Chamois on the West Coast
The seeds were sown for our Chamois hunt on the West Coast of New Zealand in November of ’07. After a successful Tahr hunt with our guide Peter Chamberlain whom with George and I managed to take an 11+ inch bull each, we quickly inquired about completing the NZ alpine double. Peter informed us that the best time for a summer Chamois was around February. The decision was quickly made to come back in February of ’09 and we would get the pick of the dates.
A five day Chamois hunt beginning on the 22nd of February was soon locked in and the anticipation of this hunt was soon forgotten as we landed in Christchurch NZ. As per usual Peter was there to greet us and take us to our motel for the night. He would be picking us up early on Sunday morning to start our long trek across to the west coast of NZ where we would be chasing the elusive Chamois. To our disappointment though, Peter said there was no hurry in getting too early a start on Sunday as there was a large cold front currently sitting over the west coast and it had been raining quite heavily for the last couple of days.
A knock on our motel door around 9.00 am signalled Peter’s arrival. A quick detour to Hamill’s gun shop to pick-up a mountain radio and Burger King for breakfast and we were finally on our way. Up through Arthur’s pass we went, admiring the breathtaking scenery along the way. The road trip revealed many farms with deer fencing, however not all currently had deer on them. Most were victims of a deer market that was once thriving and then the faltered. Passing the towns of Fox Glazier and then Franz Joseph Glazier, big tourist attractions in NZ, we finally arrived at the destination where we were to jump on a helicopter that would take us to our camp site. Unfortunately it was still raining with plenty of low cloud about so it was off to a motel for the night and Peter did assure us this weather would clear around lunchtime the next day. Sure enough around 1.00pm we were finally on our way. Although still raining slightly, the low cloud has sufficiently cleared for us to fly in to our camp site. It was my first time in a helicopter and I can tell you there was some trepidation on my part throughout the 8 minute or so journey.
Having landed on our campsite we all quickly unloaded all our gear and the mad rush began to get up the two tents as it continued to rain. Having successfully pitched up the two tents in quick time we got all our gear out of the rain and then waited for the rain to stop. Having brought no magazines up with us to pass the down time, all George and I could do was to try and picture the moment we had waited for the past 15 months. I might add a lot of junk talk was also to be had.  Finally the noise of Peter’s voice telling us to “get ready boys, the rain has stopped and it’s time for an afternoon walk” got us on our feet real quick. We got our day packs ready and off we went. Not a good start to the hunt for me as we came to our first water crossing a misjudged jump and my trailing left leg was rewarded with a dip in the cold water. It was decided that George would get the first shot.
Having travelled only a short distance over a ridge behind our camp, we stopped to glass down the gully through the rich vegetation and tussock grass. Peter was telling us that he had seen some bucks down this valley previously during the late afternoon feeding. Well it didn’t take long and we were soon glassing our first Chamois bucks. Two bucks, one a shooter, feeding unaware that we were around 400 meters high above them planning a stalk. I was told to stay put as George and Peter slowly made there way down this steep gully to see if they could get within shooting distance. This was a perfect opportunity to try out my new video camera so out I got it and managed to get some great footage of a few Chamois feeding and frolicking around. Unfortunately the stalk did not last long as a nanny Chamois with her young one got wind of the boys and quickly alerted the two bucks and off they went. George and Peter made their way back to my location and our evening hunt was over as it was now almost dark. Tomorrow was to be the pick of the day’s weather wise, as it was clearing and Peter was quite confident we would see a few good bucks.
To our delight we were not up at day break to commence the day’s hunt, rather a more leisurely 9.00 am. A bowl of cereal and some bacon and egg sandwiches prepared for lunch and we were of for the day. Up the mountain side we went following in Peter’s steps as a slip and a fall in this terrain can have a nasty outcome. Once we had reached the top of this ridge we were contouring, we stopped to glass the vast area in front of us. As Chamois are not very big animals ( similar to our Hog deer ) and quite often you are glassing at over a kilometre away, it is extremely difficult to spot the animals at first. Peter has been guiding and hunting these areas for over 25 years and his experience and knowledge was quick to show. It wasn’t long before he spotted a buck Chamois feeding his way along a steep mountain side well over a kilometer away. Using our Leica Geovid 10 x 42 with rangefinder, we could not even get a reading on the distance.
