NZGAC Hunter Education. Enabling better education and safer hunting practices.
NZ Hunter Education Course: Module 5:
Rule 4: Identify Your Target
On Easter Sunday 2003, a young Hamilton man, out deer stalking in the Kaimanawa Ranges, shouldered his rifle, placed the crosshairs over what he thought was the hindquarters of a deer, and squeezed the trigger. It took barely a split second for the high-powered projectile to travel the 20 metres to its target. But, in a blink of an eye that one bullet took one life, shattered the lives of many, hammering home in the harshest possible way the tenuous grasp of an individual’s existence.
Almost every year in New Zealand there is an unnecessary hunting fatality simply due to the fact that this rule has been ignored.
Note that about 60% of hunter fatalities are caused by someone who is in the same group as the hunter who is shot.
There is absolutely NO EXCUSE for a hunter not taking his time to correctly identify his target beyond all doubt and if he is not certain, being responsible and refusing to take the shot. This applies especially if you are supervising an unlicensed shooter.
It is your responsibility to positively identify your
target beyond all doubt.
In certain light and other conditions hunters may
be deceived by:
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What they think they see
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What they want to see
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What they think they hear
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What they want to hear
The responsibility of the hunter is to first think safety and to put in place mental and physical boundaries so he makes safe choices.
There are four things that may make a hunter think the target is a deer or a pig, for example. At least two hunters have been shot in the head at less than 20 metres in the last few years because the shooter in each case chose to shoot at either movement, colour, sound or shape without correctly identifying their target.
Shooting someone else is very seldom an accident – it is usually a blatant act of carelessness. Take note!
NEVER shoot at movement:
1. Movement
In the bush and even in more open scrubby areas it is often very difficult to obtain a clear view of your target. Changing light, wind movement, dark shadows moving and mixed shapes can help convince a hunter that what he is seeing is a deer because that is what he thinks he sees and what he wants to see, when in fact it may be another person.
"It was in the Blue Mountains of Otago and three guys were together hunting in the same block. Right on evening two of them were together looking down on some fingers of bush with little clearings under them, an ideal spot for a deer right on dusk. Then they saw a movement, so in the excitement one of the guys closed his bolt, raised his rifle and stood up to get a shot. Then he dropped his rifle and said, ‘Hell that’s ....... ! It was their other hunting companion!"
“I was hunting in an area where there was lots of fresh stag rubs on trees and I expected to see a stag. Suddenly I spotted a bush moving and thinking it was a stag thrashing its antlers, got really excited. Then, to my surprise a guy moved out half bent over from passing under a branch. He was wearing camo gear. When I accosted him I discovered he was way out of his area and trespassing on my block!”
Never assume you are the only hunter in the area!
NEVER shoot at colour:
2. Colour
In the New Zealand outdoors there are all sorts of colours and shades of colours mixed with different shapes, plus movement, that can make a hunter think that what he is seeing is an animal. Colour blindness and tiredness can also be factors with the hunter unaware of his blind spots. Shooting at colour alone is irresponsible and foolish – you may be shooting at another person. They may be wearing camo clothes, a brown jacket or carrying out a deer, on which they have omitted to put some blaze orange. Correct colour, but wrong target.
NEVER shoot at sound:
3. Sound
Shooting at sound is a real no, no.
Sounds a person makes can be identical to that of a deer – breaking of twigs, moving of bushes, squelching of mud and roaring. Even expert hunters can be fooled, especially with the electronic callers today that have exact reproductions of a big stag calling. Hearing a sound in the bush is only that – a sound! Sound that is convincing, mixed with movement that looks like a deer can be a fatal combination!
Never assume that because you think the sound is a deer or you want it to be a deer, that it is a deer. Buck fever, or an overriding emotion of great anticipation and excitement, is common when hunting, especially in the roar. However you must consciously apply mental and physical boundaries at times like this and pre-determine how you will act when the situation arrives.
Tell yourself:
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NOT to put your rifle to your shoulder.
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Keep your finger OFF the trigger.
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And WAIT until you are 100% certain.
Using binoculars in the bush is often a great way of making certain you correctly identify your target, rather than the rifle scope because latest studies have shown that when you lift your rifle to your shoulder intending to use your scope to identify a target, you have mentally crossed a line in preparing to shoot.
Always wait, double check and correctly identify your target.
NEVER shoot at shape:
4. Shape.
All hunters can be fooled by shapes. Rocks, logs, scrub, shadows and even other people can all look like deer or game under certain conditions.
Tests done in the USA many years ago determined that people impose what they want to see, on what they do see.
For example, a hunter hears a very convincing roar and on stalking closer sees through gaps in the bush what he perceives to be the dark shape of a stag sitting near a roaring pad. He wants it to be a stag and is really expectant. However it is not a deer, but another hunter wearing a darkish jacket who has just given a roar and is now sitting there thinking this is an ideal place from which to hijack the stag. Both hunters are at risk if neither of them is thinking safety and wearing safety clothing (more on that later) and more importantly not waiting to identify their target completely before firing, because they are more focussed on getting a deer than on safety issues.
Also carrying out deer using the pikau method can be downright dangerous. At certain angles, for example when the hunter is bending down, the outline of a deer is clearly seen. Numbers of hunters have been shot at or the deer they have been carrying has been shot at while they have been using the pikau method. Cover the deer with blaze orange if using this method or better still use a safer method such as a carry belt.
Never shoot at movement, colour, shape or sound ...
Correctly identify your target at all times.
A good tip is this:
If you can identify the sex of an animal then you know it’s a deer. If you can’t, then you are not sure! This is very good advice because it means you have already made a commitment to look beyond the presenting factors ie. sound, movement, colour, sound and shape when you are making your decision as to whether it is safe to fire.
NB: Further information on the best coloured safety clothing to wear will be highlighted in our special BE SAFE, BE SEEN module 9.
Story:
“Once, when I was hunting in the bush behind the hut at the bottom end of a lake in South-West Fiordland, I became aware of the noise of an animal moving slowly toward me. I saw a little movement through the thick scrub and undergrowth and was certain it was a deer because of the colour also, so I lifted my rifle to my shoulder, with my finger off the trigger and with the safety still on. I knew there was no-one else around because when I left the hut I was the only person there and I hadn’t heard any boats come down the lake.
All anticipation, I waited and then the outline of a hunter suddenly appeared about 20 metres away. It gave me a real shock, but he was in no real danger as I had waited to correctly identify my target, but my assumptions had almost let me down. I had assumed that because I didn’t hear a boat, one hadn’t arrived and there were no other hunters around. I must have been down in a gully by a creek when he came. I also assumed that because there was no one else around it must have been a deer. Just as well I waited to correctly identify my target!”