Hunting New Zealand Tahr – Craig’s Tahr hunt.

It was early June and only a month since we arrived after moving from the North to the South Island of New Zealand. The house and garage were still cluttered with removal cartons and hunting was not on my wife’s list of things for me to do. My friend wasn’t to know this when he put the call through suggesting a tahr hunt in Southern Alps. With my wife’s blessing, plans were made and we were up and away at 4.30 on a brisk calm winters day.

The climb to 6000 feet was greatly reduced thanks to the Honda ATV. Even the bike found the altitude a little difficult with the thin oxygen mix causing the carburetor problems and the motor spluttering in disproval every now and then. Once nearing the top we took to our feet walking to a vantage point as the sunrays of the new day were cutting through the southern sky.

It didn’t take long to spot our first animals. Approximately 3-400 metres below were a young bull tahr and a handful of nannies with kids. My friend had traveled from further up the island so I gave him option on shooting the first bull tahr. This was to be my first mistake.

As Craig set off negotiating the downward descent on the rock scree slide we looked on to see another larger bull tahr and more nannies appear feeding their way to the tops for the day. Too much time had lapsed to allow another hunter to stalk down to Craig’s position without disturbing the animals and ruin the hunt. Hunting is all about patience and it certainly tried John’s and mine as we waited anticipating the inevitable volley of gunshots.

Not to be disappointed the calm tranquil sunrise was shattered by one shot, then another and another as Craig opened up. We watched in horror as Craig’s first shot went low and the alerted bull tahr jumped from his perch and made for cover. The element of surprise and not knowing the hunters position gave Craig the opportunity to fire no less than 12 shots before the remaining tahr realized their life expectancy was very high if they were to stay where they were.

Once Craig had finished emptying his ammunition belt and we thought it was safe enough to come out from the safety of our rock cover we made our way down to his position. This was a slow task as visibility was obscured by a blue cloud of burnt gun powder that filled the air.

Despite all the rounds fired the tahr managed to walk off and collapse, temporarily hidden by snow grass and tussock. A quick scout round located a nice 11 ¼” bull tahr and a smaller 8 ½” bull tahr. The bigger bull tahr had an excellent winter coat without any snow damage with great length and colour. Craig got on with task of skinning out the animals while John and I carried on with the hunt.

Despite Craig’s earlier chorus of it wasn’t long before we spotted another handful of tahr in the same ravine. As we took cover and stalked closer the animals disappeared from view. We hunted for two hours but failed to locate them until retracting our footsteps I spooked the bull tahr who made a quick retreat.

We climbed higher and soon came into fresh sign. We followed the game trail and were entering a hot spot when any hope of shooting a tahr were dashed by the echo of shoots fired by another hunting party further up the gully. The hunters fired several shots and we watched as the scree faces below us moved with tahr.

My hunting buddy John lined up on one and let rip with his .308. One shot and the bullet struck its target in the neck at 270 metres. A good shot but I wouldn’t expect anything less from a man who spent 17 years hunting as a culler for New Zealand's Department of Conservation.

The remaining animals were out of my comfort zone but John encouraged me to take a shoot at a young bull tahr, which we sighted at 400 metres. Shouldering my Tikka 7mm08 I aimed high on the tahrs’ back, squeezing off a round and saw dust fly at his front feet and then walk off to see another day.

Despite my missed shot and not securing a bull tahr myself I had a great day; great company, great weather and scenery and 3 bull tahr shoot and over 50 animals seen. Besides, a bad day hunting in New Zealand beats a good day unpacking removal boxes.

The Himalayan Tahr was introduced to New Zealand 1904 ago primarily for the purposes of sport. Apart from a small herd in England this was the first time tahr had been liberated outside their native range, but they quickly adapted themselves to their new home and their numbers increased rapidly.

Although they have not dispersed as far as chamois, which were liberated in the same area a little later, tahr occupy an important part of the Southern Alps, extending from the Landsborough River in the south to the Waimakariri River in the north. Prized as a trophy by sportsmen, New Zealand tahr have nevertheless increased to such an extent as to cause damage to the alpine flora, resulting in increased erosion and soil loss. Since 1937, attempts have been made to control them, initially by shooting and later by poisoning.

The Southern Alps on the South Island are big by New Zealand standards and vast. What appears to be a short distance away can take several hours to cover by foot. Hunting New Zealand tahr by foot in these conditions on public land requires a reasonable level of fitness and agility. I would class myself to be averagely fit and not carrying much extra body weight and I found hunting at this altitude hard. At times I was only carrying one tahr leg and my rifle walking up hill. I had to stop every 10 paces with my heart thumping in my ears to catch my breath.

For those of you interested in hunting Himalayan Tahr in New Zealand we can offer several options to suit your physical capability and trophy goals. Hunts are either on private or public land, by foot or helicopter or a combination of all.