Source: Radio New Zealand
Kate Aynsley’s gun likely went off by accident as she either fell or fumbled in steep, slippery terrain. Supplied / NZ Hunting and Wildlife Magazine
The death of a Dunedin woman who shot herself while deer hunting in an Otago forest was a terrible accident, a coroner has ruled.
Kate Aynsley, 48, died in Beaumont Forest’s Blue Mountains Conservation Area in June 2023 after being shot in the head by her own rifle.
In findings released on Monday, coroner Mary-Anne Borrowdale said Aynsley’s gun likely went off by accident as she either fell or fumbled in steep, slippery terrain.
While no-one saw what happened, Aynsley had likely removed the safety catch while preparing to shoot a deer, the coroner found.
Aynsley had gone hunting with her fiancé but the pair had split up after hearing a buck deer barking.
Borrowdale said her body was found in an area that presented “a significant trip and slip hazard”.
She ruled out Aynsley intentionally taking her own life or any third-party involvement, saying it was a reminder to hunters to know their weapon and chamber a cartridge only when they were ready to fire.
A driven and focused mother
The report said Aynsley worked as an administrator at Target Accounting in Dunedin, where she was held in very high regard.
She had one son and was due to marry in February 2024.
Borrowdale described her as a very competent, precise and energetic person with a high level of fitness.
“She was very driven and focused, having previously become proficient at motorcycling, mountain biking and bodybuilding,” she said.
Aynsley took up hunting after meeting her fiancé four years earlier and became proficient, even publishing articles about women’s hunting, she said.
“She also participated in instructing members of the NZ Deerstalkers’ Association and mentored women’s tahr hunts,” the coroner said.
Many witnesses attested to her safety-conscious hunting methods and her fiancé confirmed she only took her firearm safety catch off when she was about to fire.
Kate Aynsley, 48, died in Beaumont Forest’s Blue Mountains Conservation Area in June 2023. Supplied / NZ Hunting and Wildlife Magazine
The day of the hunt
On 3 June 2023 Aynsley and her fiancé were in the Tramway Block of the Blue Mountains Conservation Area where they had won a ballot to shoot on Department of Conservation land.
Borrowdale said the area consisted of moderately steep, beech-covered hills with several streams.
Both Aynsley and her partner had previously hunted the block but not the eastern skid site where they went that day.
Aynsley had a Marlin 336 lever-action 30/30 rifle, which she had bought six months before the outing.
The pair was equipped with Garmin GPS communication devices, bum bags and packs, and were accompanied by their gun dogs.
Borrowdale said they were pursuing a buck deer when Aynsley told her fiancé she was going to wait to see what the animal did across the creek, while he moved on.
“About 20 minutes later, he heard a shot. He could see on the GPS that Ms Aynsley’s last location was 350 metres away. [He] could not get a response from Ms Aynsley on the radio, despite repeated efforts,” she said.
Aynsley’s fiancé followed her gun dog and eventually found her body 10 metres above a creek on a damp and slippery slope.
Emergency services found the gun three metres above her with the scope cover up and three rounds of ammunition in the magazine.
Aynsley’s cap was one metre away, with a gunshot wound through the right temple.
The police officer who led the scene investigation described the slope as steep and “very difficult to walk without assistance while holding onto something such as tree trunks or branches”.
Rifle could fire if hammer was knocked
Police confirmed each hunter’s movements through their GPS devices at the request of the coroner.
A police armourer also undertook ballistics analysis to determine whether and how Aynsley’s rifle could have fired accidentally.
Borrowdale said the gun was working correctly without mechanical fault and could not accidentally discharge while the safety catch was on or if it was dropped.
However, the armourer found it was possible for the rifle to accidentally discharge by a knock to the hammer with the safety catch off.
The Mountain Safety Council later found if Aynsley had sighted a deer and moved into position for a shot, she could have been reluctant to return her firearm from the “instant state” to a safe “load state” for fear of startling the animal.
The council noted that Aynsley was left-handed and the safety catch was awkwardly positioned for left-handed people.
The council also found that the safety catch could have bumped against her waist and inadvertently moved into the “fire” position if she had the rifle slung over her left shoulder, which was likely.
Three possible scenarios
Police found three possible scenarios for Aynsley’s death – two of which involved her losing her balance and one in which the hammer was knocked with enough force to fire the weapon.
Borrowdale said she had no basis for finding a most-likely scenario of the three, but was convinced Aynsleys death was accidental.
“I am persuaded by the evidence that Ms Aynsley was hunting in very difficult terrain, uneven, wet, slippery and with trip hazards in the form of roots and broken branches. Ms Aynsley was likely to have been preparing to shoot a deer and had likely removed the safety catch, which allowed for the rifle to be fired accidentally as she fell or fumbled with the weapon,” she said.
“Ms Aynsley did not intentionally take her own life and I am satisfied that there was no third-party involvement in her death.”
The coroner’s recommendations
Borrowdale urged hunters to always follow the seven basic firearms safety rules.
She said hunters should remember to chamber a cartridge only when they were ready to fire and should always have an empty chamber when crossing an obstacle of any kind, including dense bush.
“Even in a hunting area where you are expecting to see game, your firearm must be in either a ‘load state’ or an ‘unload state’ until you are ready to fire,” she said.
Hunters should also know their firearm and ensure the safety catch could not be easily switched into the “fire” position.
Borrowdale offered her condolences to Aynsley’s family and to all of those who felt her loss.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
