Detectives believe illegal deer hunters may be responsible for the death of a man who was killed in a hit-and-run crash north-east of Melbourne last year.

Jamieson man Bryce Airs was walking home from a hotel when he was struck by a vehicle on the Mansfield-Woods Point Road, about 1 kilometre out of Jamieson, shortly after 12:00am on November 26 last year.

Mr Airs was found badly injured on the road and was treated by emergency services but died at the scene.

Police believe Mr Airs' dying words to a passer-by — "I've been hit by lightning" — point to him being hit by hunters who use spotlights to stalk deer.

Detective Inspector Stuart McGregor of the Major Collision Investigation Unit said illegal hunters were known to sometimes kill deer by running them down, often driving with lights off before startling the animal with spotlights.

"We believe that Bryce may have mistaken the flash of spotlights for the flash of lightning," Detective Inspector McGregor said.

Detectives have been told a large stag was known to be grazing in Matthews Reserve, next to the site where Mr Airs was struck.

Police believe spotlighters had been cruising the area looking for the stag about the time Mr Airs was hit.

The post-mortem examination of Mr Airs' body revealed he was standing at the time he was hit, and he was struck by a vehicle with a high clearance and which most likely had a bull bar, police said in a statement.

Police urge night hunters to speak up and 'bring closure'

Detective Inspector McGregor said police hoped the new information would prompt someone to come forward with a breakthrough.

"I have no doubt there are other people who know what happened that night," he said.

"We want to hear your side of the story, come and tell us what happened, maybe panic kicked in, maybe alcohol was involved, maybe people were scared because they knew they were hunting illegally.

"What matters is we work through what occurred and provide some sort of closure for Bryce's grieving family.

"We're not going away … we're going to be knocking on the door sooner than you think."

Detective Inspector McGregor said it was well known hunting was not allowed around Jamieson between sunset and sunrise, but police knew illegal hunters operated in the area at night.

"I want to make this very clear; we are not associating this splinter group with responsible, law-abiding hunters," he said.

"Our investigation has very clearly led us to a small rogue group of illegal hunters who break the law, they hunt during the night and they hunt for deer."

Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.