Police, Mountain Safety Council and the Graf Boys have joined forces to produce ‘On Target’, a video that aims to save hunters lives.
Inspector Joe Green, Police manager for firearms control, said that the video presents key safety messages that hunters need to follow in order to keep themselves and their mates safe.
About two thirds of all deaths where one hunter has shot another since 1979 have been caused by failure to identify the target correctly.
‘Even more disturbing’, said Inspector Green,’ was that in nearly 60% of all cases the shooter fired the shot knowing there was a person in the general direction they were aiming. The person they shot was their hunting mate or a member of their own family’.
‘These incidents are preventable’ he said.
Mike Spray, Firearms Programme Manager for the Mountain Safety Council and Hunting Instructor with the New Zealand DeerStalkers Association thinks the video will appeal to hunters.
‘The safety messages are wrapped up in some really exciting deer hunting footage. Hunters will learn to be safer, better hunters’ he said.
Egon, speaking for the Graf Boys, said that the partnership with Police and Mountain Safety Council meant that they could achieve their aim of making a hunter safety video that was affordable to hunters.
Launched at the beginning of December, the video is available at The Warehouse and Hunting and Fishing outlets.
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Please contact Sarah Martin 04 474 9442 for an interview with Inspector Green