Hey everyone!
Headed for my first tahr hunt next week and I was hoping we could get an adivce thread going.
Gear and advice type of deal. Being my first time hunting in the south im not sure what to expect. Cheers guys!
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Hey everyone!
Headed for my first tahr hunt next week and I was hoping we could get an adivce thread going.
Gear and advice type of deal. Being my first time hunting in the south im not sure what to expect. Cheers guys!
This time of year - spend the mornings glassing from camp (or if you must walk about, the valley floor), have a late lunch and make dinner, then go for a walk up the valley to wait till the Tahr come down to you (at last light). Go back to camp and eat dinner. Repeat.
No special gear required, at all. None.
Probaly should have mentioned, be careful with rivers.
good binos...piece of close cell foam mat to sit on when glassing...lay down with back against tussock etc and glass glass glass....
saw some today and they looking rather blond....tussocky cream...once your eyes tune into them ,you will see them easy.
go with aim to see some diferent country....any animals are a bonus,ANY animal is a bonus. by going with intention to enjoy the journey and MAYBE get an animal and it will take all the pressure off.
Cheers for the comments lads!
Should also mention its my first fly in trip, so ill be able to take some added luxuries. Really looking forward too it
Patience, patience, patience! Be prepared to sit and look, then look some more. Dont be in a hurry to walk too far, or to climb too high. Find em during the day, lay in wait in the evening. And dont be too heavy handed with the added luxuries - helicopter pilots aren't too keen on packing in a chopper full of kitchen sinks. Have fun, look forward to the report when you get back.
All the advice mentioned above works on Sika as well :)
Good weather be the best thing to take :-)
I know someone there now wont be to happy with this weeks weather :-(
Hard to pick if your set to dates Re work etc
Cheap Sunglasses and some sunscreen.
Not sure how many of these will be knocking about in NZ, but before modern spotting scopes came out these sweet things were your only option for glassing.
Takes a bit of skill to use but they give around 20x mag... not too bad for kit made in the 1890's.
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Light, clear and compact if you can find a good one.
Seen old pics of them being used in NZ. Will bring mine if I ever get over for a hunt
If you are interested, look up the Lovat Scouts
When walking in valleys,walk slowly near the valley edge near cover.Walking out in the middle they will see you a couple of ks away.
Be aware of snow slopes! This time of year wet slides are a real danger. More so in the arvo on a sunny face. Fastest way to the valley floor is messed up in tonnes or wet snow soon to freeze like concrete once it stops.
Glass heaps
Dont end up above bluffs in the dark
Sometimes a cold misserible night is better than falling of something.
Tahr are low at the moment, in the scrub line. I wouldn't bother climbing high until you have a good look over the lower country first.
There are tahr higher, you'll always see the odd one, but the bulls will be lower on the spring tucker. Nannies are often higher than the bulls at this time of year.
Glass, you'll cover country much quicker with your eyes than your feet. Like spend hours glassing good looking country, not minutes.
They're easy to see at the moment, pretty blonde. Look like big hay bales.
Bulls will be away in their bachelor groups, young bulls generally hang out together, they may be hard to distinguish from nannies from a distance.
Older bulls will have darker hides from the mane back, and will immediately be noticeable as a bull. If you see a group of these, worth going for a look.
Tahr were pretty active until 10am and they started moving again about 430pm last weekend.
It's likely to be hot during the day, take sunscreen and a sunhat. And water, drink plenty of water.
But its the alps, so could be snowing as well...so be prepared for that.
Depending on where you are going, if it's had a clean out, like the place we went last weekend, you may want to avoid having a "bomb-up" on nannies like we would have in the past.
If you want to PM me with any specific questions, by all means send me one.
Appreciate the advice mate, ill send a pm through if I have any other questions! CheersQuote:
Originally Posted by JoshC
Some good advice already cheers team!
I like to take a light weight fold up chair if I'm flying in. Bones appreciate a comfy seat during the day or evening when resting at camp ;)
Good advice from the guys, hope you enjoy the trip, she is big country down there. Look forward to your hunt report, be safe.
Ive often wondered why these arent still being made and sold....plenty of folks can only use one eye of binoculars so carry twice as much glass as they need.Quote:
Originally Posted by caberslash
Swaro still make some draw scopes but to be frank they are for tripod use only.Quote:
Originally Posted by Micky Duck
There is one company in Scotland who still gets these made but the are over £1k... not made in house either just parts bought in and branded for them. https://www.grahamsonline.co.uk/product/2079
The old style telescopes cost an arm and a leg back then too!
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I just came back from an East Coast Thar hunt and they were very low at present. Look on the slips next to scrubby areas in the last hour of light. A few high but more low.
Cheers mate ill take that onboardQuote:
Originally Posted by Forestry
Hi Josh , great advice. Going into Littles hut area in Jolie valley, Mt Cook on Friday Dec 3-5 . What are the 3 pieces of advice or indispensable items you’d take with you that you haven’t already mentioned ?
Lowvember
As easy as spotting a blond big titted bird at a strip joint
Bulls will be where they were this time last year, the year before and where their dads were…just have to find that bit of scrub. In all seriousness when they show up, it’s like magic they appear out of nowhere in the evenings.
Find a shady spot during the day and catch up on some sleep.
Practice shooting on odd angles and backing up first shot/s
