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New Zealand Herald 27 November 2006
Missing hunter spends fourth night missing in ranges
Police are still confident of finding alive a Northland hunter after his fourth night lost in the Kaimanawa Ranges.
Andreas Thirling, 50, from Ruakaka, went on a solo hunt for deer in the Waipakihi River Valley on Thursday morning and failed to return that night.
Senior Constable Barry Shepherd said conditions in the ranges had been mild and "all is not lost".
"It's been a bit cold at night, but the weather's not been too bad.
"We're being realistic though," Mr Shepherd said.
This morning dog handlers were joining 11 search and rescue teams, which stayed in the area overnight.
Mr Thirling was described as an inexperienced hunter who was not familiar with the rugged terrain.
The difficulty of the terrain made the geographical size of the search academic, Mr Shepherd said.
"It could be a square kilometre and you could still miss him."
In 2007, a few months after Andreas had recovered, I met with him and his wife, Christine and heard first-hand the extraordinary tale of survival.
The experience for both was still very raw and understandably emotional, and to relive aspects was difficult. However, Andreas really wanted his story told so that other hunters could learn and benefit from his five days experience of survival. He acknowledged that some of the decisions he made, with the benefit of hindsight, he would now do differently, but in order to survive in that rugged and unforgiving country in freezing night-time conditions, Andreas took great care of himself and survived.
He left his bivvy camp in the Waipakihi River on the last day of the trip for an early morning hunt. It was going to be aexpectation with morning frost still on the ground, little did he know that by midday he would be lost and that five days later he would eventually walk out of the Kaimanawas.
