The sentence handed to the hunter who killed Adam Hill is in line with similar incidents in the past, legal experts say.
University of Otago dean of law Prof Mark Henaghan and Prof Kevin Dawkins agreed the sentence of seven months' home detention given to Wayne Edgerton (56), of Tuatapere, for causing the death of Mr Hill (25) was similar to other sentences handed out for other hunting deaths and reflected the complexity judges faced.
Judge Michael Turner sentenced Edgerton to home detention for carelessly using a firearm causing death, after Edgerton shot Mr Hill in the Longwoods, in Western Southland, on April 13.
Prof Henaghan said sentencing was a ''like a mathematical puzzle''.
''There's a whole list of things in the Sentencing Act that judges have to weigh up and balance.''
He sympathised with Mr Hill's family, but said it was a judge's job to sentence objectively.
''The family is entitled to be emotional, but it's only one part of what the judge has to weigh up,'' he said.
''They [judges] are not meant to be swayed by the emotion of the situation. They have to apply the law.''
Prof Dawkins said the circumstances of Hill's death were similar to death of Mark Vanderley, shot and killed by his hunting partner, Blair Davidson, on a Northern Southland station.
Davidson was found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to two years and six months imprisonment. However, Davidson had been drinking and was intoxicated at the time of the death, he said.
Home detention still placed restrictions on Edgerton and could only be imposed if a sentence of less than two years' imprisonment was reached, he said.
The laws could be reviewed to impose a sentence of imprisonment on those who caused death with careless use of a firearm. However, if reducing such incidents was the primary objective, then a registry of hunters in public blocks might be more effective, Prof Dawkins said.
The registry could be online and would ''give some idea that other people are in proximity''.
Mr Hill's family and friends said they would lobby for law change so those who shot and killed others would face manslaughter charges.
The decision to charge someone with careless use of a firearm or manslaughter was made by the prosecution team, Prof Dawkins said.
''The judge has to deal with the charge before them,'' he said.
Prof Henaghan said the decision came down to evidence and mitigating factors.
It was the same with sentencing.
''Sentences are repealable if people don't think they are appropriate,'' he said.
