Three hunters may feel Christmas has come early after their rescue from freezing conditions, but the helicopter pilot who flew them to safety believes there is one present they still need come December.
The men, aged in their late teens and early 20s, were caught in the Lammerlaw Range after heavy snow fell in the area on Monday night.
They were flown out about 2am yesterday in a helicopter piloted by Graeme Gale.
''It's not long to Christmas, so they should really talk to their parents about buying an emergency locator beacon for them,'' the Otago Rescue Helicopter chief pilot said.
''The timing's perfect.''
The men were in ''pretty good spirits'' when they were found in their vehicle, inland from Clarks Junction.
''They were out there having a good time. It was just unfortunate they misread the weather and underestimated the sharp change in conditions that really caught them out,'' Mr Gale said.
The men, who were hunting in the area, were trapped when heavy snow swept through the area.
Search and Rescue co-ordinator Constable Donald Peat said the hunters were ill-prepared for the trip.
''They were not carrying any survival equipment, such as extra clothing, extra food, sleeping bags or a personal emergency locator beacon,'' he said.
''The group were carrying cellphones, but cellphone reception in wilderness areas of New Zealand is not always reliable.''
The men managed to alert police to their situation by cellphone about 5pm on Monday.
Their vehicle had about half a tank of fuel left and they were advised to leave the engine running, as they were beginning to feel hypothermic.
Mr Gale said the conditions had changed rapidly.
''There was no snow when they initially went up there, but when the southerly hit, and it hit quite quickly, we ended up with 12 inches [30cm] of snow and even deeper in some of the drifts,'' he said.
''They did the right thing and stayed in the vehicle. It could have been totally different if they tried to walk out last night.''
Reaching the hunters was treacherous and the first attempt was aborted about midnight because of the weather.
The hunters had left the lights on in the car, which made finding them easier once the weather cleared.
Members of the police search and rescue team in three four-wheel-drive vehicles tried to reach the hunters, but were unsuccessful because of the poor weather.
The men had mild hypothermia but were otherwise fine.
