Coroner reminds hunters of gun safety

A coroner is reminding recreational hunters of gun safety after a Cromwell hunter died after shooting himself in the stomach.

Garry Tall, 61, died on March 3, 2016, after hunting with a friend in the Nevis Valley in Central Otago.

The fatal trip is described in Coroner Brigette Windley’s written findings released yesterday.

Tall, described as an experienced hunter, was with a work colleague in an area known as the Old Woman Range.

He was hunting with rifle that was secured in a gun case.

About 9pm they shot a red deer and after gutting and cutting up the carcass the pair made their way back to a ute in fading light, each carrying their own rifles.

Tall got further ahead of his companion and made it to the ute first, starting up the engine and turning the lights on.

From about 100 to 150 metres away his companion heard the rifle go off.

‘‘He heard a shot then Mr Tall yell out in pain. (His companion) reached the ute about one minute later and found Mr Tall lying on the ground on the driver’s side of the vehicle. Mr Tall was still wearing both backpacks and was having difficulty breathing.’’

Tall’s companion tried text messaging for help but his battery was low and his cellphone kept powering off. He also had marginal cellphone coverage.

At 11.17pm he was able to text his partner, ‘‘need heli, gary shot’’.

After 30 minutes of waiting for help, and not knowing if it was coming, he loaded Tall into the vehicle with the deer and gear in the back.

‘‘By that time Mr Tall was fairly unresponsive but made some groaning noises.’’

A police vehicle responding to the incident met them on the way out and an officer attempted CPR. Paramedics continued but Tall was declared dead at 1.30am.

Tall’s rifle was found in a foam lined rigid plastic case, and it appeared to police the fabric sling had got folded inside the trigger guard with pressure on the trigger, the report says.

‘‘On inspection, the end of the case showed high velocity blowout damage. A spent shell case was also found in the footwell below the gun case.’’

Tests found no fault with the rifle.

‘‘Mr Tall either attempted to clear the rifle and inadvertently loaded another round in it or he didn’t clear the rifle and loaded it into the rigid gun case with the barrel towards him.

‘‘Upon closing the lid Mr Tall inadvertently had the sling caught under the trigger guard that fired the rifle.’’

The coroner noted Tall had been involved in ‘‘a few’’ hunting related incidents previously. On one occasion he rolled a quad bike on himself and a few years ago, shot himself in the foot.

Windley did not make any recommendations but felt a need to reiterate existing fire arm safety messages for recreational hunters, specifically – always pointing the firearm in a safe direction and storing a firearm and ammunition safely.