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New Zealand Tahr Hunt
Now this Tahr may not be the biggest but it sure has a story behind it. After a five hour climb up what seemed like an almost vertical mountain in New Zealand, I was glassing my Tahr at a ranged 550 yards. With no chance of getting closer I decided to try my luck. The first two shots missed, but as luck would have it the Tahr ran towards me. He stopped on top of a big bluff, I shot again, down he went straight into an ice Shute. Feeling pretty pleased I ranged the shot again, he was 504 yards. Then the guide said, "There is no way known we can get that" elation turned to frustration. That Tahr lay up on the mountain for a full week and every day I would stew over what had transpired.
On the way out I convinced the chopper pilot to go via the Tahr for a look. "Too dangerous with a full load" he said and away we went back to the chopper base. I then weighed up my options and hired the guy to fly the guide and I back in. We jumped from the copper onto a 45 degree slope into the snow and Ice. We carefully made our way down to the Tahr and literally dragged the animal back to the where the chopper would pick us up. The pilot flew back in and hovered while we man handled the full Tahr into the pod on the skids, and because of the angle on the mountain we had to lift it above our heads to get it in. I swear those rotors were only inches from hitting the side of the mountain and killing us all.
We took it to the taxidermists, still frozen, and let him skin it out for us. It now sits in my trophy room as a full mount. It only measured 10 inches but the size of the experience and the memories are immeasurable.
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