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.

His body was found on Sunday, a week after he went missing.

Fookes said the search was one of the most extensive he had been involved with in recent times.

It included several New Zealand-based search organisations as well as about 24 colleagues of Horsfield, who had recently served in the Australian army.

His father Craig Horsfield also came to the area and said the family were still working through their loss, but wanted to thank everyone who had helped.

“We would like to thank all the police and SAR people, they are so good at their jobs and take it far beyond.”

The past and serving members of the Australian army turned up with gear and were ready to go, while local hunters also came to help.

He also wanted to thank locals who dropped off food and camping gear and who came to their assistance.

“It has been so positive,” he said.

A fundraising page to support searchers reached over AU$45,000 (NZ$50,000).

Fookes said Horsfield had been carrying a rescue beacon and a cell phone.

The beacon was not activated, but he had been in touch with family while hunting by phone and was expected to return home on February 13.

When he failed to arrive his wife contacted police, who began the search on Valentine’s Day.

Those involved in the search included Wakatipu LandSar volunteers, tracking dogs and air-scenting dogs, Alpine cliff rescue volunteers, Department of Conservation staff and a swift water rescue team.

Helicopters equipped with night vision and infrared equipment continued the search at night.

“It was a very large area covering several possible catchments.

“Over the week we searched all possible areas of interest and still had a large number of areas of interest to continue searching until yesterday afternoon, when the body was discovered.

“He appeared to have suffered a fall from a significant height.”

It was challenging terrain with a lot of high alpine areas, basins, ridges and extensive bluff systems, Fookes said.

He described much of the area as “blocky” with massive rocks and boulders that had formed caves and bluffs.

“We had to ensure we had really good safety regimes in place while working around that tricky terrain. Some of the bluffs are hundreds of metres high.”

It was not a well-travelled area, but there was evidence of other people having been there in the past, he said.