By Brian Gooding
Subscriber Brian Gooding filed a recent Hunt Report (
8923) on a free-range hunt in New Zealand for tahr and chamois with Donald Bray of
Lilydale Wilderness Hunting. Here are some comments he shares about that hunt:
"Donald Bray owns a vast chunk of land that includes his sheep and cattle ranch AND the mountain range where the tahr and Arapawa sheep live. He has an exclusive lease on another mountainous property for chamois, and other leases for a variety of other game. Both tahr and chamois were in the rut so there was a lot of activity.
"The chamois country was pretty thoroughly covered with low but thick and frequently sharp-pointed vegetation. The tahr range was similar, but rockier, probably because of higher elevation. (Maximum was maybe 6,500 feet.) The tussock grass was so tough that I could grab a handful and trust it to hold while I hauled myself up the steepest sections. I borrowed an old-fashioned wooden hiking staff from Donald - you hold it horizontally, push it against the slope, and lean on it. Telescoping aluminum staffs would bend (permanently) pretty easily.....
