The family of a young man who was shot dead while hunting near Wellington would like to see the laws around the licensing and possession of firearms tightened.
Coroner Gary Evans has found Alexander Cameron McDonald, 22, died in Aorangi Forest Park, South Wairarapa, after he was accidentally shot in the head by Christopher Michael Dummer, another hunter who mistook Mr McDonald for a deer in 2012.
Police charged Dummer with careless use of firearm causing death, to which he pleaded guilty at Wellington District Court.
Dummer was sentenced to nine months in prison, and was ordered to pay Mr McDonald's family $7000 in reparation and have his firearm destroyed.
In his findings, released today, Coroner Evans said Mr McDonald had travelled from Auckland to Greytown on the day before his death, to meet his friend and hunting companion Douglas Williams.
On April 7, 2012, the pair left the farmhouse they were staying in at Pirinoa, and travelled by quad bike to the ranges at the back of the farm. They then went tramping through the bush and into the park.
Once there, the pair then began to track a stag in the Williamson's Creek area, and when they were unable to get a good shot at it, they eventually separated.
Mr Williams said he later heard an immature "roar" and the discharge of a firearm - which surprised him as the firearm being used by Mr McDonald was fitted with a muffler.
Both Mr McDonald and Mr Williams were unaware there was another hunting party in the area. The gunshot had come from Dummer.
Mr McDonald's mother told Coroner Evans that she believed the law relating to firearms licensing and the possession of firearms should be tightened, after it was revealed Dummer was charged with assault with a blunt weapon following a "road rage" incident in 2011.
Mr McDonald's family have asked whether he should have had his gun licence revoked following this incident.
She also urged Parliament to consider law changes in relation to the criminal charges available for hunting injuries and deaths.
Mrs McDonald said on the the day her son was killed, she understood it to be sunny with clear skies, providing "uninhibited visibility".
She told Coroner Evans her son was wearing a "blaze" orange beanie on the back of his head, and Dummer had the time and experience to check and make sure he was 100% certain he was shooting a deer.
She said her life, and the lives of all family members, were changed forever on the day her son was shot dead.
Earlier this year, Associate Minister of Conservation Peter Dunne told Coroner Evans he had commissioned a review into recreational hunter safety and the issue of illegal hunting.
Given this, Coroner Evans said he was not persuaded there was a need for him to make recommendations to Government, with a view to law changes.
