Smart beacon to save hunters’ bacon
The roar is on, and one Wellingtonian has turned inventor to help keep his fellow hunters safe.
Justin McCabe came up with the idea of an electronic warning system after shot fired from a nearby mai-mai rained down around him while duck hunting.
Aimed at stopping hunters accidentally being shot by their mates while moving through the bush, McCabe’s invention warns a hunter if a member of their party is within 100 metres.
The beacons, carried by all members of a group, signal users when other beacons are nearby.
Prototypes have a light to alert users and a display showing how many other beacons are close.
Statistics from the Mountain Safety Council show 80 per cent of misidentified shootings are carried out by members of the same party, while 92 per cent of misidentified target incidents happened at ranges of less than 75 metres.
Mountain Safety spokesman Nick Kingstone said they had been in contact with McCabe about his concept. Any device that had the potential to save lives was worth investigating. He said 10 hunters had been killed through misidentification since 2007.
The latest incident happened on April 2 in the Kaimai Range near Te Aroha. Quentin McCreedy was charged with killing Douglas Leech by carelessly using a firearm this week.
Roar Beacons were not designed to identify a target but to give hunters a second chance to assess what was happening around them before squeezing the trigger.
No matter what equipment a hunter carried, only they could make fully informed decisions when it came to correctly identifying a target, McCabe said.
‘‘Roar is meant to aid in situational awareness when out in the bush. It reminds me to check whether [a potential target] is a deer or my mate. Having a reminder can only be a good thing,’’ McCabe said.
The beacon had generated interest from outdoor and hunting groups and sparked plenty of conversation and feedback on social media, he said.
McCabe already had a number of working prototypes but wished to take the concept further. He had set up a crowdfunding campaign on pledgeme to help fund further development.
The units could be made more compact, he said.
Adding features such as the ability to show where other beacons were in relation to the wearer was also possible.
‘‘[Roar] reminds me to check whether [a potential target] is a deer or my mate. Having a reminder can only be a good thing.’’
Justin McCabe on his electronic warning system, pictured left.