New to this forum. Planning first time hunt in NZ.

Hi All,

Friends and I (all from Canada) are planning a Tahr (maybe Chamois) hunt in your beautiful country April or May 2024. This would be our first time in New Zealand. Would like to do it unguided. Would anyone be willing to share some general advise (I can do the same for someone interested in hunting in Canada)?
Looking for some general information such as a good general area(s) where we can either hike in or fly in (any good helicopter companies to recommend?), with good animal populations (not looking for trophy book animals). Our intention is to not step on any toes and be very respectful of the New Zealand overall customs, so some pointers regarding this would also be great. Thanks in advance.

I would pick May to chase chamois and Tahr. Any Westcoast valley will hold them. Have a back up option on the east coast in case it is very wet.
April is a busy month as it is the red stag roar. Hunters will be everywhere. You will still find places in April to hunt if that is when you prefer to come.

Post up some photos of your hunting over there so that you have enough posts for personal messaging. Ill send you a message when I can and give you some ideas.

To get your numbers of posts up tell us your hunting system. I personally would love to hunt one of them big whitetails in Alberta.

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Originally Posted by Northern Canuck

Hi All,

Our intention is to not step on any toes and be very respectful of the New Zealand overall customs, so some pointers regarding this would also be great. Thanks in advance.

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Thats a good thing to ask. Just coming with that intention is the main thing. Don't be afraid to ask more and clarify as you go. One thing about many NZers, they don't like to start the conversation with someone about that someone doing something wrong. So don't assume that if no-one said anything, that what you are doing is fine. A hard thing to navigate I know but it is part of our culture.

One thing that will really help to inform the answers to your questions, is what hunting experience do you already have?. Details of landscape and species are helpful. We don't have snakes or bears or animal really that is dangerous. Our terrain and climate is not to be taken lightly, especially in Tahr country.

Welcome to the forum.
I am guessing you will be overwhelmed with information and help from this forum. Just get involved and something will pan out for you and your buddies.

How long are you looking to hunt for and how long are you thinking of being here.
Assuming you are rifle hunting you will need to start early to get your Temporary Firearms licence.
Are you looking to bring a rifle over with you?? if so you will need to arrange (and have proof of) storage for said rifles while you are in NZ.
Thats one big benefit of using a local guiding outfit. They tick that box for you with the police.

as above, the later in April the better as the bulk of the deer roar will be winding down but be aware of weather and if flying in have an Inreach in case your Helicopter ride wants to pull you out early or late. a PLB is a no brainer as well.
Z

welcome. the biggest bit of advice I would give you is this. come over with intention to have a look around and enjoy the type of country these animals are in....shooting ANY animal is the bonus and anything big extra extra bonus points..that way your trip will be a sucess no matter how the hunt itself pans out.

Have a look at threads like this https://www.nzhuntingandshooting.co....firearm-96019/
If you get a NZ license it'll be easier to buy a rifle locally but storage is an issue.
If you deal with a guide you lose the freedom that you wanted but there's less hassles with importing and storing your own rifle as they could help.
So many options you're spoilt for choice. On here you'll find a ton of help and advice as well.

For tahr, you could start to narrow off some lage areas by looking at the department of conservation tahr nanagement plan: https://www.doc.govt.nz/globalassets...an-2023-24.pdf

First off, there will be very few in the northern and southern exclusion zones.
Second, populations will have been kept low in the two national parks Westland management unit 4a and Aoraki MU 4 b. The rest were shot over a couple of years ago but erratically and pockets of nannies plus a number of bulls persist.

Chamois are more widely distributed likely present in most tahr areas ( but slightly different habitat).

Stories in magazines and on web sites like this and You Tube of seeing many animals and collecting big horn with ease are often from ir accessed through private land and take years to develop contacts to access. So they are optimistic best case scenario. Nevertheless the mountains and the hunting here are fantastic, so come sooner rather than later.

I appreciate the feedback and advises received so far.
So will target late April or May. Not too worried about frigid conditions, but still prefer temperatures that make hunting more enjoyable. I have climbed and camped in very cold temperatures (-30C and below) here, wondering how cold can we expect in alpine country during May? With the humidity level, do you guys still use down sleeping bags or just synthetic?
Currently planning on taking at least two weeks off work. So around 10 days once we reach Christchurch.
I knew about the Visitor Rifle License but I did not realize that I needed to supply a storage address and get a resident to support my application. Will need to look further into this.
Will study and keep in mind the management plan and will plan to stay away from the exclusion zones. Is it realistic to find trailheads and hike in some descent country or will only the helicopter be the option? I have also seen some of the huts, and they look sweet. Realistic to hope to have access to these (still bringing a tent)
I have done a few Alpine hunts and some ice climbing/mountaineering (it's been a while), but your mountains appear to be more impressive and less forgiving. I presume that it would be a good idea to bring ice axe/crampons, short 8 mm rope? Will be carrying PLB and InReach.
Very happy to have found this forum.

