Unfortunately there was no luck for me this year on killing a Tahr although I had some close stalks and closed to shooting range a couple of times which I take as some personal success.
When I worked my way into my final position on the bull I was stalking in the above pictures, it was laying down and facing away from me at a very steep angle. I was only 12 yards away but the angle was terrible and I would have to try and slip an arrow down beside the vertebrae if I took a shot from there. I decided to wait until the bull stood up and so the patience game began. These animals have fantastic eyesight and after about 5 mins of waiting the bull swiveled his head in my direction. I guess he caught sight of me slowly peaking over the rock to check on him, I don't know how as he was facing almost directly away, but he did. The bull turned back around and I quickly ducked back down. I was half crouched behind the rock and decided that I was going to take the shot so I drew and slowly stood up. The bull mustn't have liked what he saw as he was standing up at the same steep angle with his head craned around looking directly at me. He immediately whistled loudly and burst into a run. I had already released my arrow, but due to the speed of the bulls take off it wasn't to be. I was pretty high still on the feeling of making a cool stalk and being so close to an unaware huge bull Tahr. I still get a stupid grin on my face now reliving the memory.
It was awesome to assist Clint with the recovery of the bull he'd shot and I tip my hat in respect for his success. Well done mate! The fresh meat was fantastic too!
Topic: NZ Tahr hunt 2014- Pilgrimage of Adventure. (Read 6286 times)
