A hopelessly lost and ill-equipped Dunedin hunter, who hunkered down in a hollowed-out tree awaiting rescue from the Blue Mountains bush, says he would not be alive if not for a fantastic search and rescue team effort.
The 29-year-old Dunedin man, who was recovering at home yesterday after his 42-hour ordeal, said he wanted to thank all of the people involved in finding him.
Search and rescue volunteers located the man in a section of dense bush in a hunting block near Dunn Creek, in the Blue Mountains, near Tapanui, about 1am yesterday after searching for him on the ground for 10 hours.
The rescued hunter said he wanted to remain anonymous, but knew he had made a mistake by going into the bush unprepared, and was grateful such "an amazing team of people" had been there to find him.
The man had several years' hunting experience, but it was his first hunting trip to the Blue Mountains. The target was deer and although he saw six while lost in the bush, none was shot.
He said he and his hunting companion arrived in the area about 9am on Wednesday. The intention was to split up and meet up again by lunchtime.
By 5pm, having walked through dense bush and crossed various ravines and steep gullies, the man accepted he was lost and fired off three shots.
He waited 10 minutes and then fired off another three shots, hoping to raise the alarm.
"Nobody heard."
Police said the man's hunting companion attempted to locate his partner and also fired off shots looking for response. When he still got no response in the morning, he contacted police.
Clad only in shorts and light tops and knowing he was not prepared to spend the night in the bush, the lost man said he improvised with what he had - a daypack, jacket, three empty plastic shopping bags, and a knife.
He drank water from streams and found a dead tree to shelter under, wrapped his hands in the plastic bags, curled himself into a ball and pulled his jacket around him.
Police called out the Clutha District LandSAR group about 12.30pm and forward base controller Stu Murray, of Stirling, said volunteers, about 30 in total, mainly from Balclutha and Milton, arrived in the search area around 3pm.
A Dunedin-based helicopter with spotters was unsuccessful before dusk.
A specialist search team with scent dog was brought in from Queenstown and operated alongside six foot-based search groups which conducted an extensive ground search.
The man said he fired off his last two bullets in the morning, hoping someone would fire back and he could get some bearings.
He was not aware until later that his companion had heard one shot, but later saw the helicopter fly over and realised search and rescue had been called, so found an open space and waited.
As darkness again closed in, it started to rain and he sheltered in a hollowed-out tree, pulling strips of bark over himself to keep dry.
"I was pretty disoriented. I thought I heard things there weren't there. I hadn't eaten and was awake for two straight days."
About 1am, he thought he heard a dog bark in the distance.
"I started screaming with all my might and they could just hear me."
Another search team found him shortly after, he said.
"When they got to me I was pretty damn excited. I jumped up and told them I was OK. They gave me [some food] and offered to carry my bag.
"They were as helpful as they could be. It wasn't in their plan to search where I was that night ... Everyone was fantastic. The Balclutha police were fantastic too. St John was fantastic."
The group walked out with the man to the nearest road, about 1.7km away.
He knew he was at fault, the man said.
He usually took maps and a GPS and studied the area closely before hunting trips, but because his intention was just to do "a little walk around" he had not done that preparation.
"The lesson I've learned is do not enter the bush under any circumstances if you are not fully prepared.
"I just made a mistake. I feel like a jackass for it, but I'd rather be a live jackass, than a dead jackass."
He was going to buy a personal locator beacon, but was still undecided on returning to the Blue Mountains.
"At least I'm still alive to go hunting."
Detective Craig Dinnissen, of Balclutha, said police also wished to thank the volunteers involved with the search.
The successful outcome was due to the experience and training of what was a highly dedicated group, he said.
New Zealand police will pay for costs incurred by the search, as part of their operational budget.
