum trappers during Easter weekend on the Mahia Peninsula, south of Gisborne.
Wairoa's Senior Sergeant Tony Bates said the pair were riding single-file through a forest checking their possum traps when they heard someone letting off an electronic roar.
These devices make the sound of a stag roaring and are designed to attract stags to a hunter.
"A shot went between the two motorcyclists. The two possum hunters yelled abuse at the hunters and they took off,'' Mr Bates said.
"Someone was acting very carelessly with a firearm. The possum hunters were very lucky.
Over Easter a 29-year-old Auckland man on a Wairarapa hunting trip was fatally shot by another hunter.
The incident comes at the height of the deer hunting season known by hunters as "the roar''.
The roar happens over four weeks of the year when stags are most vocal, calling out to protect territory and attract mates, and always brings a proliferation of deer hunters to the ranges.
Mr Bates said the Mahia incident reiterated the need to clearly identify a target from head to foot.
"The person pulling the trigger needs to make sure they correctly identify their target.
"Only shoot once you are 100 percent sure it is a wild animal and there is nothing between, behind or beside it that could be hit.''
- By Debbie Gregory of the Gisborne Herald
