Chamois buck in the New Zealand rut
With high expectations, I was being rushed away from Christchurch Airport southbound by a shuttle driver who moments earlier had been waiting for me at the bottom of an escalator holding up a sign with my name on it. It was a long time in the making but I was about to commence a trip of a lifetime and my first overseas hunt.
Years ago, back in 2008, my wife and I spent a two-week driving holiday in New Zealand. We instantly fell in love with the place and the scenery was breathtaking. At the time, I didn’t know much about hunting in that country or the game roaming the mountains. It was at the airport that I picked up a New Zealand hunting magazine and began reading about mountain-dwelling animals called tahrs and chamois.
Both introduced species, the tahr is a high altitude mountain goat native to the Himalayas, while the chamois is an alpine antelope native to Austria. They have adapted well to their new habitat in the New Zealand Southern Alps and are much sought-after game animals.
It was captivating to see the big bull tahr upon a steep rocky bluff on the magazine cover and after reading the adventures by Kiwi and international hunters, I was hooked. The New Zealand economy
