Winter Closes In and the Tahr are Rutting!

5/20/2009 3:37:17 PM  |  Posted by Administrator

Winter has really settled in the South Island.  There is plenty of snow and a real bite to any southerly wind!  While there are still plenty of red stags on the hunting properties, the tahr really come into their own at this time of year.  The early winter weather has given them plenty of reason to grow that winter coat and the mane that is such a feature of this remarkable trophy.  The onset of the rut has also brought the bulls down among the nanny groups.  It is a great time to get a really magnificent trophy.  The snow combined with the rut means the bulls are lower which saves some climbing!  The association of the bulls with groups of nannies also makes them easier to locate, and like most rutting males they have their minds dominated by matters other than watching for hunters and can be easier to approach than at any other time of the year.

We often see up to 100 tahr in a day’s hunting and would expect more than ten with horns larger than 12 inches in length – this being the standard for a genuine trophy.  

Photo: Alan Bush shows what a great trophy tahr look like!  His magnificent bull taken in August 2008 measured 13.5 inches.