hunting kiwi style

mereside

Well-Known Member
hi guys just got back from nz and what an adventure we had we went up onto a glasier to hunt tahr and chamois ,helicoptered into a camp and hunted from there on my first climb up the steep rocky slopes and this soon brings home how fit you need to be the shear scale of the mountains are very impressive and dangerous . we stalked best we could and i got to within 10 metres of my first tahr asleep in the tussocks i loaded and took my first shot a good hit to the heart and the bull dropped only to get up and run i reloaded and fired again to see its legs fold underneath its body and fall down a gully into some tall bracken .on my radio frank had been watching and after my first shot a group of bull tahrs had stood up from an overhang there was around 8-10 he called out for me to take the furthest on the right with no rocks around for support i steadied for a freehand shot which hit home and he dropped on the spot to slide down off the steep slope.now paul was some way behind and didnt want to take all the bulls so on the radio to paul to get up here fast to take one himself.and another was in the bag at this point we decided to let the rest of the mob go and retrieve our tahr now two where side by side and mine was a little smaller but wasnt bothered as i had my first now my attention turned to the one i had shot first and moving down the slope to retrieve him i found the spot from which he fell but spent the rest of my time looking to no avail the area was dense bracken with steep slopes and we just couldnt find him i was gutted we even had the chopper hover over on our leaving to try to find him but no joy.we went back to camp as the light was faiding fast .now we did quite abit so i will have to condense thigs down abit and tell my story so off to another base again tents and chamois was the next on the list although we still had good height for a big tahr if one came along the first day we spotted tahr up on the ridge so all was looking good we headed out down a river for the chamois.now this was no easy task the rocks to climb were as big as houses and all the while we headed down from camp i was thinking how hard it was to get back now me and frank left the other two boys and had travelled down some way. we decided to head up an old gully which was overgrown with trees which we had to climb through. a chamois came to investigate the noise and i wasnt quick enough to unsling the rifle before it was gone in a flash ,bummer but at least i had seen one .anyway we carried on glassing all the time but out in the open the high grass and tussock made it hard to spot them and we came back empty handedthe next day i went off on my own to spot two at 600 metres up on a gully i radiod in to set off om my stalk i headed down those big rocks and gaining 200 metres had to start climbing through the bush now this looked reasonable from my first glassing point and it turned out to be very steep and a relentless task which i felt i was going to have a coronory and need airlifting out but i managed to get around 35 metres of my chamois as i lifted my rifle which felt more like a cannon ,arms burning and waving like a magic wand i took in some deep breaths to steady and i let rip with the 270 to see no reaction it dissapeared into the dense undergroath.frank was making his way up to me and i had started my decent he said whats wrong and i replied that i thought i had missed when he laughed and started climbing ,come on its up here and he had a good view and saw it take a few steps and drop .from my angle i couldnt see so another was in the bag i will post pictures on part two of my adventure as seem to have uploaded all i can for the moment,atb wayne newzealand 042.jpgnewzealand 046.jpgnewzealand 054.jpg
pencil.png
 
Last edited:
hi tom we had a fantastic time it was awsome,i managed tahr chamois and a ten point red stag we was going for fallow and boar on our last outing but was cut short by fog so didnt manage them we had 4 tahr 3 chamois and 2 stags two tahr where 13 inch horns so where real trophys ,atb wayne
 
Awesome, very green indeed!!!:drool:

I have a book about hunters in New Zealand and I think its about as close as i'll ever get.

Ace book though; 'Hunting with the best' by Kingsley Field.

To Quote Vinny Jones in Snatch ' You lucky *******' !!
 
Thats one spooky place, I was there 10 year back, silenccccccccccceeeeeee :eek: Great unspoilt scenery. Well done ;)
 
Copy of newzealand 185.jpgCopy of newzealand 197.jpgCopy of newzealand 201.jpgCopy of newzealand 203.jpgCopy of newzealand 058.jpgCopy of newzealand 105.jpgCopy of newzealand 181.jpgheres a few more pictures we have around 6 hours of really good video footage as well the last picture shows me climbing down the glasier it was around 3500 feet up and worth all the hard work atb wayne
 
Copy of newzealand 048.jpgCopy of newzealand 096.jpgCopy of newzealand 059.jpgCopy of newzealand 110.jpgand some more 2nd to last base of the glasier and last one is the summit i managed to walk along the top summit to follow a bull tahr ,atb wayne
 
Awesome pictures there, those and the memories will last a lifetime!!
When ya going back?
 
The landscape pics are breathtaking, very atmospheric. You certainly have an eye for a good picture.
 
Wayne,

I like the picture of the Chamois but you should have given that stoned beardy tramp a fiver to get out of the picture...:lol:

A.
 
thanks guys ,wilf just need to get cracking at work now and save i will definately be going back its an amazing place and very friendly people who would stop you in the street to ask you what you had managed to shoot as well as getting advice from hunters coming out of the bush in choppers
pencil.png
 

Attachments

  • Copy of newzealand 208.jpg
    Copy of newzealand 208.jpg
    20.9 KB · Views: 47
ha ha adam someone told me it was going to be cold so i thaught i would need the beard :rolleyes:
it was very warm even with the snow all the climbing i think,atb wayne
 
Well done Wayne,:tiphat: your post brought back my last trips out there, two 13” plus Bull Tahrs are truly exceptional, to those that don’t know I guess that would equate to two 14 point red stags. Chamois are very wary, good to see you bagged one. The Tahr can take some putting down they are tough critters, when I was hunting out there I saw them hit fair and square with 30 cal’ magnums and still run on and only to be found the next day after running over 500 yards.

Compared to your average UK stalker the Kiwi hunters are so very fit, I am pretty fit by most standards but Tahr hunting was the most physical hunting I have done, quite a few people have lost their lives hunting them, dangerous country if you are not careful.

Thanks for sharing

ATB


Tahr
 
Last edited:
i know what you mean about them being tough darren shot the two big boys and the footage is amazing he shot one three times in the heart lung area before going down with a 7mm rem the first two shots hit him and it looked like he shrugged them off he stood there looking as if to say is that all you have got even after a massive fall he didnt break any horns they have really hard skins i have alot of respect for them after seeing how they cope with there terrain they are so mucsular i will post the footage of them when i recieve the dvds atb wayne
 
Great stuff Wayne! I am very jealous. It has got to be my dream trip.

I visited NZ a couple of years ago - I haven't let one day slip past without wishing to go back with the rifle in hand. Thanks for posting the pics,

Dave
 
Looks like a wicked trip
not done NZ as yet, but it's on my to do list for the future
ATB
 
Back
Top