I know all shootings are unacceptable, but this one is starting to sound as if it's out there with the Kaimanawa campsite tooth-brushing shooting. He was on a major track! He wasn't even alone!
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/78446051/body-of-shot-soldier-killed-while-hunting-remains-in-ruahine-range
"A hunter was on a track taking a break when he was shot and killed in the Ruahine Ranges.
"Police say the accidental fatal shooting of a hunter Danny Rion Jordan on Thursday happened when he and his hunting party were on a Department of Conservation track.
...
"Detective sergeant Jason Crowe said Jordan was shot as he and his companions were sitting on the Sparrowhawk bivouac walking track, taking a break from their tramp into their hunting area."
This post has been edited by the author on 1 April 2016 at 18:04.
too many idiots with rifles. its an insult to call him a hunter, he's just an idiot with a gun...
Put him in jail for life he is a murderer.
what is the longest prison sentence he could get or is likely to get if he even gets one if the judge takes pity on him?
how long did the guy get for shooting the lady at the campsite? he was out in a year wasnt he?.. illegal spotlighting next to a campsite shooting at a person with a headlamp...
I wouldnt bet on a long sentence, its not like the judge will pole mountain sport clubs for their opinion on what the sentence should be.
It's a sad state of affairs when you can't take your seven year old son into the hills on a long weekend for fear of being shot on a track by one of these over excited idiots.
In thirty years of tramping, I've noticed a real change in the attitude, experience and general demeanour of hunters.
Whereas in the past most were self sufficient, responsible and respectful, it's now all about flying in with as much piss as you can fit in the back of a 500 and to hell with anybody else.
You only have to read some of the imbecilic and largely illiterate posts on a popular New Zealand hunting forum to realise that you don't need to be all that bright to hold a firearms license.
Everybody has the right to use the outdoors and feel safe.
I'll be disappointed if this dickhead gets sentenced anything less than a term of imprisonment.
This post has been edited by the author on 1 April 2016 at 21:47.
That depends on what he's prosecuted for, which will probably depend on the evidence collected.
Arms Act 1983:
(53) Careless Use of a Firearm -- up to 3 years jail or $4,000. http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1983/0044/latest/whole.html#DLM73301
Crimes Act 1961:
(172) Murder (requires evidence of intent to kill a person, or recklessness in the knowledge that a person was likely to die as a result) -- up to Life. http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1961/0043/latest/whole.html#DLM329320
(177) Manslaughter (death occurs due to an unlawful act that doesn't amount to murder) -- up to Life. http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1961/0043/latest/whole.html#DLM329329
There's more about the sentancing process at https://www.courtsofnz.govt.nz/about/system/role/sentencing
The good hunters are still around but you are correct in the number of people that think hunting is sitting at the edge of a clearing with a 6 pack waiting for something to happen.
The hunting based reality tv seems based around exactly this style of hunting if its not guided hunting where a guide takes you to where he knows a trophy can be found. I have to wonder how safe some of these guides sometimes feel when they meet their fully armed clients.
Ive heard storys from overseas where the guide takes you to a tethered animal. It hasnt got this bad here yet has it?
When crossing through Glazebrook earlier this summer you could see them farming the trophy stags in paddocks to be released.
The deer there are almost tame could walk within 30m of them in the middle of the day before they were too worried about you. The pigs you could get to about 10m of then they would move 5m further away and keep feeding.
So not tethered but you don't exactly need to "hunt" them either!
For whoever's interested, here's the 9 page sentencing record for Andrew Mears, who shot the woman in the Kaimanawas campsite:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3dCYSB9HiWPRWNlay10UGg0QzQ/view?usp=sharing
The judge started with a band of 4.5 years imprisonment, then applied a mitigating credit of 2 years (which he stated was generous) for an early guilty plea, based on precedents from past cases and genuine remorse and offer of amends. The judge noted at the time that no previous case could be found wherea hunting incident had resulted in a manslaughter prosecution.
The final judgement was 2.5 years jail for manslaughter, $10,000 reparations, which he'd already offered to borrow and pay, and destruction of the firearm. For context, that supposedly took into account victim impact statements, combined with that he'd otherwise had an exemplary life with scouts and a surf lifeguard, had actively tried to become a messanger to other people/hunters about how stupid he'd been, and and had a wife and young child dependent on him.
The parole board then released him after 11 months on condition that he undergo grief counselling, remain at the same address, and remain at home overnight unless a probation officer was informed. http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/6161804/Hunter-Andrew-Mears-not-a-risk
I'm torn about this. On one hand I'm dumbstruck about how increadibly stupid and irresponsible some people are with guns. It's a devestating thing for victims and all those around them, and it'd be stupid for there not to be serious repercussions. But I'm also not convinced that blanket long term incaceration for extensive periods of time, at everyone else's great expense, will actually fix the problem.
This post has been edited by the author on 1 April 2016 at 22:42.
If we took the time to look at the life story of most people who take another's life, we would most likely feel pity and tend to look toward a more lenient sentence. But we don't. Why do we do so with hunters?
I don't care about anything but the fact these irresponsible idiots kill someone who is out enjoying their weekend.
I feel the same way about drink drivers.
I can not take my kids into the hills for a month until these fools go back to where ever it is these people lurk.
As far as I'm concerned wild deer are a noxious pest and should be hunted to extinction in much the same way that we would like to do possums and stoats.
We need to end this Barry Crump romantic vision of the good keen man and realise that this persona only came about because of men who were trying to eradicate these animals for good in the first place.
Not to strut around like primal alpha males, for a few weeks each year.
