Hunting Bull Tahr in NZ
09-02-2014, 12:40 AM
#1
Spike
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: kaikoura nz
Posts: 5
Hunting Bull Tahr in NZ
Late May.
Adam arrived late into Christchurch Airport and with a quick chat we were
on our way. Our destination - the West Coast. After driving all night to get
to the helicopter pad by our departure time, the next morning we arrived
buggered. The weather had closed in and we were somewhat disheartened
when the pilot pulled the plug on the day ahead. We retreated to the comforts
of a local lodge checking the weather and hoping for better weather and it
didn’t look flash. With only limited time, we had to give it everything we
had, so up at the sparrows fart the next morning and off to the heli-pad, we
arrived to the sound of a waiting helicopter. We loaded the ole girl up and in
20 minutes had us in some of the best tahr country, not just in New Zealand
but I would have to say the world.
Once our camp was set up, we had a good feed of bacon sangers to keep us
warm. The rain set in by about midday and our day was buggered by thick
fog and rain, so we settled down for the night and we were up first thing
the next morning to no rain and fog, just a little high cloud. We grabbed a
few snacks and bottle of coke and headed up the valley. Not 5 minutes up
the river had us evaluating a nice bull a few hundred metres ahead. After
looking for a while and seeing he was a not too mature bull, we carried on
up another 100 metres to spot a big mob of animals sitting on a big grass
Terrance that followed up the valley 300 metres out of the river on the true left
of the valley. After looking over the animals and finding only nannies and a
couple of small bulls, we knew it was only time before a big bull stepped out.
While looking at this mob of tahr, we found about another 4 or 5 mobs of
animals and they were everywhere. It was mid-morning and I was a bit
surprised too for everything to be out and about this late in the morning,
but hunting the trip is an exciting time and we hit the time perfectly. After
we sat for about 5 minutes at this year looking at all the tahr, I was a bit
taken back when there were two big bulls and a nanny standing on the rock
250 metres away and my eyes almost popped out of my head. I threw up
the spotting scope to find a big mature bull in full rut with a big, thick, dark
mane with gorgeous blonde tips. He had his eyes set on the prize which was
a nanny standing in front of him. I put my pack on top of a few good rocks
and got Adam propped up so he had a good rest on the unsuspecting bull.
Adam had his sights on the bull and we waited for him to be perfectly side
on. One clean shot through both front legs, blew out his kneecaps as he tried
to regain his footing. He stepped a bit close to the edge and clean fell off the
side of the Terrance he was standing on. I watched him free fall about 50
metres and he landed on his head, with the thud, my heart sunk. Hoping it
wasn’t destroyed, we quickly made our way up there to find it was not hit in
the boiler room yet elected to commit suicide by jumping off the cliff and
landing on his face.
On arrival at the bull, we knew he was something special being over 10½
years old and 13 inches in length and to top it off, with a gorgeous blonde
tipped mane. After a quick photo session, we caped him out and headed
back to camp. Twenty five minutes later we were back at camp. We set about
making some bacon and eggs for breakfast. Not more than 30 seconds after,
I put the pan on. I looked up to find another bull standing on the grassy
face 400 metres up from camp, not being quick enough to get the spotting
scope up and have a look over him before the fog rolled in.
After the fog rolled in, then so did the rain, and it rained and rained. I would
say about 300mm of rainfall in about 24 hours. We remained tent bound
It’s snowing, it’s raining, the wind is howling and the wind chill is well below zero, there is thunder and lightning.
The river is up and just washed away our coke, bacon and chamois sausages, which were nicely refrigerated in the
creek. We are tent bound in our sleeping bags, this is no place for fake fabrics and one wrong move in the Southern
Alps could be deadly.
‘til 2 o’clock in the morning when the
wind picked up, blowing about 100
knots and the rain getting driven
into the tent. Not long did it take
for the pegs to rip out of the ground
and tear the fly off the tent and shred
the fiberglass poles like matchsticks.
I ran and jumped into Adam’s tent
and we laughed it off for about an
hour, then that tent ripped off the
poles, got bent, the pegs ripped out
of the ground and the zips broke and
we were there sitting half in and half
out of a tent trying to keep somewhat
dry. We were in a bad way by about
4am with lightning and thunder, rain,
hail and wind.
After the total collapse of the tent,
we retreated to the shelter of a local
rock about 5am with the gas cooker in
hand trying to keep warm. We were
wet through and our sleeping bags were soaked. We were quickly getting
hypothermia. Trying to keep warm and making good decisions we stayed
in the area where the chopper knew where we were.
After the dark, windy morning became light, it was revealed there were
parts of my tent ripped to shreds and my gear everywhere. With the river
up we were stuck. I graded the fly off one of my tents and set it up under
the rock and we got the gas cooker ramped up to keep warm. Shaking
uncontrollably for the last four hours had taken its toll and we were starting
to feel sick and there was nothing we could do about it but wait and hope.
We didn’t die before the helicopter got in there.
It arrived after a few hours to our relief. We would not make it another night
out there with everything destroyed and soaked. We were well prepared
with several pairs of dry clothing and tents that are meant to withstand
those conditions. It was a humbling
experience and even after years of
guiding and hunting, I have never
experienced conditions like those
that day, so even the prepared need
to be wary of the New Zealand
Mountains. I can’t imagine going
into there without the knowledge
of someone who knows what they
are doing.
Thank you for taking the time to read my Post Be sure to send me a message if you would like to know anything about hunting NZ
Adam arrived late into Christchurch Airport and with a quick chat we were
on our way. Our destination - the West Coast. After driving all night to get
to the helicopter pad by our departure time, the next morning we arrived
buggered. The weather had closed in and we were somewhat disheartened
when the pilot pulled the plug on the day ahead. We retreated to the comforts
of a local lodge checking the weather and hoping for better weather and it
didn’t look flash. With only limited time, we had to give it everything we
had, so up at the sparrows fart the next morning and off to the heli-pad, we
arrived to the sound of a waiting helicopter. We loaded the ole girl up and in
20 minutes had us in some of the best tahr country, not just in New Zealand
but I would have to say the world.