 We continued to contour our way along the mountain side constantly on the lookout for more bucks. Every now and again a mist of cloud / fog would roll in over the Alps and our visibility would be reduced to about 50 meters. This gave us an opportunity to rest and wait for it to clear so we could move on. In the ensuring few hours we spotted a few more bucks and nanny’s both feeding and bedded down amongst the rocks. As a lot of the animals we higher than us they has the advantage. Chamois have fantastic eyesight and we had to be extremely cautious when moving around. We on our way to position ourselves more favourably on a buck we had decided to try and take, when once again the fog rolled in. this time it seemed to stay around a little longer. Once it had cleared again we tried to locate this buck that we were trying to stalk but to no avail. Suddenly a group of about four buck caught our eyes moving high above us and about 500 meters away. Too long to take a shot and too open to get any closer.
Pondering our next move something amazing and totally unexpected happened. Two of the bucks took off at speed down the mountain chasing each other. The best part about this was they were moving closer towards us. The bucks seemed to be trying to assert their dominance on one another. They suddenly stopped as if to take a breather and this also presented an opportunity for George to take a shot. Ranging them at 400 meters they were slightly out of range. Just as we had some good fortune in that the animals came unexpectedly closer to us the fog rolled in again. We decided not to make our move until it would clear again. We didn’t have to wait long and soon there were three pairs of binoculars scanning their last location to see it the animals were still there. They had moved on however Peter was soon to locate one of the bucks bedded down on the side of rock in the vegetation three hundred meters away and lying down. A difficult shot and a tough decision to make. Before we knew it the decision was taken of us as the fog rolled in again. This time it would work in our favour as Peter and George could now get closer to this nice buck under the cover of the fog. I had stayed behind once again and as the fog cleared I could see the boys about 170 meters from me but more importantly only 150 meters from the buck which was still bedded down. I could see George get in to a shooting position using his day pack as a rest. My eyes were fixed on the buck through my binoculars as “boom” , 130 gn Siera game king was on its way. George had fired. To my extreme delight the buck didn’t even flinch. It just rolled back, a perfect shot. I quickly raced over to the boys and we all made our way to the fallen animal. It was high fives all round as George had just scored himself a 9 ¼ inch Chamois buck shot through the neck.
It was around 4.00 pm by now and as a true professional Peter said to us “we will come back for photo’s later, let’s go and find another buck for Stan”.
We continued to contour this mountain side this time with me just behind Peter and George just behind me finding it difficult to hide the big smile on his face. Peter had suggested we sit on top of a knob overlooking plush vegetation hopping a buck would materialise himself from the thick vegetation and feed into the open. We sat down and began to glass. A young buck soon appeared high to our right but he was not of shooting quality. He was only 120 meters away and Peter encouraged me to put the scope on him to practise only. Soon we spotted another animal 300 meters down the steep gully. This time it was a nanny making her way out of the thick vegetation to a small clearing down below. The afternoon was growing older and I was not sure if my time would be today or possibly tomorrow. A tap on the shoulder from Peter signalled it would be today. He spotted a nice Chamois buck lying down in a small clearing not far from the nanny. It was time to get into a shooting position as he was a good animal. Three day packs and a few minutes later I had the Blaser firmly fixed on him. Peter said “ when he gets up take him”.
I didn’t have to wait long. Peter had ranged him to be 240 meters away. “Aim dead on his shoulder” he said. The buck had slowly got up to make his way towards the nanny. He propped slightly and “boom” a 180 gn accubond hit the buck square on the shoulder. “Reload quickly “ uttered Peter. I did but it was not required. The bu ck took only a few wobbly steps and down he went. A few minutes wait to ensure he was not going to get up and once again it was high fives all round.
The plan now was to go back to George’s Chamois, take some photo’s, cape the animal and then head off down to retrieve my buck. It was around 4:30 pm by the time we had finished with George’s animal as we started the journey to my buck. It was about a 500 meter descend from where I had shot my buck and this took us around 45 minutes. Capeing the buck quickly and taking the customary photo’s we then started the long and difficult climb back to the top of the ridge. Th
is was no mean feat and in many cases you had to use the vegetation to pull yourself up the hill. It took us a good hour and a half to reach the top, exhausted yet satisfied with what we had achieved. A Two hour walk back to camp awaited us, yet we managed to arrive at our camp site just before dark. Tired and thirsty we quickly downed a couple of local beers before we had something to eat. We did try the back straps off the Chamois the following night and I can tell you the meat is very tasty.
The following day, Wednesday was to be our last full day but typical of the weather, we spent most of the day in our tent due to the rain. We managed to get out late in the afternoon hoping to spot a Red deer or a Tahr however this was not to be. Friday morning saw us up nice and early, packed our gear and waited for the helicopter to pick us up. The helicopter trip back to base was more pleasant as we were able to see a lot more to due the finer weather. A six hour drive back to our Christchurch motel ended our trip with trophies in hand and memories never to be forgotten. The countryside in the NZ alpine region is breathtaking but also quite challenging. If you get a chance to experience it do not miss out on the opportunity. You will not regret it.
| 
