A Wellington man says he feared for his life when his drone was shot out of the sky in the Tararua Mountain Range.
Terry Hitchcock told Newshub he was levelling off his $800 drone last week to calibrate it when a gun shot rang out, with the drone tumbling to the ground seconds later.
"I ran for my life", Mr Hitchcock said. "I thought someone was trying to kill me."
The drone crashed into the ground below, while Mr Hitchcock ran away down a track.
"I was pretty scared."
He left the area before returning several hours later with a friend to collect the drone.
He believes it could have been a deerstalker who fired the shot.
"As my mate said, 'some of these hunters can spend eight hours tracking a deer'."
Mr Hitchcock was in a valley at the time and believes the damage to the drone shows the shot came from above.
The moment was caught on the drone's camera and from a GoPro mounted to Mr Hitchcock's head.
The amateur filmmaker says he wears the GoPro during all his flights because two previous drones had failed and crashed.
A number of viewers have doubted the authenticity of the video, but Mr Hitchcock is adamant the video depicts the full truth.
Newshub.
