A Mission to Thar Country
Himalayan Thar were introduced in 1904 and 1909 to an area above the Hermitage
on Aoraki Mt Cook. These animals took well to the environs of the Southern Alps
and quickly spread. In their Native land they are called Tahr,in NZ they are Thar.
Late autumn marks a time on the NZ hunters calendar where only the tough or the insane pack up their gear and head for the Southern Alps
for the opportunity to bag a Himalayan Thar.
The Alpine regions of NZ can be a dangerous place and with that in mind a Sat Phone and Plb’s were essential kit for this trip.
I met up with my 3 companions for the trip (Taihape NZDA crew) late at night in the bustling Metropo;is of Ohangaiti. Phil, Lathan and Steve and myself then proceeded southward to meet the Inter Islander at midnight then continue the journey south to James Scott’s hangar at Karangarua.
Saturday morning dawned a pearla and the boys were all amped and camping at the bit to get in the air.
At the Hangar, parties of hunters were gathering and weighing the gear for deployment to their respective blocks. Some gear was going going back to vehicles while some items worthiness were bring judged for their inclusion on the flight.
Our turn came, we headed east to Dechen Creek our home for 7 days.
The flight took us across the Bannock Brae range then down through the Zora Canyon and over Hinds Tarn to our site on the Landsborough River.
There was enough time for a quick chat with the party coming out and help them load up and watch them fly away until the serenity returned to our new home.
Then it was straight into setting up camp.
With camp now setup and a bite to eat to was time for what we were here for, A Hunt!
We had only one day where it rained, and when i say it rained it rained West Coast style!!
The rest of the days were perfect or damn near.
With a perfect day comes a frost. It seems the frost is almost permanent in the Landsborough.
River bed travel was treacherous for the rocks were as icy as the frozen ground so was avoided where possible.
Even the sand on the river flats is Rock Solid and slippery as a skating rink!
The first day opened up some ground and set up the weeks plan for “where to hunt”. It also proved successful for Phil with his first Thar.
The forecast weather turned up Sunday evening, Westland Rain and plenty of it. It hung about until Tuesday morning when it finally
pettered out. We took the chance of a fine spell and hunted a mob we could see from camp.
I lined up on a good looking bull maybe 12” but missed the shot!
We had video’ed the shot and on review I was low by 1 MOA!! One fricken minute Doh.
The rest of the week turned on some really great weather and we managed to cover a hell of a lot of ground.
Thursday’s hunt turned up a young bull in the scrub which succumbed to the 7mmRM at a long range shot of 80feet.
With that I was on the board with my first Thar. Np longer a Thar Virgin.
Lathan and Phil were also having some good success with them both securing more bulls and a nanny.
Thursday night was the coldest nigh of the week. A weired frozen fog hung about the air all night and froze anything around solid.
This made Friday morning boot, jacket and gaiter fitting very difficult.
Friday’s hunt, I was off to join Phil to a trip to the Honey hole,as they had named it. This was a trip to a part of the block where I hadn’t been yet so it was
keen to take a look around. The spot was a valley which had been carved out by a glacier long ago and was very large and quite substantial in height.
We sidled round to a spot ½ way up and glassed for an hour or so and watched a mob of nannies and young bulls go about their business.
With nothing shootable coming out we headed up the valley to see “what was up the top”.
For some reason as we got higher the frozen rocks weren’t so apparent (Humidity?) so the going was much easier.
With a bit more glassing we spotted a nice bull atop a waterfall overlooking the headbasin of the valley. I lined up a shot. Hit!
Unfortunately he remained atop the waterfall and with fading light it was decided it wasn’t worth the risk to retrieve, as we would have
needed to come back with the ropes.
Disappointed we admired the remainder of what would have been a huge glacier before heading back to camp.
With 2hrs to get back to camp and less than half of light we set off only to hear a whistle in the breeze.
A mob of nannies and a young bull were spotted and we decided to take some meat home since they were handy.
I went for the bull. He posed a tricky shot. He was standing directly behind a nanny (broadside) with only a few inches of shoulder to aim for. Meanwhile Phil was lined up on a nanny.
I shot first and down he went, like a sack of spuds, the 7mm ending up in the engine room.
Phil shot also and downed a nanny while anther was making an escape.
Phil whistled and she came to a halt, wrong move, down she went.
Now with 3 on the deck we made quick work of dressing them out and taking what we could.
Lathan called us up on the 2way as had heard the shots. He too had shot a nice Bull.
However had came to the same unfortunate problem as us. A sheer drop and crumbling face saw him decide safety was paramount and turned for base.
As with anything it all has to come to an end so Saturday morning it was all go to be up and get packed up before 10am when the Kerosene taxi was to turn up.
This is easier said than done when everything freezes overnight! I may add.
Punctual as ever the Helo arrived and we headed out of the place we called home for a week and we were treated to a spectacular flight out of the Alps with not a Cloud in sight.
Homeward bound the vehicles were loaded and the arduous trip north was made.
An overnight stay in Greymouth to refresh,have a shower, cold beer and have some food which wasn’t dehy was quite enjoyed by all.
On the Ferry to home and back to the existence that keeps us yearning to return to our natural home, The Great NZ Outdoors.
Until next year Adios
Trip Highlight – First Thar, Flight in and Out.
Trip Tally – 9 Bulls 4 Nannies.
Coldest – -7, what we were awake to see.
Hotest – 29, only night we got tent fire going..
Trip lowlight – Helo’s seen in our block hazing and shooting Tahr.
