Police say a farmer was accidentally shot in the head when four men were hunting two escaped water buffalo, at Pukekohe, south of Auckland.
The man, 60, is in a critical condition at Auckland hospital.
Police say their investigations have undermined an initial theory that a bullet ricocheted off a tree and through the roof of a ute in which the man was a passenger.
They say two men with hunting rifles got out of the ute and fired at the buffalo; one shot pierced the roof.
Both buffalo, which escaped while being loaded into a truck, have been destroyed.
The incident happened on Tuesday afternoon near Pukekohe.
