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MY TAHR HUNT WITH HUNTFISH

Day 1

I Arrived in Christchurch mid-morning Sunday and was met by Tony from HuntFish.    After a coffee and a chat we started back to Clent Hills homestead, a 90 minute drive into the high country.   On the way Tony said that it was likely that we’d be flying in that afternoon instead of the following morning because the weather may pack up on the Thursday, meaning a Wednesday evening pick-up to come back out rather than the Thursday afternoon.

After a drive through some absolutely stunning scenery we arrived at the homestead where I was introduced to Suzi, Tony’s wife.  Then in walked Troy , Tony’s son who would be guiding me.   I was made to feel instantly at home and after chatting to Troy , I could see I was in for a great time.  We had a cuppa while Tony made a couple of calls and then announced that we’d be leaving in 1.5 hours so we had to be ready.  Troy took me down the back to sight my rifle in while Tony and Suzi prepared all our gear and packed the landrover.  While at the range my reloads wouldn’t feed as the casings were not resized.  I had to break out the federal ammo.  After sighting our rifles I packed the clothes and gear I was taking, threw it in the landrover and we were on our way.

More spectacular scenery on our way to the pick-up spot.  We were met by the station manager and were told the chopper will be here in 5 minutes; no sooner had we unloaded the gear and the chopper arrived.  Tony did a final gear check and asked “have you guys got everything”?  We both answered “yes” and Tony had a big grin on his face “Well whose bloody binoculars are these”?  and guess what-they were mine!  That would’ve been great going without those.   We were loaded up and on our way to the hut; arriving about 3pm.  We literally chucked the gear in the door and we were off up the valley.  We walked for about 3.5 hours up one side of the valley above the hut; no tahr but saw sign of a big stag.   That had us pumped.  Back to the hut for Troy to cook a dinner of wild pork sausages, mashed potatoes and lots of veges which was great after a good walk.  Cleaned up, had a cuppa and a few yarns then hit the bed, eager for the morning.

DAY 2

We set off further up the valley to a good vantage point taking a few hours to reach it.  After coming down from a peak we found a tussock and made ourselves comfortable, continuing to glass.  We knew the tahr were close as there were tracks .  After a while glassing we decided to head across the valley further up from the hut, taking care to avoid a steep, shingly ridge that looked too risky.  We opted for another slope that was shingly but with Troy ’s guidance I made it across, although I admit that I was not that confident to start with.  A short climb down to the river and we were glassing a face when way on top, about 5000 ft up, Troy spotted a set of horns on the skyline in amongst the rocks.  He quickly alerted me and we started our way up, lungs working full on.  When we were up on top on the other side of the river we stealthily glassed the top of the tussocks up onto the main range.  Sure enough, there he was.   We could tell he was a trophy bull, great horns, blonde front to back, his mane long and dreadlocked at the front.  Then we spotted a second bull, bigger than the first and jet black.  Yhey were both feeding; one would stand guard while the other fed and then swap.  The heart was racing and I had to steady the nerves!  I headed up the gully on the right whileTroy spotted and relayed the location on the walkie-talkie.  Well you couldn’t have picked a worse time for the walkie-talkie to malfunction so here we are running blind at a crucial time.  I was knee deep in snow and only 20 metres away when the spooked and bolted down the gully.  Troy had been frantically trying to raise me to tell me to stop where I was but I’d walked right on them so the rest is history-two good trophy bulls lost.   At the time it’s just intense disappointment and frustration but that’s true wilderness hunting.

What had taken one hour to go up took us 5 minutes to run down.  On the way back we took the soft option to head back to the hut via the river.  By the time we got back to the hut it was dark and we both had wet feet.  We got the fire going to try to dry our boots and Troy put his socks on the fire box; 15 minutes later and the hut was full of smoke.  His socks were a charred mess-we roared with laughter, talked over the day and put aside the disappointment of the missed tahr.  They were beautiful trophy animals, not young  so they were real canny and we felt privileged to see them in the wild. 

DAY 3

When we woke next morning the boots were still wet so we stuffed them with paper and set them in front of the fire while we tucked into bacon and eggs.   The food was fantastic, we ate like kings and special mention goes to Suzi’s home baking, especially the lolly cake!   We headed out and checked no tahr had crossed the river.  We crossed the next river, heading up and glassing all the way when about halfway up a big bull popped up on the ridge line approximately  800 metres away.  He started moving down the ridge while we started moving up.  We lost sight for 20 minutes but then he came back into sight; a magnificent bull.  Unfortunately he went back up and over the ridge but the sight of him was a real buzz and confirms the big bulls are there.  Note to Department of Conservation: on our way up the creek to the saddle we came across a dead hare courtesy of a feral cat.

Back to the hut via the upper flats and through one metre high tussocks but at least our boots are dry.  Had spaghetti and meatballs for dinner then an early night.  My legs are a bit weary.  Next morning we cleaned the hut and packed all our gear ready for the chopper.  Then we made a bee line for the spot where we saw the first 2 bulls.  We climbed up to 4500 ft and sidled round the face.  At around 12.30 we spotted a nanny on lookout then a bull up another 100 metres; we glassed them while they fed and moved down.  The bull was a young animal so we weren’t too interested.  The chopper was due in so we headed for our last scree face where we spotted a nanny on guard.  She wasn’t giving us the time of day; no end of noise and waving would move her.   Took a shot with the .308 then suddenly all hell broke loose with tahr running everywhere down the face-what an awesome sight to see how quickly they cover difficult terrain.  Well with time running out we headed back via river and were just about to get our feet wet when we heard the chopper; he’d come looking for us.  Awesome!  We were a tad weary by this time so getting a ride the rest of the way to the hut was a bonus.  Packed up and pointed the chopper to home, a 15 minute flight over some spectacular country.

Well I lucked out with the tahr this time but I saw 3 magnificent bulls and heaps of nannies, covered heaps of ground, my fitness and confidence grew out of sight and I now have plans for the next assault.  Next time I want to bring my wife and son.  I would recommend this particular hunt as a GENUINE high country tahr hunt.  I had the time of my life and I’ll definitely be back, only next time I’ll be fitter and give Troy a run for his money.  Bloody Troy is like a 4x4 with a fuel tanker behind!   Great experience with great company.

 Nigel Andrews