A hunter reported missing on Stewart Island has been located.

The 39-year-old failed to return to his hunting group on Monday afternoon, but was found around 11.05am on Saturday.

The man was sighted from the air during an extended shoreline search at Chew Tobacco Bay.

He had become disorientated after knocking his head during a fall and his compass was later found to be incorrectly reading due to a knife being close by.

Fortunately he was able to sustain himself by eating a deer he had shot and by foraging for limpets and paua.

This serves as a reminder to anyone entering the bush in remote country, even for a short time, to take a Personal Locator Beacon and a backup form of navigation.

NZ Police are grateful to Land Search and Rescue for providing teams in this challenging time.