Thread: Tahr Ballot 2025

Just out from Bubble.

Very lucky weather wise, got 4 good days in, 2 with rain and pulled out a day early as James reccomended due to weather we should. Heaps of animals about, we timed it just right with the rut, all got a Bul. Missed out on a couple of big boys we assessed to be around 12.5 - 13, but light and an unsafe skyline shot saved them. Awesome trip.

If you're into Bubble and want a handover feel free to contact.

Originally Posted by mawzer308

Just out from Bubble.

Very lucky weather wise, got 4 good days in, 2 with rain and pulled out a day early as James reccomended due to weather we should. Heaps of animals about, we timed it just right with the rut, all got a Bul. Missed out on a couple of big boys we assessed to be around 12.5 - 13, but light and an unsafe skyline shot saved them. Awesome trip.

If you're into Bubble and want a handover feel free to contact.

Awesome mate been wondering how you got on

Elizabeth St period 3. Pulled out on Wednesday. Few young bulls about. One of the lads shot a 7yr bull as his first. Had the old man out for hist first tahr hunt at 68 yrs old. Couple monsters that with more time and better weather may have been able to make a play on.

Also snakes seemed to work as a Kea deterrent...

Originally Posted by Hayden C

Got out yesterday due to work commitments after a few fantastic days in the mountains with superb weather. Lots of Bulls around but the best that could be mustered up this trip were a few 12.5-inch specimens before we put our heads down and made a move on a bull that we had watched for a few days. He turned out to be a heavily broomed old battler of a bull that was around 11-12 years old, no teeth left and massive in body size, almost looked like a grizzly bear.

I'll get some photos on here at some point but if anyone is heading into Teichelman then I’m happy to share info to make your trip a successful one.

Hi Hayden C, we're going into Teichelmann for the 8th period, not good to here about the rubbish left behind, we'll take a few extra rubbish bags with us when we go in. A couple of questions, was there much snow about when you were there and were the keas a problem? The snow depth on Windy.com seems to be pretty consistent for that area at 2-3 metres, so how that's actually measured I'm not sure. Thanks.

Hey Lambie,
I was in Teichelmann Creek 2023 season and we had a terrible time with the Keas in there.
My understanding was the Zip guys had essentially been training the Kea when they were culling up there leaving piles of carcasses and teaching them to associate people = food.
We had literally 20+ turn up at midnight one night and proceed to put Kea head sized holes all through our big teepee tent - no amount of yelling, kicking the tent etc could get rid of them and made for some sleepless nights.
I spoke to a few guys who had the block before us and they mentioned the same thing with the Keas coming in and destroying their tents while they were out hunting.
Not sure how Hayden got on with them this year but if I were to go back in there again I would highly recommend breaking down camp each time you left.

Thanks for that bit of info oddsOund, we're going to take 2or3 sacrifice tents to store gear in with the hope that they may take their curiosity out on them, our big tent maybe a bit hard to take down each day, so we might have to take a chance on that. But thanks for the info. Cheers.

Originally Posted by Lambie

Hi Hayden C, we're going into Teichelmann for the 8th period, not good to here about the rubbish left behind, we'll take a few extra rubbish bags with us when we go in. A couple of questions, was there much snow about when you were there and were the keas a problem? The snow depth on Windy.com seems to be pretty consistent for that area at 2-3 metres, so how that's actually measured I'm not sure. Thanks.

Hi Lambie,

Keas were a bloody nuisance - There was a resident mob of 10 or so around camp the whole time so make sure your stuff is well locked away. We have an MIA tent undergoing extensive repairs because of them trying to get in while we were out each day.....

There wasn't a lot of snow around but that might change over the coming weeks which will make it a tricky block to get around. Your campsite is quite high, and you'll probably be doing a lot of climbing each day as a majority of the animals (the good bulls especially) are in the scrub well below camp so think 500-600m vertical climb back to camp each day. You also see a lot of bulls up high in the bluff systems from camp in 'no man's land' as well but these all seemed to be in that 6–7-year-old bracket and what I call 'regratabulls' - they look impressive until you're standing over them and realize they are some way off being something special. DOC seem to have culled out the nannies and left the majority of the bulls as we didn't see high numbers of nannies so good on them.

PM me if I can help further. The rubbish should be gone as I took it out, we left some firewood, but chances are that will be gone to.

Here is a friend's bull from the trip. He needed a long shot to get him after a few failed attempts to get closer, but he was by far the most mature animal we come across.

The photo doesn't really give you a true appreciation of how much bigger he was body wise compared to the 6-7 years olds that seem to be everywhere. Unfortunately, his head is short, being heavily broomed and all his teeth were missing so a real character bull for him.

Nice mane on it too by the looks

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@Lambie need a clear day but this can give an idea of snow level too

https://cawthroneye.cawthron.org.nz/

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Thanks for the info Hayden, we're still 4 weeks away from going and if things get a bit more snowy and icy it could get quite interesting when having to climb down, it's a pity the block doesn't have a Low camp option for late in the season, we'll wait closer to time and see what the conditions are like before we commit.
Thanks Kukuwai for the link to the Cawthron Institute, it's nice having an up to date view.

Originally Posted by Lambie

Thanks for that bit of info oddsOund, we're going to take 2or3 sacrifice tents to store gear in with the hope that they may take their curiosity out on them, our big tent maybe a bit hard to take down each day, so we might have to take a chance on that. But thanks for the info. Cheers.

Take in bird netting from the $2 type shop, just drape it over the tent and secure with cable ties.. works very well.. I also took in a electric fence unit and that completely stopped them hopping in at ground level.. but I got a growling by doc after the fact.