A Chamois Fascination
WRITTEN BY ~ RYAN HARTI've always been fascinated by chamois and
they are hands down my favourite big game
species to hunt in NZ
It began with seeing photos of guys with big trophy bucks in
magazines when I first started hunting and progressed to seeing
and harvesting a young chamois buck, my first ever animal taken
on DoC land on a solo hunt.Something about chamois has always
piqued my interest, probably because it
generally involves being high above the
bush line in the alpine country, where
I’m most at home. I’ve spent many
hours in the scrub watching them,
gaining more and more respect for the
animals and increasing my knowledge
of their behaviour on each trip –
although they always find a way to
surprise me! I’ve been lucky enough
to take three respectable bucks all at
the 9½ inch mark on my adventures so
far, as well as a few skins but I had made
it my goal to crack the magical 10" markand get a shoulder mount done for my
man cave.
The hunting opportunities in the
second half of 2018 had been pretty
limited due to sinking all my spare time
and energy into building a new house
for me and my partner in Christchurch.
So after four straight months on the
tools with next to no days off, it’s fair to
say I needed to get into the mountains- for both my and everyone else's
benefit. I had a two-day window up
my sleeve so I started going over a
few of my go-to spots before settling
on one. Then a late winter southerly
blast came through, which threw all
my plans in the air as it brought snow
down below the bush line to contend
with. Nevertheless, I threw all my warm
winter gear, an ice axe, crampons, some
food and Lara the heading/huntaway
cross (who loves a chamois mission)
into the Hilux and headed for the hills.
When I got to the spot where I planned
to hunt it was clear this was not an
option as the snow level was far worse
than I had expected and getting myself
into a sticky situation wasn't on the
agenda so I quickly had to think of a
plan B. Using the NZ topo app on my
phone, I managed to come up with
some country I had never been to so
with mixed feelings, I shouldered my
pack and began walking up the creek.
Lara was unfazed at the change
of direction, as keen as ever to
get moving. Part of me was excited
to check out some new country but
I couldn't help wondering about the
spot I’d intended to go to that had
produced for me the previous two
times.10 NZ HUNTER MAGAZINE ~ August / September 2019A Chamois Fascination
WRITTEN BY ~ RYAN HARTI've always been fascinated by chamois and
they are hands down my favourite big game
species to hunt in NZ
It began with seeing photos of guys with big trophy bucks in
magazines when I first started hunting and progressed to seeing
and harvesting a young chamois buck, my first ever animal taken
on DoC land on a solo hunt.Something about chamois has always
piqued my interest, probably because it
generally involves being high above the
bush line in the alpine country, where
I’m most at home. I’ve spent many
hours in the scrub watching them,
gaining more and more respect for the
animals and increasing my knowledge
of their behaviour on each trip –
although they always find a way to
surprise me! I’ve been lucky enough
to take three respectable bucks all at
the 9½ inch mark on my adventures so
far, as well as a few skins but I had made
it my goal to crack the magical 10" markand get a shoulder mount done for my
man cave.
The hunting opportunities in the
second half of 2018 had been pretty
limited due to sinking all my spare time
and energy into building a new house
for me and my partner in Christchurch.
So after four straight months on the
tools with next to no days off, it’s fair to
say I needed to get into the mountains- for both my and everyone else's
benefit. I had a two-day window up
my sleeve so I started going over a
few of my go-to spots before settling
on one. Then a late winter southerly
blast came through, which threw all
my plans in the air as it brought snow
down below the bush line to contend
with. Nevertheless, I threw all my warm
winter gear, an ice axe, crampons, some
food and Lara the heading/huntaway
cross (who loves a chamois mission)
into the Hilux and headed for the hills.
When I got to the spot where I planned
to hunt it was clear this was not an
option as the snow level was far worse
than I had expected and getting myself
into a sticky situation wasn't on the
agenda so I quickly had to think of a
plan B. Using the NZ topo app on my
phone, I managed to come up with
some country I had never been to so
with mixed feelings, I shouldered my
pack and began walking up the creek.
Lara was unfazed at the change
of direction, as keen as ever to
get moving. Part of me was excited
to check out some new country but
I couldn't help wondering about the
spot I’d intended to go to that had
produced for me the previous two
times.10 NZ HUNTER MAGAZINE ~ August / September 2019