In regards to temperature, What gets many haters from overseas in trouble is that while we dont often experience much in double digit zeros, our cold is as you have figured out, very wet and its very hard to stay dry and incredibly hard if you are damp, to get warm. Ive hunted europe and asia at incredibly low temperatures compared to nz and yet you just dont notice the cold the same. Down is still my go to, but its a religious experience keeping it dry as well as keeping one set of clothes dry as well.
Also treat the east coast and west coast as two different countries flora, terrain and conditions wise. You hunt the two in different manors, so you have the decision to make on what coast you wish to hunt as well.

Well noted. Will stick with down/dry bag stuff sack combination. Should we expect less animals, more hunting pressure and more difficult access on the east coast?

Access is generally easier on the East, sometimes even by 4WD eg MacAuley Hut, although perhaps not recommended for visitors. Walking in for a week involves a 30 kg pack plus rifle and typically 8 hr a day over bouldery riverbeds eg Forbes Biv.

Ice axe and helmet are the most useful. Crampons are handy if you have the texhniques. Rope seldom used due to crumbly rock and absence of reliable anchors… most tahr and chamois are shot well within the subalpine vegetation zone not full alpine.

Welcome, great to see guys coming here to share our mountains. Make sure you allow plenty of time and have a flexible return flight. See if someone will take you on a peeliminary "weekend" hunt on arrival to make sure your gear is going to work out and to get you acclimatized to our hunting conditions. Ive tsken many visiting hunters on such trips, very enjoyable for both parties and greatly inproves visitor chance of having a sucessful and enjoyable experience. Cheers

Re Ixe axe crampons etc. My view is that unless you are using them alot and are comfortable with their use, dont take them. They will only get you in trouble if you are not completely proficient in self arrest etc.
Myself I have not taken them in close to 20 years, and if the tahr are where they are needed, I just go find some other Tahr.

Regarding Ice equipment, plan was to make sure everyone in the group were proficient with basic techniques before we get there, but my first goal is to make sure everyone makes it home in one piece and has an enjoyable experience, so will make sure to follow advise and stay well within our technical abilities and not to carry the extra weight, if not required, is a plus.
We would only have access to a rental vehicle so would have to hike into this proposed hut or area. Looks beautiful. I presume this area can get really busy during hunting season.
The idea of accompanying a resident on a weekend hunt would be great, but I do understand that this is a lot of work for the host. We would definitely consider it if someone were looking for company and willing to share knowledge onsite.
Again, I appreciate all the great advises.

10 days is to short if you and your mates are going to do it yourselves on public land.

You will have swapped hemispheres and you will think you are hunting east but your heading west,north but south etc,its a real phenomena and something that might really trip you up.Just as much as getting used to driving on the left hand side of the road in a car with a steering wheel on the right side.Thats all after the four days its going to take for you just to get over the jetlag.

Please dont be another statistic in the back country or another tourist dying on our roads. Come over for at least a month,preferably six weeks. Hunting in New Zealand is bloody hard work,alot harder than anything I did in Canada anyhow.

Bonne Chance!

I agree that we should not minimize the impact of jetlag. Noted.
Takk!

One thing you will need to think about is getting any trophy's back to the US with you.

Get in touch with same taxidermists here if they are to mount them for you and send them over once completed or just tan the capes for you to get mounted by your local back home.

If you just want euro mounted skulls I can help you with those with a quick turn around if needed

Thanks for the offer, will keep that in mind. I still need to dig into this subject a bit more, before I bring it back to Canada (if successful). If we shoot something descent was planning on salting the cape(s) and only keeping the horns/skull caps if we are running out of time. Since they are compact they can fit quite well in a duffle bag.

Fellow Canuck here freshly back from NZ South Island west coast Tahr hunting trip end of May this year, as always great advice from the forum members it’s where I got started, by talking to members asking the questions that could make a dream become a reality! First advice I would have for your first trip is to not do a DIY 10 day trip too many cons to mention on this thread a lot have been mentioned already, individual licensed guides or outfitters provide gear you’d only use once if at all which makes travelling easier with less gear and also they can help be a guarantor for your firearms license which you won’t get unless you have someone.
Once you’ve got enough posts send me a PM I can answer a lot of questions for you especially the travelling from Canada to NZ aspect of the journey Good Luck

Welcome aboard. It seems that you are getting a lot of good advice above so the only thing that I will add is that our high country weather can be like my mother in law (nice as pie one moment and an absolute bitch on wheels the next) so research and prepare well.

The travel to New Zealand with all the technicalities and returning with some animals, if lucky, are on my list of concerns. Would love to pick your brain. Like previously stated by a few, what we see online and what we get can be two different things.

Not worry ! If done properly everything is doable northern Canuck !PM has been sent, just plan as it’s a trip of a lifetime and budget accordingly!