He has been an Instructor in Firearm Safety for the New Zealand Mountain Safety Council for more than 32 years, and has a good idea of where the bullets which miss targets end up.
It came as no surprise to Mr Blanch when a Clyde man was hit in the neck by a ricocheted bullet while barbecuing at his home earlier this month.
"Those things are not uncommon, just rarely reported. I've worked a lot in orchards and often heard a gunshot in the hills before hearing the bullet go through the orchard trees.
"Most people hit with pellets never say anything, includ-ing myself."
Mr Blanch said although no major injuries or deaths had been caused by ricocheting bullets in Central Otago lately, the area was rife with shooting activity.
Orchardists, farmers, rural landowners and recreational shooters all used guns on a daily basis, sometimes within close vicinity to residential, commercial or industrial areas.
He has seen a piece of thick irrigation pipe penetrated by a ricocheted bullet.
"You wouldn't want that hitting your head. The pipe was in trees just next door," he said.
A few decades ago, painters found bullets embedded in many iron roofs around central Alexandra, having ricocheted off hills nearby.
"A bullet went right through the window of a house in Dunstan Rd once while someone was inside," he said.
Mr Blanch is about one of 500 firearm safety instructors throughout New Zealand, and annually helps about 25 people across Central Otago gain firearm licences.
In doing so, he makes sure shooters are aware of what may be lurking behind their immediate target, as well as in the surrounding environment.
"A bullet can be dangerous up to a mile, and most people would shoot within 50m, so there's a lot of life left in those bullets which miss targets.
"You can't see all the workers on an orchard at any one time, children which may be around, or people in houses a kilometre away," he said.
Central Otago attracted an increasing number of people from outside cities and towns who bought land and began shooting or did so recreationally while on holiday.
Mr Blanch said many of those people already had licences when entering the district and did not have contact with local safety instructors.
Many felt confident shooting, but were not necessarily aware of the area's geography, in particular residential development which could be close to rural properties, he said.
"We try to teach people to look beyond their target and understand how or where a bullet may bounce back, especially around here where the ground is so stony," he said.
