JP100
WKR
Well I have been after a Chamois buck as soon as I picked up my bow, and had hunted them many times, passing on small bucks, messing up two good opportunities on really nice bucks but finally the stars aligned and I got one.
I had been hunting all weekend with my partner and we had seen a few animals and she had missed one at close range in the bush ( young buck, think it was deflection off a fern). I decided to try a different valley that I had not hunted for a couple of months and give the other area a break as it had seen abit of hunting pressure(from us and other hunters I had seen in the area).
Anyway I arrived in the car park just as the sun was coming up (about 7.45) and started my way up the valley, leaving the main track and heading up a side creek. I had seen a lot of Chamois here earlier in the year and shot two bucks out of here with the rifle before I got my bow. I made the first bend in the creek and sat to glass. Up on the skyline I spotted a shape moving. It didn’t look like the nearly black winter of a Chamois and after watching for a few moments realised it was a bull Tahr. I watched as he bedded down on a small ledge. All ideas of Chamois soon left my mind as I focused on a bigger prize.
This area gets heli culled pretty hard and he was just a lone bull. Pretty unusual to see in the middle of the rut but all the nannies in the surrounding area had been shot by the choppers in the summer. Makes for easier stalking I thought as I scrambled my way up the creek. It was pretty difficult to stay out of sight of him as I climbed. The creeks and rock formations change very rapidly here. The combination of loose soft rock and 350 inch rainfall create a huge amount of rock fall. As I neared the top of my 3500ft climb I managed to create some of my own rock fall and I assume it was this that spooked the Bull because as I neared the top ridge he was nowhere to be seen.
View where I climbed up
As I sat there thinking I spotted a young bull Tahr emerge from the monkey scrub. I watched as another then another Bull Tahr crept out of the scrub to feed. There were now two good mature bull Tahr, and a couple of young guys only 400 yards away from me. The wind was good and I had a fair amount of cover to close the gap.
I was quietly sneaking through some monkey scrub and kept coming across fresh Tahr and Chamois sign and was sure there was something nearby. I slowed my pace and as I neared a wee clearing I saw 3 Chamois staring right at me only about 70 yards away.
They were as surprised as I was by the look on their faces. A nanny her kid and a buck. The nanny quickly let her kid up the steep rock slab beside me and stopped for a moment to look back at me. I had an arrow nocked already and ranged her at 40 yards. I waited and the buck soon appeared behind them. He was behind a small piece of broom so I had no shot. He ran forward a few paces and I whistled at him. I was already at full draw when he stopped, due to the steep angle of the shot I held for about 35 yards and let an arrow go.
The shot felt great and the buck wheeled on the spot with an arrow sticking out both sides of his chest. He dove straight downhill only making a few jumps before I heard him crash dead into the monkey scrub. Awesome!
In my excitement I ran straight into the scrub to look for my buck. This was classic mistake and after much confusion and frustration I went back to where he was standing and starting following the blood. There was solid blood right from the get go but it still took me nearly an hour to find the buck in the thick scrub. He had only gone about 35 yards straight downhill and died on the run. The 125gn Muzzy had taken out one shoulder, both lungs and a few ribs on the way out. (Never found the arrow)
I had only a quick look at him before the shot and he looked like a mature buck with nice hook shape. As I dragged him out of the scrub I guessed the horns at around the 9 inch mark (the base line for “trophy” status).
I was pretty happy to say the least and it was only 11.30am. Enough time to chase those Tahr! As I had a photo session and gutted the buck the Tahr fed out into some pretty steep stuff and I made the decision to leave them for another day.
I had my hands full anyway with the Chamois. Like a true bush Māori I put my day bag on the chamois and made him into a simple back pack. (You can do this by tying front legs to back with some cord or split at the joint, not cutting the tendon, and pass the front leg through the back ones).
You may laugh at the pack out method but this is the standard for most kiwis, and some guys pack out some pretty big loads this way (full red stags 250lb+). The decent was happily uneventful and I made into the car park at about 2.30. Pretty happy with my first buck with the bow to go with the two nannies I have taken over the last 6 months of bow hunting. He measured in at 9 1/8 inches, no monster but a good start. I am now waiting for the rain to stop so I can get one of those bull Tahr!
