Climbing through the cold...

DIARY OF A TAHR HUNT

By Troy Crittle

IN early May this year I reached the ripe old age of 40.  My long suffering and very understanding wife had said to me a year or so before that I should do something to mark the occasion.  So I did... This is a photo diary of my 40th Birthday New Zealand trip to hunt a bull tahr with my good mate Pete.

 

DAY 1: WE'D been very lucky to draw a balloted tahr block in the Adams Range area.  Being newcomers to tahr hunting we decided to hunt with guide, John Royle, and we are glad we did. The only way into our block was by helicopter so we picked Alpine Adventures and awaited our pick-up was from the road end at the old Whataroa Bridge.

 

We were limited to one large backpack and one daypack each and a medium sized esky between the three of us.  It was quite a squeeze in the helicopter.  Pete looked a bit nervous when the pilot checked his I-phone mid flight...

   
After a 10 minute fight we arrived at our landing site. There were two alternate landing sites on the block this was in case the preferred site was in cloud. Luckily Jamie the pilot found a hole in the cloud and was able to put us down at the first campsite.  After setting up camp, which was only two small tents, we got into glassing tahr and saw a few bulls straight away. (You know its steep country when you have to lie on your back to see the top of the range...)

We glassed a few bulls and set off for our first tahr hunt.  We climbed in and out of a few gullies and when the fog cleared Pete and I where able to take a good bull each.  I was using my Ruger 30/06 with Hornady 150g handloads.  (Pete used my rifle to take his bull as well.)  Both bulls fell into a steep gut and it took quite a while to get across to them.  (Check out the glacial ice behind my bull. )
It was a very nasty spot to climb out of with a tahr cape weighing about 25kg.

 

We caped my bull and by the time we got across to Pete’s bull it was almost dark.  We had to leave him there and come back the next day to retrieve him. Even without the extra cape, getting out of that gully was an absolute mission. We arrived back at the tents at 8.30 pm completely exhausted. 

 

DAY 2: Our second day was spent retrieving Pete’s bull and working on my cape. The weather cleared nicely but in started raining just on dark and rained all night. 

DAY 3: On day three we woke to tahr whistling at us from above camp.  After a mad scramble for breakfast and to get gear together and we were off up the hill.

 
As we climbed, steady light rain turned to sleet and then snow but we kept glassing and climbing for about an hour.  We thought the bull we were after had given us the slip but then John spotted him grazing on a ridge line about 350m away.  We hunched over like tahr and stalked across the open tussock to a more manageable 230m from the bull.  It was snowing quite hard now. 

I lay down in the snow and took a rest across my daypack.  The bull had stopped grazing and was looking in our direction.  Unbelievably as I got down behind the rifle a flock of four or five keas found us and they wanted to show us some old bones that they had found.  We quietly got rid of the keas and I got in behind the rifle again. 

It was quite hard to see the bull as the scope was filling up with snow but I managed to get a good shot away.  The bull dropped like he’d been electrocuted and rolled 80-100m down the slope.  Thankfully he stopped just before a large drop. 

John was excited and thought I had just shot a really great bull.  It took us 40 minutes or so to climb up a snow shute to where the bull was and see if John was right.

What a bull.  He was 13 ¾ inches long and the best bull John had ever seen a client take in 27 years of professional guiding.  He has a beautiful cape as well which I think is as much of the trophy as the horns.   We took a few photos and got started on the caping as we could see another snow shower approaching and we were a little concerned about getting down safely.

  While we were caping the big fella this young bull came and checked us out. 

Coming down with the cape through some snow.

DAY 4: On the fourth day we concentrated on getting a second bull for Pete.  One of the advantages of hunting the balloted wilderness blocks is that the tahr are exposed to very light hunting pressure. This meant that quite often animals would feed down quite low on tussock grass of a night and by daylight (about 7.30 or 8 am depending on the weather) they could still be within shooting range from camp. 
So on the fourth morning we were able to glass a nice bull feeding on a face across from the camp.  Pete and John were about to close the distance by about 200m while I glassed from another spot to keep an eye on the bull and call Pete’s shots. Pete was shooting over 400m and he made two good shots on the bull. I saw the bull come down a steep creek and go in under a small cave. He didn’t come out. 
John suggested that we stay put and that he should climb over and get the cape as the bull died in a very nasty spot that was no place for first time tahr hunters. It took John over four hours to cover the 400m to the bull and to return to camp with the cape. He told us there were places where he was nervous, which is saying something.        
 The bull ended up right on the edge of a 20m drop off. 

DAY 5: The weather on the fifth day was clear and fine. We woke to a very big frost and everything was frozen solid including our boots, socks and even cans of tuna.  After thawing out a little we decided to have an easy day as we’d shot two good bulls each and we didn’t see any point shooting more. We dried out some gear and took some great photos. In the afternoon we climbed to the ridge behind camp. In 15 minutes of glassing we had seen over 20 bulls. It was a wonderful experience just to sit and watch them do there thing as the rut was in full swing and they were chasing nannies all over the place. 

