New Zealand Chamois

kiwi3006

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 1, 2007
Messages
674
Location
Canterbury, New Zealand
My freezer is starting to get empty so I decided to head out for a hunt to start filling it up, I haven't shot an animal since December.
I left home early on Saturday morning and headed up one of the local mountains. By 11 am I was nearly at the top when my dog disappeared off down the side, a few barks later I realised she was chasing something. Noticing a dark animal heading up the opposite face I got a real surprise to see a chamois. It was too quick and there was no chance of a shot.
By 11:30 am I was where I wanted to glass from but, by now it was getting very hot, there was a nice 7 mph breeze blowing. I figured a rest in the shade was in order so I retreated down to some trees and hoped to find some water.
By 4pm I was back on top glassing, unfortunately the wind had picked up to 12 – 15 mph. At 5 pm I noticed two animals on the far side of the basin. Trying to get the spotting scope on them was difficult as the wind was blowing it around. I was able to confirm that they were two chamois. They would be a 2km stalk so I left them for the next day as I had to head that way to go home.

Chamoislocation.jpg


Looking across to where the chamois were.

Around 7pm I finally saw the rear end of a deer sticking out from behind a bush. It was around 900 yds away so I headed down the slope to get a bit closer. I eventually closed the gap to 700 yds and set up the rifle. Unfortunately the wind was still gusting to 12 -13 mph, but every now and again would almost drop to nothing. I worked out the come –up and dialled it into the scope. A 10mph wind required 3.6 MOA plus 0.3 MOA spindrift. I dialled in 1.5 MOA and decided to take the shot if the wind dropped. I wanted to wait until the stag was facing downwind so that if I underestimated the wind the shot would miss in front of the animal.

Staglocation.jpg

Looking across to where the stag was

The stag was an 8 -10 pointer and was a big bodied animal. To retrieve him would mean dropping 500 vertical metres (1500 ft) down into the stream, back up 200 m (600 ft) to get to him and then reversing it. In the end I decided not to take the shot because of the wind, it would be the furthest shot on an animal I had made (although I have shot at targets further) and the retrieval would have been difficult.

I didn't see any other animals that night.

Next morning I was up before daylight and headed around to where the chamois were the night before. It took less time to get there than I had thought, about an hour. Dropping my pack I stalked into where the chamois had been. Initially there was nothing to be seen, but as I made my way up the gut a chamois broke out of the scrub ahead of me and ran across a shingle slide. I had already put a round in the chamber, so it I thumbed the bolt closed and tried to pick up the animal in the 4.5x scope. It took a determined swing to catch up with the chamois but I finally dropped it on the run at 30 m with a 160 accubond through the chest.

Meandchamois.jpg

Me with the chamois, a doe with 8 ¼" horns.

Chamois.jpg

Close up of chamois

The chamois turned out to be a doe with 8 ¼" horns and was in prime condition. I grabbed all the meat worth salvaging, added it to the pack and continued the trudge home.
All in all a satisfying weekend.

The rifle used was a Rem 700 7mm rem mag, Leupold VX III 4.5 -14 x 40 LR, with 160 accubond, 73 gr ADI2217/H1000, federal case, federal 215 primer
 
Last edited:
Nice work Kiwi, she is a good size aye!

A few more weeks to go and its the roar. get that stag to come to you instead.:D

I too have been out recently but havent got around to writing any thing up but I will soon.

All the best
300WSMMAD
 
300wsmmad, I'll probably manage one more trip before we head down for wapiti, and then I don't think I'll be allowed out for a while:D, so I will probably miss out on the local roar. Will have to try for him next year when he is a 12.

Stu.
 
I agree, that's some amazing country to be hunting. And a huge variety of exotic game to hunt. LR shooting ability is definetely a big advantge hunting there.

I love how you spot game at 700m and such, and then end up whacking it at 30m on the run with a highpower scope and a performance LR round :D guess that's hunting and why I love it. Always exciting.
 
Nice shooting, great story and really good clear pics...luv the arrows. Thanks for sharing.
 
Thanks for the comments guys,

3fingervic there are heaps of opportunities near Auckland, depending on your definition of near. There are fallow deer within an hour of downtown Auckland, although most are on private land and a fee needs to be paid, don't know how much though.
If you drive 3-4 hours south of Auckland it opens up a heap of public land that varies from bush hunting to open tops. No fee needs to be paid although a hunting permit (free) needs to got from the Department of Conservation.
There are also numerous private blocks avaliable, often needing helicopter or light plane access. Most huting is for Red or Sika deer.

Stu.
 
Thanks for the info. I'll let him know. If I was to go visit him, would I be able to bring my rifle? As a visitor, would it be difficult for me to get a hunting permit?
 
3fingervic .
Bringing a rifle shouldn't be a problem, there is some paperwork to fill out but not too much of a hassle I think. The NZ Police are the people to get in contact with. Hunting permits shouldn't be a problem. Some Dept of Conservation offices want to see a firearms licence, some don't. From memory the North Island offices are fine. All they want is name, address, etc, should be ok to use your brothers address.

Stu.
 
Warning! This thread is more than 15 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.
Top