I had been hunting all weekend with my partner and we had seen a few animals and she had missed one at close range in the bush ( young buck, think it was deflection off a fern). I decided to try a different valley that I had not hunted for a couple of months and give the other area a break as it had seen abit of hunting pressure(from us and other hunters I had seen in the area).
Anyway I arrived in the car park just as the sun was coming up (about 7.45) and started my way up the valley, leaving the main track and heading up a side creek. I had seen a lot of Chamois here earlier in the year and shot two bucks out of here with the rifle before I got my bow. I made the first bend in the creek and sat to glass. Up on the skyline I spotted a shape moving. It didn’t look like the nearly black winter of a Chamois and after watching for a few moments realised it was a bull Tahr. I watched as he bedded down on a small ledge. All ideas of Chamois soon left my mind as I focused on a bigger prize.
This area gets heli culled pretty hard and he was just a lone bull. Pretty unusual to see in the middle of the rut but all the nannies in the surrounding area had been shot by the choppers in the summer. Makes for easier stalking I thought as I scrambled my way up the creek. It was pretty difficult to stay out of sight of him as I climbed. The creeks and rock formations change very rapidly here. The combination of loose soft rock and 350 inch rainfall create a huge amount of rock fall. As I neared the top of my 3500ft climb I managed to create some of my own rock fall and I assume it was this that spooked the Bull because as I neared the top ridge he was nowhere to be seen.
View where I climbed up
As I sat there thinking I spotted a young bull Tahr emerge from the monkey scrub. I watched as another then another Bull Tahr crept out of the scrub to feed. There were now two good mature bull Tahr, and a couple of young guys only 400 yards away from me. The wind was good and I had a fair amount of cover to close the gap.
I was quietly sneaking through some monkey scrub and kept coming across fresh Tahr and Chamois sign and was sure there was something nearby. I slowed my pace and as I neared a wee clearing I saw 3 Chamois staring right at me only about 70 yards away.
They were as surprised as I was by the look on their faces. A nanny her kid and a buck. The nanny quickly let her kid up the steep rock slab beside me and stopped for a moment to look back at me. I had an arrow nocked already and ranged her at 40 yards. I waited and the buck soon appeared behind them. He was behind a small piece of broom so I had no shot. He ran forward a few paces and I whistled at him. I was already at full draw when he stopped, due to the steep angle of the shot I held for about 35 yards and let an arrow go.
The shot felt great and the buck wheeled on the spot with an arrow sticking out both sides of his chest. He dove straight downhill only making a few jumps before I heard him crash dead into the monkey scrub. Awesome!
In my excitement I ran straight into the scrub to look for my buck. This was classic mistake and after much confusion and frustration I went back to where he was standing and starting following the blood. There was solid blood right from the get go but it still took me nearly an hour to find the buck in the thick scrub. He had only gone about 35 yards straight downhill and died on the run. The 125gn Muzzy had taken out one shoulder, both lungs and a few ribs on the way out. (Never found the arrow)
I had only a quick look at him before the shot and he looked like a mature buck with nice hook shape. As I dragged him out of the scrub I guessed the horns at around the 9 inch mark (the base line for “trophy” status).
I was pretty happy to say the least and it was only 11.30am. Enough time to chase those Tahr! As I had a photo session and gutted the buck the Tahr fed out into some pretty steep stuff and I made the decision to leave them for another day.
I had my hands full anyway with the Chamois. Like a true bush Māori I put my day bag on the chamois and made him into a simple back pack. (You can do this by tying front legs to back with some cord or split at the joint, not cutting the tendon, and pass the front leg through the back ones).
You may laugh at the pack out method but this is the standard for most kiwis, and some guys pack out some pretty big loads this way (full red stags 250lb+). The decent was happily uneventful and I made into the car park at about 2.30. Pretty happy with my first buck with the bow to go with the two nannies I have taken over the last 6 months of bow hunting. He measured in at 9 1/8 inches, no monster but a good start. I am now waiting for the rain to stop so I can get one of those bull Tahr!
