Thread: First Time Tahr Hunt

Hey team, just moved down to the South Island and a mate is headed down in a couple of weeks. We're both keen to try chase a tahr round, we were thinking about the Rangitata/Havelock Rivers. Both have plenty of experience up north and a little experience down south but never chasing tahr. Any advice for a couple newbie tahr hunters would be much appreciated.

Try to fit yr hunting trip with 3 or 4 days of fine weather.Winter is yr enemy.

Must have good boots.
Can’t dance around in ya Crocs in that country @GeogeB
Cheers MG

As others have said a hard time to hunt tahr short days and they seem to be high up in the white stuff. If you go just use it as a reccy trip for spring when they are lower and the days longer. You
may find a low animal anytime though.

Take a spotting scope and spend a lot of time locating them from the river bed before heading uphill. Was in that general area in May and most were right at the top - although there was very little snow around then.

Wait until late October early November, they will drop down to low levels in the afternoon to feed, you can almost set your watch to it.

Originally Posted by imaca

Wait until late October early November, they will drop down to low levels in the afternoon to feed, you can almost set your watch to it.

And practice yr shooting to 300yds,shoot from the river bed and let them roll down to you.Sometimes it works.lols

depending on how fit/keen you are . 1st option find them from the river bed/bottom of the hill work out roughly where they are coming down etc , go up the next day and wait for them to come to you, make sure youve sussed a way back down the hill and take a torch to 2 as you will most likely be coming back in the dark. 2nd option find some likely looking country climb up there have a poke round if your extra keen find a flat bit and camp also remember to make sure you can get back down with out getting stuck at night . 3rd wait till spring shoot and them in the river bed.

Do you have a 4WD? Do you have some good winter camping gear?

Originally Posted by Husky1600#2

Do you have a 4WD? Do you have some good winter camping gear?

Yep have a 4wd and all the camping gear, if the weather is playing ball was planning on staying up there for a couple nights

Carry 2 head lamps each and spare batteriys.Cimbing down in the dark no fun.

Feel free to pm me and if your after somthing slightly easy on the elevation and the chance of tahr and deer I could pint you in to a area that I’ve pulled a few 12s and 13inchs out of

Originally Posted by dale

Feel free to pm me and if your after somthing slightly easy on the elevation and the chance of tahr and deer I could pint you in to a area that I’ve pulled a few 12s and 13inchs out of

cheers mate will do

If you're doing a descend in the dark approach it pays to have a GPS track of the route you took on the way up, or of a clear proven way down. Getting to a 100M of the valley floor and being stymied by bluff or a band of dense matagouri is no fun when it's dark!

Things are everywhere in differing numbers main thing in winter is safety, don’t go walking up hills unless you know there’s a tahr up there unless staying up the hill, be careful shooting bulls this time of year if you shoot half way down from the top of the shoulder and where the Maine stops you’ll get a low leg shot so aim 1/4 to 1/3 down from the top