Thread: Advice for DIY tahr hunt for nonresident

Originally Posted by Stocky

Don't bring the crampons and iceaxe unless you know how to use them and have had experience using them. Also you are picking the most difficult time to be in Tahr country just about. Its serious country think winter hunting Rocky Mountain Goats then some. I would use a guide I know we seem like a cheap hunting destination but realize that a lot of us see you coming here and trying to be cheap as you do when you see non residents hunting in Montana except you don't pay huge amounts like we do in Montana. Also because we don't have limits people seem to think they should kill every bull they see which is a bit shit as I know if I came to Montana and killed every bull elk I saw (if it was legal) you'd be pissed so treat it like you would your own country. So now post the serious stuff if you want to DIY I would hunt them in October November as they are much lower down and the weather's less likely to kil you. Still have to be careful but it's probably the best time to do it unguided. If you get in earlier your more likely to catch the end of the winter Cape.
If you do come if June a ballot is a good idea or any chopper in trip and bring enough gear for a solid base amp and hunt from there. No need to spike camp really most things can be done in a day. A bivy sack is asking for it a bit in our winter a small 4 season probably makes more sense but a wall tent stove and some wood to burn makes a huge difference when coming back at night. Issues being is if you bundle up to keep warm you sweat when doing any work.

I'm actually a Montana native from Harrison if you know it. I hunted Montana late season elk and deer this year and passed on a few middle aged bulls and couldn't get a shot openning day on a stud of a bull in that snow storm that hit. Did take a nice whitetail up in the mountains hanging by himself. I would note while Montana is typically colder than here it feels colder in NZ as it is a wet cold not a dry cold also for the most part Tahr country is much steeper. Feel free to PM me and I'll give you my contact details as I do a 4wd Tahr trips each winter if I'm not going to be in Canada Guiding.

Harrison? You ever spent time in the Pony Bar?

Although elk aren't really considered mountain hunting I've been hiking into alpine lakes here for 10 years in some nasty country and have started hunting sheep here over the last couple years in some of the most rugged country in Montana and have hunted late into November (haven't been successful yet). It got me hooked on mountain hunting and I go look for mountain goats for fun now (also if I ever draw the tag it will hopefully make it easier to harvest one). I also did a DIY Barbary sheep hunt in 2018 with only 4 days to hunt since I was also visiting family and ended up harvesting one. And yeah I would definitely try to holdout for a mature bull tahr and maybe harvest a nanny or 2 for meat and hides. And I'm no expert on being in the steep stuff in winter, but I've spent a little time doing it at least enough to know one mistake can be deadly.

Country I was hunting in November for sheep. Ended up having snow crack and made me decide to turn around.


Goat I ran into on a wind blown ridge while bear hunting last spring


Trying to get to 5 posts to be able to pm people