I recently returned from a solo 2 week backpack tahr/chamois recurve bowhunt in Westland, New Zealand.
I thought some might like to see a trip report and a few photos.
First camp on the way up to the tops where I wanted to hunt. Left trail head at 11am and made camp at 4:30pm. Route to the tops is follow the creek up.
Next day I left that camp at 8:30am and started the ascent up the creek. While having lunch a young bull tahr came out of the bush just below me and stood there looking at me for a little while.
I made it to the campsite I used on a previous trip back in 2012 at 3:30pm (7 hours). Total of 1200m (3937ft) of elevation gained over about 2.5kms (1.55 miles) horizontal distance. This chamois buck was on the ridge next to camp when I got there.
The next day was spent in the tent as it was wet and fogged in all day.
The following day the weather cleared and I got out and started looking around. First order of business was finding water as there was no close source of water. I descended a ravine not far from camp and found where the creek started to show water and filled up the water bladder. I saw a few chamois on nearby faces and could see a buck running back and forth keeping all his nannies in check and warding off rivals.
Tahr country on the south side of the range I was on. The tussock faces on the north faces were more typical chamois country.
On the way back to camp in the late afternoon I saw through my binos what appeared to be a spring or soak on the side of a face not far behind camp. Sure enough it was a small spring where water bubbled out of the ground and ran down the hill for a little way then disappeared again. I had found my water source for my camp. I was enough to fill my bladder if I pressed the opening down onto the rocks and let the water run in.
I hunted for a few days and saw both tahr and chamois but none were in locations favourable for getting close with a trad bow.
Then the weather turned on a Friday night and it started raining with fog enveloping the tops. It kept raining until sometime on Sunday night. Weather had cleared by Monday morning and I was relieved to be able to get out of the tent for the first time in 60 hours.
The chamois proved to be very hard to approach. In both locations near camp where I was regularly seeing them it was very wide open tussock faces and they were nigh impossible to get to without them seeing me from afar. They have incredible eyesight and spot movement very well.
I did get one opportunity for a stalk on a chamois that was bedded facing downhill and I was able to use a large boudler as cover and approach from above. In spite of the noise of moving through the tussock I popped out from behind the boulder to see it standing and looking back at me. It was a longer shot for me, around 30-35m and I missed. It ran off to stand and look at me from about 100m and watched me leave and head back up the slope to my backpack. That was the only chance I had for the trip. They are a tough proposition with a trad bow. There are a lot of factors that need to come into alignment for success to come to bear. A rifleman would have shot multiples of each species this trip.
I enjoy the challenge though and when success does come it is a feeling of great accomplishment that makes it all worthwhile.
Awesome photos! The fact that you got close enough for a shot with the trad in that type of country is impressive. I would have gotten frustrated after a few days of that and headed down the mountain to fish for those big NZ trout.
