Yep, deer were worth ALOT of money in the 80's. A live hind was worth as much as $4300NZ in the early 80's, when a 500 only cost about $400NZD an hour to run. In that tight Urewera country a certain amount of blade contact is part of the job.
Unfortunately it seems like these guys don't know what rules are, it's not really any different today with the venison recovery.