A warning has gone out ahead of the opening of the 2017 duck shooting season over the safety of hunters while shooting.
The New Zealand Mountain Safety Council (MSC) say 64 percent of all game bird hunting injuries occur in the month of May.
Opening weekend kicks off on Saturday and is regarded as one of the most highly anticipated annual hunting events in the country.
MSC CEO Mike Daisley says deaths are reasonably low and only happens once every couple of years but there are "a lot of very close calls."
Mr Daisley also says firearms going off in close proximity to other duckshooters is the leading cause of incidents.
"We're keen to have a '0' in the fatality, search and rescue and injury column this year. It's achievable if hunters heed the firearms safety rules," he says.
In 2015, 15 year old Jamie Johnston died while duck shooting in the Bay of Plenty after he accidently shot himself when unsupervised.
Animal advocacy organisation SAFE say duck shooting is "indiscriminate slaughter."
They condemn opening weekend and say approximately one million ducks will be shot over the season.
They also say as many as 40 percent of ducks and geese that are shot are never retrieved and die lingering deaths.
Duck shooting season runs for three months, ending on August 27.
Newshub.
