UPDATED 12.53pm A hunter found dead in the Tora bush this morning may have suffered a medical event, police say.

The man’s body was located at the northern end of a DoC reserve, which runs between Tora Rd and White Rock Rd in South Wairarapa.

The Wairarapa man, 60, went into the bush at 9.30am on Saturday and was due to return yesterday at noon, but failed to show.

Police are now carrying out a scene examination.

Search and Rescue incident controller Peter Cunningham said the man was a member of the Wairarapa Deerstalkers Association.

“He has gone for a hunt by himself, and something has happened which is more than likely medical, but that’s just a guess at this stage.”

Mr Cunningham, also a member of the association, had known the hunter “for years”, and said “he was a real nice guy”.

Land Search and Rescue carried out searches overnight but could not deploy a helicopter due to windy weather conditions.

A helicopter carried out an aerial search of the area this morning, and three teams were on the ground.