Hunting Himalayan Tahr in New Zealand

Ask a New Zealand hunter to some up New Zealand hunting with one animal and they'll say "bull tahr." New Zealand has the only free-ranging herd of Himalayan tahr outside of the the Himalayas. There is just no way to describe the sight of a bull tahr until you glass one through the binoculars for the first time.

A stand out trophy animal

Often when pointing out animals to hunters they'll see a nanny (female), a second nanny, a third nanny, a whole group of nannies, but wait what's that massive hairy thing in the middle.... thats 'the bull.' Bulls look and weigh up to three times the size of a nanny, there is no more awesome sight than a skylined bull tahr, with his muscular front shoulders and chest standing strong and lion like mane rippling with the wind. What the tahr lack in horn length to other mountain dwelling species they more than make uo for with their cape.

Tahr hunting epitimises New Zealand hunting.

Available: Wilderness, Private land, game estate

Tahr trophies range from 11-15 inches with bases of 8-10 inches. A good, typical trophy is a 12 inch bull with 8 1/2 inch bases.Hunters need to understand that there are not 14 inch tahr around every corner and that anything above 13 inches in length is an exceptional trophy. In our eyes what makes a good tahr trophy is the age of the bull which like most horned animals shows up in growth rings on the horns, this makes an attractive trophy. Tahr are in their prime at 8 years of age, but may achieve trophy size in 5 years. You may hear people say a tahr cape is half the trophy and they are entirely correct, what tahr lack in horn size compared to other species they make up for two fold with their long, lion like mane.

Being a horned animal tahr can be successfully hunted all year round. As said above the tahr cape is an important part of the trophy, capes are at their peak from April until mid October. The tahr rut from mid May until mid July, but outside of these dates is still a good time to hunt as the bulls mob up in their bachelor groups, so if you find one you will find more and in the case of our free-range private land properties many more, up to 60 bulls in a mob.
Tahr are New Zealand's second most sought after trophy behind red stags. The tahr we have in New Zealand originate from the Himalayan alps and are subsequently known as Himalayan tahr. They are truly the king of mountain animals being able to climb and live in incredibly steep terrain, some times you have to shake yourself as you watch a tahr walk up a vertical rock face and think, did that really happen. Tahr and tahr hunting in general offers great spot then stalk hunting in magnificent mountain scenery

 

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