Hunting Bull Tahr in NZ, DIY OR GUIDE?

[maindivideoutfitters]

10376322_10202271854059525_8690563938565661716_n.jpg (80.28 KiB) Viewed 3281 times

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.
Firstly, I would like to introduce
myself. My name is Tom Jones. I
am a born and bred Kiwi. Hunting
in New Zealand has been part of my
life for as long as I can remember.
The old man was a deer culler and
helicopter shooter for the majority
of his working life. Growing up with
hunting in my blood has given me
such a passion and understanding
for hunting in New Zealand. I have
made it my career, being in the pest control industry for a few years and
working on protecting some of New Zealand’s most endangered species
through working for different government departments. Now after guiding
for other hunting outfits for several years, I decided it was time to run my
own hunting outfit in New Zealand, Main Divide Outfitters.
The poor old bull has been referred to with many names in the past. Many
too wild to mention, but one that strikes me as true is the ‘Devil’ because
you have to go through Hell to get him.
Hunting bull tahr for me has to be the top big game animal in the southern
hemisphere, possibly the world, with his big black mane, long fur coat and
his ability to run down a sheer rock face beyond vertical jumping from
one side of the bluff to another with a mere, tiny crack in the rock as a foot
hold is a sight to be seen.

The area the bull tahr live in is unforgiving.
Cold and more often than not wet. There are
no words to prepare you for hunting tahr. It
is not only physically challenging but mentally
challenging, being wet, cold, and exhausted.
Walking on slippery rocks all day takes a huge
amount of concentration and energy. It’s
nothing like stalking in Australia. If you want
to hunt tahr, its best you know what to do.
There are a couple of different options for you
to hunt tahr in New Zealand. Do it yourself
hunts or guided hunts. I am going to explain both in detail. Work out which
one is best to fit your needs.
Introduction of the tahr and movement, habits, rutting, times to hunt:
Six tahr were first introduced into New Zealand from England in 1905 in
the Mt Cook Area. Since then their numbers have grown to over 30,000
animals and their range spans from the Rakaia River to the Lindas Pass.
The bull tahr begin to rut about the first week of May and go through to
June. During this time you will find bull tahr in a big group of nannies and
kids. This is a great time to chase tahr as they are seemingly oblivious to
humans, but be sure to watch out for the nannies, they will be the ones you
will spook and they will leave, taking your prized bull with them. You are
able to hunt tahr all year round with the best coats being between March
and September. vSpring time is also a very productive time with the new
fresh grass growing lower in the valleys and the big bulls coming down to
feed on this new growth.
Some of the equipment needed:
Correct rifles calibers. As the mountains are unforgiving, I suggest buying
the best equipment you can buy. For a tent you will want a heavy duty alpine
four seasons tent. For a sleeping bag you are going to want a four season
sleeping bag with a rating of -5° or more. With cookers I don’t like carrying
around the heavy propane bottles like the jetboil or similar. I use the MSR
Whisperlite International and it uses white spirits as fuel and 1 litre usually
lasts about 3 days. Along with all your hunting clothing, be sure not to bring
cotton. If it gets wet and there is a little bit of wind, your body temp will drop
extremely fast. I use the Lamellar clothing layering system and have found
it to be perfect for New Zealand with their contracam camo pattern made
for Australia it still fits in with new Zealand’s alpine scrub really well. With
rifles you will want a relatively light weight rifle in calibers from about .243
up. We personally use a Tikka T3 lite in 7mmrem mag fluted barrel and bolt
and suppressed with a leupold 4-12x40. Bringing your rifle to New Zealand
from Australia is a well-drawn out process with several different forms to
fill out on the Australian end and one in New Zealand.
Skills and Safety:
With any hunting you should be prepared for the worst possible case. In
the mountains this is especially true. Between May and December there is
snow on the mountains, so there is a real risk of an avalanche. You should
have done an outdoor first aid course and avalanche safety, recovery and
awareness. While going bush you will want to carry a personal locator
beacon, a big first aid kit with extra strapping, pain killers and anti-inflame
gel etc. Also you should look at buying or hiring a satellite phone. You will
want to know how to cape, head skin and salt down your trophy bull or all
your hard work could go to waste.
Costs:
Airfares to and from NZ are usually around $500-600 if booked a couple
of months prior. There are a few costs involved when doing a DIY hunt.
You could overlook
such as hiring a car,
buying your own
food, accommodation,
travel insurance, fuel
for your cooker, getting
all the necessary items
before you leave
Australia so your trip
is a safe and enjoyable
one. If you choose to
use a helicopter, the
cost is usually around
$1000-1500 drop in
and out from a good
operator.
Location:
Tahr are located on
the south island of
New Zealand so you
will want to fly into
Christchurch International Airport which is an easy 3 hour flight from most
east coast cities within Australia.
Fitness and mental ability:
Being in good fitness is going to make your hunt a hell of a lot easier and
enjoyable. The mountains are big, very, very big, and the bull tahr like
anywhere are around 800 to 2500 metres in altitude depending on which
area you are.
Being a guide I know how steep it is and recovering animals is usually a
solo job as the client waits on more flatter ground, so you will have to have
a good mental ability to know when you can push yourself and when to pull
out. Also try thinking if you shoot an animal is it recoverable if it falls, if it
gets stuck where it falls? The worst feeling is going to the trouble of getting
a shot only to find you can’t recover it.
Guided Hunts:
A guided hunt can sometimes work out to be cheaper or similar to the price
of a DIY hunt if you pick the right outfitter.
Hunting with a guide, everything is organized. You don’t have to worry about
being overweight coming through the airport with all the extra gear you will
be carrying, getting your firearm through, organising food, your transport
and everything else I have stated in the DIY part of this segment, but most
of all you will know you will be going to a great area where the chance of a
good bull is a lot greater than having a poke in the dark as such and all your
money and hard work going to waste. Having a guide with the experience of
mountain hunting you know you are in safe hands, it can be a deadly place
and even the most prepared guides and people can sometimes get stuck.


Thank you for taking the time to read my Post.

[Indian Summer]

Did you just type all of that? lol Copy and paste free advertising.

Try TahrNut Forums

[maindivideoutfitters]

I wrote it mate, hoping it could help some people and threw in a story as well.

[Indian Summer]

OK. I'll pass on the tahr but I do like that rack in your avatar pic. Are there opportunities for a stag like that on your private land hunts? Are those hunts free range as in no high fenced hunting concessions???

Also... can you give me a formula to convert your rates to U.S. funds?

I like the last line in your terms and conditions: "All Hunts will now be Paid before the hunt is to commence, as we got screwed over by previous hunters coming for a hunt and taking off"

[maindivideoutfitters]

HI Mr Summer. Red stags only get that big high fenced mate.