EAST COAST TRIFECTA
What on earth is that roaming on the riverbed?
After weeks of scouring over Google Maps for potential east coast public land to target, we selected an area where we thought we could achieve the ‘east coast trifecta’ – a bull tahr, a chamois and a Red stag. With all our gear packed we made the arduous journey south along the Kaikoura coast to Christchurch where we met up with the rest of our hunting party and continued on to the helicopter pad. With a few first-timers on this trip we decided to take two choppers in, which meant we could live like kings, basing ourselves out of one of the many huts available to hunters. At the top of the list was 100kg of coal to dry our gear, given the wet forecast.
Making it to the hangar by 8.30am, we were a bit dubious about our chances of flying in due to the low-lying cloud but by 11am, Bill the chopper pilot had dropped us in our hunting spot ready for a week of alpine hunting. We all had our day packs ready for the first hunt so we wasted no time and were off up the river to scout for our first tahr.
Selecting a perfect vantage point to spot from, all four of us had our binos up glassing hard and it wasn’t long before
