Thread: Hunter shot Sewart Island

This morning. no other details available

Sad, sad news......

Police name hunter killed on Stewart Island

The hunter killed in a hunting incident on Stewart Island was 24-year-old Invercargill man Samuel Phillip Long, police say.

Long was part of a five-person hunting group but was hunting alone on Monday morning when he was shot by another member of the party, police said.

He died at the scene.

Police are continuing their investigations and will be speaking with a number of people.

The family have asked for privacy.

Southland Deerstalkers Association branch president Steve Robinson said he knew Long and his condolences went out to the family.

"They have got to be feeling absolutely terrible at the moment, like the rest of us."

Long's family had been involved in hunting for years, he said.

Robinson was not in a position to speak about the shooting death, but reiterated that people needed to identify their targets when hunting.

"Every newsletter we put out we say, 'identify your target beyond all doubt', but every situation is different."

The vast majority of hunting expeditions were incident free, but accidental shooting deaths were still occurring far too often, he said.

"Accidents will always take place, you can only minimise them.

"Hunting is a relatively safe sport. I do a lot of it and I don't feel unsafe out there ... but we are always open to any ideas to make it safer."

He did not believe law changes would make hunting any safer.

"It's just making people aware of how to identify their target. We can't stop that campaign, we have to keep doing it. There's always new people getting into the sport," Robinson said.

Long's accidental shooting death is the second in less than a year in the south.

Adam Hill, 25, was accidentally shot and killed by Tuatapere artist Wayne Edgerton when hunting during the roar in the Longwood Range last April.

Dave Hill, Adam's father, said he was feeling for Long's family.

Invercargill Mayor Tim Shadbolt said Long's death was tragic and his heart went out to the family.

The south was known for its great outdoors and tragedy was occasionally associated with outdoor pursuits, including hunting and mountaineering, the mayor said.

"There's certain areas where tragedies seem to happen on a regular basis ... it's the price we pay for our love of the great outdoors."

Southland area commander Inspector Kelvin Lloyd said a hunting party activated an emergency locator beacon near Paterson Inlet on Stewart Island at 10.30am on Monday, following the shooting incident.

An inquiry team had gone to the island to investigate and a rescue helicopter was sent.


Ad Feedback




Police had spoken with extended family and a scene reconstruction may be set up if it could assist with inquiries.

Lloyd indicated that visibility should not have been an issue.