Hunter killed in NZ accident

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Hunter killed in NZ accident

Post by bladeracer » 21 Feb 2023, 3:45 pm

I didn't see that this was already posted anywhere. A good reminder about safety in the bush.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/131282455/hunter-died-after-falling-more-than-50m-while-on-solo-expedition-in-dense-bush

"The body of missing hunter Murray Horsfield was found by search teams in a water course at the bottom of steep and difficult terrain in Otago bush, five days after he was reported missing.

Search and rescue co-ordinator Senior Sergeant John Fookes said it appeared he had fallen from a height of more than 50m above the Dart River, near Glenorchy.

Horsfield, a skilled mountaineer and hunter who lived in Alexandra with his GP wife Tianna, was last seen on February 12 when he headed out alone on a hunting expedition."
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Re: Hunter killed in NZ accident

Post by bigpete » 21 Feb 2023, 5:15 pm

So they found him then
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Re: Hunter killed in NZ accident

Post by CRF » 21 Feb 2023, 5:56 pm

Poor bugger, I spoke to him a few times when I used to write a few articles for magazines and hang around the hunting social media facebook groups years ago. Pretty sure he was an aussie from memory.

It's a good reminder of the dangers, I've had some bloody hairy moments in NZ and the Vic high country where I was aware a slip would have been probably very similar result.

Sad news for he and his family.
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Re: Hunter killed in NZ accident

Post by Oldbloke » 21 Feb 2023, 7:23 pm

Yep, I knew he was found dead. Didn't know he fell 50mtr tho. Ex military and very experienced I believe.
Sad he died like that.
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Re: Hunter killed in NZ accident

Post by Blr243 » 21 Feb 2023, 8:26 pm

When i used to hunt thar in nz i was always slipping over and falling. Everything is so slippery and wet I remember on a couple of occasions my body all tense with fear as i clung to the side of the mountain hoping not to lose my balance or grip or both. I dont mind admitting i was quite scared . The bit down the bottom where you would land after you fell was so far away it looked fuzzy ... I remember hearing about a bloke ( one of my mates mate ) who slipped down the rocks and shale about 20 metres towards a bluff and drop off that would result in certain death If u went iver the edge. As he slipped on his belly feet first he stabbed his fingers of both hands into claw shapes and as he slipped down the shale he frantically drove the tips of his fingers into the rocks with all his strength hoping it woyld eventally slow him down and it did just a metre or two before the drop off . After he took a few breaths and regained his composure he realsed that his hands were bleedi g quite badly and most of his fingernails were broken in half and ripped back in the wrong direction . Thats what i call a close call. We carried crampons and ice axes My mate told me if you slip on ice and snow and gather momentum On the steep slopes you are screwed. He said u sort of throw yourself ontop of your ice axe and with the weight of your chest u force the axe into the ground in the hope it will bring you to a stop . He called the technique self arresting . Thankfully i never had to do it . Its a whole different ball game over there
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Re: Hunter killed in NZ accident

Post by JohnV » 22 Feb 2023, 4:43 pm

Oldbloke wrote:Yep, I knew he was found dead. Didn't know he fell 50mtr tho. Ex military and very experienced I believe.
Sad he died like that.

No I am not sad he died doing what he loved , that's a good death ,
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Re: Hunter killed in NZ accident

Post by Oldbloke » 22 Feb 2023, 5:34 pm

I can see why some would think that.
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Re: Hunter killed in NZ accident

Post by on_one_wheel » 22 Feb 2023, 8:16 pm

JohnV wrote:
Oldbloke wrote:Yep, I knew he was found dead. Didn't know he fell 50mtr tho. Ex military and very experienced I believe.
Sad he died like that.

No I am not sad he died doing what he loved , that's a good death ,


I'd rather trip ass over tits off a cliff while hunting than die slowly as a demented old man in my s**ty nappy :drinks:
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Re: Hunter killed in NZ accident

Post by northdude » 23 Feb 2023, 10:31 am

Its definatley different over here. Im just a bush hunter fuk goung up into the alps and scaleing cliffs n s**t. Even the bush can be quite dangerous if you all of a sudden get heavy rain been in the bush when that has happened water rises real fast and streams etc start appearing from nowhere, got lost in an area I knew well in fog before as well
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Re: Hunter killed in NZ accident

Post by bladeracer » 23 Feb 2023, 10:48 am

northdude wrote:Its definatley different over here. Im just a bush hunter fuk goung up into the alps and scaleing cliffs n s**t. Even the bush can be quite dangerous if you all of a sudden get heavy rain been in the bush when that has happened water rises real fast and streams etc start appearing from nowhere, got lost in an area I knew well in fog before as well


Mostly where I've hunted could never get seriously flooded. But in the Kimberley I would go out on foot into country that really does turn into a virtual ocean overnight during the wet season, you do need to be aware of the weather when you go bush. I don't think I've been actually "lost" in the bush, I have certainly been very confused about my location. Moving long distances under a top canopy or in the dark can definitely get me "all turned around", but as I'm on foot, I'm not going to be more than a few kilometers from the last place I did have my bearings.

