The missing hunter whose body was recovered earlier this week in Canterbury has been named as Christopher James Bardsley.
The 35 year-old's body was recovered by search and rescue teams in the Lake Sumner area on Tuesday, after being seen during an aerial search late the night before.
Mr Bardsley was a local resident and was reported missing by his family on Monday, after he failed to return home from a lone weekend hunting trip.
Canterbury Police were not treating the incident as suspicious and said the death had been referred to the Coroner.
Police were working alongside victim support with Mr Bardsley's family who, police said, were "extremely upset".
A family spokesperson said: "We would like to thank everyone involved in the search and recovery of Chris and for the enormous unexpected support we have had from people [and] groups in the days since."
By Scott Yeoman of The New Zealand Herald