Below is the view from camp looking down the Poerua River towards the coast. This photo is taken from about halfway up the river and the coastline is visible as the “horizon”.  The dark horizontal band running through the green paddock is the main west coast road and at night we could see trawlers fishing out to sea.  Although its only about 7km to the road there was no way in or out other than helicopter as there were bluffs just below our camp and a large waterfall in the river that looked impassable.

Resident camp wrecker.  Every night keas would come into our camp and get into everything.  They are cheeky and will come right up and nibble on your boots if you stay still.  This fella loved getting into our rubbish bag and playing with the handles on the esky, all night.

Pete (right) and I with our trophies.

 

DAY 6: Last day and the weather turned quite nasty. Snow was predicted down low and we were concerned about the helicopter not being able to get in. Twice we heard the helicopter approach and then turn away. Standing around in the snow thinking that we would be stuck for another couple of days was no fun at all.  Luckily the helicopter turned up only one hour late. A quick 10 minute flight back to Whataroa and we were back at John’s truck.  A change of clothes and lunch at the pub in Hokitika then back to Christchurch for the flight home the day after. 

A FEW TIPS:

I don’t pretend to be an expert in tahr hunting but here are a few thoughts and tips for anyone thinking of doing a similar hunt.

Hunting areas

• As a general rule the West Coast in New Zealand has more unpredictable and wetter weather than the East Coast hunting areas.
• Tent camping and flying in can be a pain but normally you can expect to see more and better quality animals, we saw over 40 bulls on our hunt.
• Unless you’ve been a few times and are experienced in alpine conditions, go with a guide. A guide will normally pick you up at the airport and drop you off. We might have taken some bulls on a do-it-yourself hunt but I would not have felt as safe and I doubt it if any of our bulls would have been recovered by us.  We hunted with John Royle from www.tahrhuntingguide.co.nz John was professional, hardworking and very knowledgeable.     

Fitness

•  You have to be fit to hunt tahr.  I was running up to 14km a couple of times per week and going three weight sessions per week for three months before I left and at times I didn’t feel fit enough. 
• If you’re reading this and in your twenties and your want to hunt tahr do it, if you’re in your thirties, don’t wait too long.  If you’re in your fourties you need to prepare well, over a few months.  Regardless of your age be honest about your weight, if you need to lose a few kilos do it but give yourself plenty of time. I started training after New Year for a late May hunt.
• Its best to train specifically for the activity you’ll be doing. For next time I am going to join a gym with a stepping machine as almost all the walking you do will up uphill or downhill.  Distances you walk will generally be less than in Australia, but will be much harder.

Equipment

• I am an average Aussie with a mortgage and two small children. I didn’t have a huge budget for this hunt, with the exception for boots and a raincoat I made do with the gear that I already owned.  Heres a bit of a rundown on the gear I used:
• Rifle – I took my Ruger 30/06 with 150g hand loads. I would have liked to mount a new higher power scope but the Leupold 3-9 X 40 that its worn for years worked well.  I practiced longer shots before the hunt and sighted it in to be 75mm high at 100m, this put the point of impact at 230m.  Although it would be nice to have a specialised rifle for alpine hunting its not really necessary. John our guide uses a Winchester Featherweight in 308. You do need a calibre with some punch as tahr are a strongly built animal. Anything from 270 upwards would be fine. The bottom line is take a rifle with which you shoot well.
• Knives – I took two knives, a larger Buck skinner and a smaller Buck folder.  Both worked well. If you're caping or helping out with your skins a small sharp pocket knife is all you need.
• Boots – good boots are as essential as fitness training. Don’t go without it. You need boots that have a stiff sole “or shank” across the bottom. A rigid boot helps you to keep you footing in steep country. A lot of boots used in Australia are too light and have too much flexibility. This makes them tiring on the legs and joints and also makes them unsafe on the hill. I used Meindl Island Pro and I was very happy with them.
• Raingear – you will get wet at some stage, so you need good rain gear. I bought a Hunters Element Aspiring Jacket on special for $199 and I took some Cabelas Rain Suede rain pants that I’d had for years. I thought that the jacket worked well but the pockets got very wet and cold on some days. The advantage of a good raincoat is that it will keep out wind as well. A couple of small dry bags are good for storing gear and dry clothes.
• Clothing – I already owned a lot of fleece clothing so I took what I had. It was a mix of Ridgeline and Swazi. I have different weights of fleece and a lot of layers so as it got colder I added layers. Some nights I slept in four layers of fleece and two other layers. For my base layers I took poly propylene thermals and skins as well as two light merino wool tops. The merino outperformed the poly by a long way. It is warm, dries quickly and most of all unlike the poly it doesn’t stink after two days. Next time I go I will have all merino base layers.  It is a little more expensive but it is worth it and because it doesn’t stink you can wear it for longer meaning you need less of it. Same goes for socks. I used wool blend materials.  One thinner on the inside and a thicker sock on the outside. Word of warning – keep your dry socks dry at all costs.
• Sleeping gear – I used a Kathmandu down sleeping bag (-7 C) that I’ve owned for years. I found it warm enough, but I did go to bed in a lot of layers. I think it makes it a little easier to get up in the morning that way. I did take a thermal liner but I found it too warm so Pete pinched it. Down is warm and light but, like the socks, must be kept dry at all costs.