Once our camp was set up, we had a good feed of bacon sangers to keep us
warm. The rain set in by about midday and our day was buggered by thick
fog and rain, so we settled down for the night and we were up first thing
the next morning to no rain and fog, just a little high cloud. We grabbed a
few snacks and bottle of coke and headed up the valley. Not 5 minutes up
the river had us evaluating a nice bull a few hundred metres ahead. After
looking for a while and seeing he was a not too mature bull, we carried on
up another 100 metres to spot a big mob of animals sitting on a big grass
Terrance that followed up the valley 300 metres out of the river on the true left
of the valley. After looking over the animals and finding only nannies and a
couple of small bulls, we knew it was only time before a big bull stepped out.
While looking at this mob of tahr, we found about another 4 or 5 mobs of
animals and they were everywhere. It was mid-morning and I was a bit
surprised too for everything to be out and about this late in the morning,
but hunting the trip is an exciting time and we hit the time perfectly. After
we sat for about 5 minutes at this year looking at all the tahr, I was a bit
taken back when there were two big bulls and a nanny standing on the rock
250 metres away and my eyes almost popped out of my head. I threw up
the spotting scope to find a big mature bull in full rut with a big, thick, dark
mane with gorgeous blonde tips. He had his eyes set on the prize which was
a nanny standing in front of him. I put my pack on top of a few good rocks
and got Adam propped up so he had a good rest on the unsuspecting bull.
Adam had his sights on the bull and we waited for him to be perfectly side
on. One clean shot through both front legs, blew out his kneecaps as he tried
to regain his footing. He stepped a bit close to the edge and clean fell off the
side of the Terrance he was standing on. I watched him free fall about 50
metres and he landed on his head, with the thud, my heart sunk. Hoping it
wasn’t destroyed, we quickly made our way up there to find it was not hit in
the boiler room yet elected to commit suicide by jumping off the cliff and
landing on his face.
On arrival at the bull, we knew he was something special being over 10½
years old and 13 inches in length and to top it off, with a gorgeous blonde
tipped mane. After a quick photo session, we caped him out and headed
back to camp. Twenty five minutes later we were back at camp. We set about
making some bacon and eggs for breakfast. Not more than 30 seconds after,
I put the pan on. I looked up to find another bull standing on the grassy
face 400 metres up from camp, not being quick enough to get the spotting
scope up and have a look over him before the fog rolled in.
After the fog rolled in, then so did the rain, and it rained and rained. I would
say about 300mm of rainfall in about 24 hours. We remained tent bound
It’s snowing, it’s raining, the wind is howling and the wind chill is well below zero, there is thunder and lightning.
The river is up and just washed away our coke, bacon and chamois sausages, which were nicely refrigerated in the
creek. We are tent bound in our sleeping bags, this is no place for fake fabrics and one wrong move in the Southern
Alps could be deadly.
‘til 2 o’clock in the morning when the
wind picked up, blowing about 100
knots and the rain getting driven
into the tent. Not long did it take
for the pegs to rip out of the ground
and tear the fly off the tent and shred
the fiberglass poles like matchsticks.
I ran and jumped into Adam’s tent
and we laughed it off for about an
hour, then that tent ripped off the
poles, got bent, the pegs ripped out
of the ground and the zips broke and
we were there sitting half in and half
out of a tent trying to keep somewhat
dry. We were in a bad way by about
4am with lightning and thunder, rain,
hail and wind.
After the total collapse of the tent,
we retreated to the shelter of a local
rock about 5am with the gas cooker in
hand trying to keep warm. We were
wet through and our sleeping bags were soaked. We were quickly getting
hypothermia. Trying to keep warm and making good decisions we stayed
in the area where the chopper knew where we were.
After the dark, windy morning became light, it was revealed there were
parts of my tent ripped to shreds and my gear everywhere. With the river
up we were stuck. I graded the fly off one of my tents and set it up under
the rock and we got the gas cooker ramped up to keep warm. Shaking
uncontrollably for the last four hours had taken its toll and we were starting
to feel sick and there was nothing we could do about it but wait and hope.
We didn’t die before the helicopter got in there.
It arrived after a few hours to our relief. We would not make it another night
out there with everything destroyed and soaked. We were well prepared
with several pairs of dry clothing and tents that are meant to withstand
those conditions. It was a humbling
experience and even after years of
guiding and hunting, I have never
experienced conditions like those
that day, so even the prepared need
to be wary of the New Zealand
Mountains. I can’t imagine going
into there without the knowledge
of someone who knows what they
are doing.
Thank you for taking the time to read my Post Be sure to send me a message if you would like to know anything about hunting NZ
09-02-2014, 07:39 PM
#2
Typical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: SW Montana
Posts: 550
Good story and nice bull Tahr.
My girlfriend and I vacationed in your beautiful country for four weeks last March and April. We rented a car in Queenstown and pretty much drove clockwise around the South Island. The rain hit us at Franz Josef Glacier (which we couldn't see) and continued for our last two weeks. We really enjoyed the hot pools at Hanmer Springs where the rain didn't bother us too much.
My girlfriend and I vacationed in your beautiful country for four weeks last March and April. We rented a car in Queenstown and pretty much drove clockwise around the South Island. The rain hit us at Franz Josef Glacier (which we couldn't see) and continued for our last two weeks. We really enjoyed the hot pools at Hanmer Springs where the rain didn't bother us too much.
