Thread: First chamois

Just spent the last few days staying with a good mate of mine in Lake Hawea and he was kind enough to gather some intel for me about a catchment to hunt from another friend who was unable to come along for a walk with me. I left the car just after 9am and we decided that 5pm would be pickup time for me to be back at the road so I got on my way. The first section was about 650 vertical meters to the ridge over not a very long distance which was pretty hardcore for this north island bush hunter lol. Once up I siddled up and along until I reached the catchment spotting 2 Tahr on the way(opposite direction from each other and about 2kms from me in both directions if not more). I got to where I wanted to check and started glassing with little success but eventually my eyes caught a chamois buck cutting across the top of a gutter then sitting up on an outcrop 400yds away. Unfortunately my chosen glassing spot was no good for shooting up there due to the steep angle so I tried to sneak up higher and set up on another rock but when I had done that the chamois was nowhere to be seen and I assumed I had blown it but I continued to glass to no avail. Eventually I decided I needed to get back to the car as it would take me a few hrs even on the downhill but no more than 100m down the creek I looked up to see my chamois Watching me! The cheeky bugger had obviously sat down for a rest and when I started walking away I must have caught his attention. With very few shooting options available i got the rifle ontop of a high rock and set myself up to shoot. The borrowed 708 let rip and the chamois dropped. Lucky my friend is meticulous with his reloading and testing as this allowed me to have the utmost confidence in his gear. By 3:30 the chammy was chopped up and in my pack but now I really had to race back to the car, lucky there was a spot of reception and I managed to push back my chauffeur to 5:30 which I was 10 minutes late for even after doing a bit of jogging lol. Was great to be met by a mate with 2 paracetamol and a cold beer to help numb my poor knees haha. In the end the chammy went 7.5" so not a trophy but you have to start somewhere!
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