Police yesterday charged a 24-year-old Wanaka man in relation to the death of his hunting companion and close friend last year.
Farm worker Dougal Fyfe (23) died on December 19 when his friend allegedly mistook him for a deer and shot him in the head on a hunting trip on Mt Burke Station, in the Maungawera Valley, near Wanaka.
Mr Fyfe died at the scene.
The pair and a third member of the hunting party, a 19-year-old Wanaka man, were wearing dark clothing and head torches.
The 24-year-old, who had a firearm's licence, was armed with a .22 Ruger semiautomatic rifle.
Sergeant Aaron Nicholson said the man who was arrested yesterday had declined to be interviewed about the incident and was then charged with careless use of a firearm causing death.
He has been bailed to appear in the Queenstown District Court next Monday.