Paul Harrell has an anecdote about hunting an area he was very familiar with. He knew a road went on until it met another road. But once when he was out hunting, in the dark or a storm I think, he headed in the direction of this road he knew about, and after a very long time he never found it, though he did manage to determine his own location eventually. He went back later and walked the road he "knew", and found that it turned just out of sight and went in an entirely different direction. Sometimes you have to over-ride what you believe you know with what you can actually see.

I avoid moving in the bush at night, but sometimes the situation demands relocating. But I am extremely careful to take very small steps and try to maintain my balance on one leg until I know my front foot is secure. I have fallen in wombat and rabbit holes that are hidden under grass, especially when going downhill. In the Kimberley, the floods that come through leave vertical walls in the dry waterways, with grass and bush growing over the edges, it's very easy to take a step and find yourself falling twenty-feet or more.
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Re: Hunter killed in NZ accident

Post by CRF » 23 Feb 2023, 11:13 pm

bladeracer wrote: I don't think I've been actually "lost" in the bush, I have certainly been very confused about my location.


The great frontiersman Daniel Boone said "I've never been lost, but I was bewildered for three days once".
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Re: Hunter killed in NZ accident

Post by northdude » 24 Feb 2023, 5:10 am

Night time certainly changes the game as well. Spent a few more hours than I normally would trying to figure out where I was at night time
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Re: Hunter killed in NZ accident

Post by animalpest » 25 Feb 2023, 8:15 pm

Yep, never been lost but I been bushed.
Had to sit down and have a break once so that I could convince myself that I was heading in the wrong direction. 25km from my vehicle. Got back in the dark but found the vehicle cos I left the radio going
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Re: Hunter killed in NZ accident

Post by Blr243 » 25 Feb 2023, 9:00 pm

Roughly midnight im haeading north from byron bay , picked up a hitchhiker he turned out to be a bit smashed with no money or phone and approx 60 . After about 20 k With me he realised that he was walking north when he should have been walking south so i dropped him off and because of the lift with me he was now 20 k more in trouble than he was before . God knows whatever happened to him . Alcohol in moderation is the way to go friends
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Re: Hunter killed in NZ accident

Post by animalpest » 25 Feb 2023, 9:57 pm

Can do better than that Blr
I ran out of fuel on the way home ( dicky fuel guage). So stuck out the thumb. Got a lift to the nearest servo, grabbed new jerry and some diesel.

Bloke kindly took me back to me back to my ute 15 km up the road. Turns out he knew family so we chatted and laughed all the way back.

Dropped me at the ute, turned around and waved and left.

That's when I realised he still had my jerry of fuel sitting on the back floor.
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Re: Hunter killed in NZ accident

Post by womble » 26 Feb 2023, 2:19 am

Hard to look on the bright side of that one :D
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Re: Hunter killed in NZ accident

Post by Blr243 » 26 Feb 2023, 11:32 am

Thats awesome AP. In hindsight yrs later we can laugh but thst would not have been funny at the time
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Re: Hunter killed in NZ accident

Post by deanp100 » 28 Feb 2023, 5:58 pm

I was at my parents farm of 50 acres once and we looked out and there is a guy walking through their paddock from the bush side. I charged down in a buggy to do battle and he’s looking at me, stunned, holding a 4 litre bucket of Neapolitan icrcream. He was a good 5-6 kilometres from any shop and had come from a direction where there is nothing for 50 kms.
He said he bought the ice cream from thr shops near the school which described virtually every shop in the area. We drove around for an hour trying to recognise something about where he lived. When we finally clicked on thr right one it was obvious he had walked out of the shop and gone exactly the wrong way and kept walking , off into the bush. He must have walked about 10 kms extra and the shop was 500 m from his house. I’m not sure how long 4 litres of icecream would keep you alive.
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Re: Hunter killed in NZ accident

Post by Express404 » 05 Mar 2023, 9:35 am

Rip Murray.
I was stuck on a rock ledge once.. I could go back down as couldn't see the grip points.. pondered getting the sat phone or epirb and a heli rescue.. Then waited for shakes to stop and continued up very slowly.. Best to not take risks. And yes once you start sliding n shaleits frightening. I will take a small pic axe (brake) in kit when next in NZ.
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