Deer Devils

The mid 1960's are the golden years for aerial hunters. Venison prices are high, fuel costs low and there seems no end to the deer. But something has to change.

The numbers of animals are now dwindling. Deer start to become wise to the danger of choppers and hide in the forest, laying down in the tussock or rocks or change their feeding patterns so they only come out at night.

It becomes harder to find deer and harder to cover flying costs and make a profit. So the pilots and shooters take more risks. As they push boundaries, inevitably there are accidents and deaths.

Brian Bluey recalls a typical aerial crash with a chopper written off and a badly injured shooter airlifted out on a stretcher. Just another accident that hardly rates a mention in this high adrenaline world.

By now some men have suffered multiple crashes and the toll begins to tell with different families coping in their own ways. Lyn Bond tells how she became a believer in fate, ''when your time's up, your time's up."

This belief will be tested in the worst way possible.

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details