Hunting and outdoor organisations have combined to plead for people to stay home because search and rescue and medical teams could be exposing themselves to the virus if someone gets lost or injured.
Game Animal Council general managere Tim Gale says health services and facilities expect to be stretched in coming weeks so do not need to also deal with injured hunters and those who have been in the outdoors.
“The risk is that something goes wrong which means it will bring emergency services out, which means they come out of their self-isolation.”
The council, Conservation Department, Mountain Safety Council, Search and Rescue, Deer Stalkers Association, Tahr Foundation and Fish and Game have all backed the call for people to stay home.
DOC huts and campsites have been closed because they do not meet the minimum separation distancing guidelines.
Search and Rescue is also asking people to stick to simple outdoor exercise and avoid areas where they could get lost or hurt.
Gale acknowledged the annual roar hunt is the annual highlight for many and while people cannot be compelled to stay at home he is appealing to common sense.
Fiordland Wapiti have started bugling and Gale says some hunters already in the bush have voluntarily returned home.
Red deer were close to starting to roar with the peak activity expected early next month.
Gale says the deer will still be there once the lock-down is over and there are alternative hunting opportunities with Sika, which roar a bit later, and Tahr with the season starting in May.
Duck shooting starts on May 4, outside the initial four-week shut-down.
Controls to address the covid-19 outbreak have hit the guided hunting industry, worth about $50 million a year.
The three to four-month season starts in late February early-March and Gale says some international hunters were already in the country when the restrictions started to bite but many more couldn’t get here.
