Unpleasant is, of course, manageable with the right gear and a week’s acclimation after West Coast tahr ballots. With many hunters at home, or running thermals over crop paddocks, the high country can be largely empty and provide a last opportunity to secure a trophy set of antlers.
This excursion involved five days in July. The forecast was perfect, and the snow level remained unseasonably high for that time of year. Our leave balances were running dangerously low after some great roar and rut trips from the previous months, but with little convincing, Dad, Troy, and I found ourselves with packs on, heading into familiar country.
We saw good numbers of deer and chamois on the faces that weren’t frozen solid, but nothing of the calibre we were after. We did, however, see our first Judas tahr. We lamented that life must not be very enjoyable for that poor old girl, albeit an important sacrifice for wildlife management. Prospects for the roughly 12”
