LANDSBOROUGH TROPHY BULL TAHR
For many years since the 2000s we’ve applied for a Wilderness tahr ballot, mostly for the Landsborough area, as over that time we’d developed a deep fondness for this great valley. We were successful in 2018 with a 5th period ballot block, again in the Landsborough. On that trip my mates Peter and Grant secured a respectable 13 inch bull each.
I had shot tahr in the mid-1990s when I took a respectable 12½ inch bull from the Landsborough region. From that time forward I continued with many adventures chasing tahr, carrying not a rifle but a video camera along with good mates in the hope that they too would eventually secure a trophy bull each.
In November 2018, the tahr ballot results were released but I was not successful in getting any blocks. I felt a bit gutted but then heard my mate Peter got his second choice block, Hinds Tarn for the 4th period. We then found out that another mate Dion was also successful with his 6th period ballot in the Landsborough.
None of us had been to Hinds Tarn before but we knew the surrounding blocks very well. Peter knew a mate who had hunted it in the past so he was able to get some inside knowledge on the area.
On May 16th Grant and Pete arrived late in the evening from Whangarei to pick me up for the long drive south. After a day and a half of travel we finally arrived at Franz Joseph in the rain and met up with another mate Blair who was also coming on this trip. He gave us the news that our Saturday flight could be delayed due to bad weather. Sure enough, it was not until Sunday morning that we arrived at James Scott’s helicopter pad, along with about 12 other parties waiting to be flown in.
After being whisked in, we quickly set up camp
