Huntech Outdoor Clothing Systems
This article is by Brendon Coe, the Editor of New Zealand's premier hunting and fishing publication, the New Zealand Rod & Rifle Magazine
John "Sharkey" Ward with his trophy of a lifetime. 13 3/8 inches long with 10 inch bases!
The Huntech "Win a Tahr Hunt" ... 1999
John (Sharkey) Ward knew that when he purchased his Huntech clothing from Dave Hern’s Hunting and Fishing in Hawkes Bay, he was buying what he believed was the best gear for his hunting requirements. What he didn’t know was that the purchase would present him with the greatest hunting trip of his life. A Tahr hunt in New Zealand’s Southern Alps sponsored by Huntech Clothing and personally hosted by Huntech boss Steve Richards. It all started when Steve Richards rang me to ask if I would do the draw for the winner to which I readily agreed. Steve duly arrived with a cardboard box that contained thousands of entries and after a good shuffle out came Sharkey as the lucky hunter. Steve asked me if I would like to go on the hunt to do the story, a generous invitation which I was very pleased to accept. All was set for late October 1999. I was to come out after the goose trip and go to Christchurch to meet Mark Harrison and Mike Freeman of Kiwi Safaris, pick up Sharkey at the airport and then travel south to Tahr country. It was good to catch up with Mike again and to meet Mark Harrison whom I quickly discovered shared my love for hunting in the Canterbury high country. Mike Freeman is a keen hunter also and informed me that he has every Rod and Rifle magazine ever published and the Yearbooks as well. Such is his passion for hunting that he has chosen to make his living from it and has established Kiwi Safaris New Zealand which caters for overseas trophy hunters who want to experience the fabulous hunting that is still available in this country. The success of his venture has been truly amazing with Kiwi Safaris rating as one of our top operators with over 50 hunts completed in the last season.

The luxurious hunt in the Rangitata country
Mike showed me the big Fallow buck he took recently in the South Island which rates in the top three ever taken in New Zealand. I was real pleased to meet Sharkey who at 64 years of age allayed my fears of tearing up and down mountains after some fit young hell hunter in pursuit of a big bull; that was until he told me about his completing the Fletcher Marathon a while back in Rotorua! Still, after 8 days chasing pigs and geese I hoped I would be fit enough to keep up. Soon we were off to the Rangitata country in the Mackenzie District of South Canterbury to a 40,000 acre station that carried good numbers of Tahr where we stayed the first night in the shearers quarters so that we could watch the All Blacks play Scotland in the World Cup quarter finals. The boys were a bit quiet after that game. Day one saw us back in the hills in a hut that boasted a hot shower and a gas cooker as well as stunning alpine views of big stark mountains with a few Tahr here and there. Mike Freeman and Steve Richards are close friends and have a vast experience of International big game hunting between them. They use Leica binoculars and I was keen for them to look through the new pair of Swarovski 8x42 magnesium body binoculars I was trying out for importers N Z Ammunition Company. They were impressed as the boys on the goose trip had been and the next four days proved the clarity and quality of these glasses as we looked over groups of Tahr in search of a big bull.
Mike Freeman, genial partner in Kiwi Safaris New Zealand
The next day Mark Harrison, Steve Richards and Sharkey set off up a side creek while Mike and I sit on an opposite mountain to glass their route. Soon the Swarovski’s pick up a mob of thirty mature bulls hidden in a creek the boys cannot see into. Mike is on the handheld radio quickly as he talks the hunters up to the top of the ridge to try to get a shot. And what a ridge. High, long and steep we are impressed with Sharkey’s effort as he grunts to the top with what Steve later describes as a tough mental attitude. At over 4000 feet they crawl to the edge of a slip above the bulls who smell them and run around a gully or two. Onwards and upwards, they again position themselves above the bulls who now number 21 and this time the wind is favourable. From several kilometres away across the valley it is without doubt the most exciting hunt I have ever witnessed. We can see that the bulls are all mature with Mark later telling us that two of the bulls that broke from the mob at the first attempt would have gone over 14 inches. Their manes, which are half the trophy of a bull Tahr, are dark and long for the time of year and they look magnificent as they graze contentedly in the high tussock amid vast mountain vistas that first enthralled Samuel Butler last century. I am treated to an expert display of hunting experience and knowledge as Steve and Mark, totally confident of the wind, wait patiently for the bulls to move to a ridge below so that they will offer a clearer profile than the present one where only their backs can be seen above the high tussock.
Steve Richards (L) and Mark Harrison are as happy about my bull as I was.
And they have their sights set on a real big bull who seems reluctant to move from the middle of the mob. I can only marvel at Sharkey’s nerve. The guy has never hunted Tahr before and here he is within 150 yards of the trophy of a lifetime and is being advised to wait, for what turns out to be over an hour, for the right shot. The right shot being straight down hill with a rifle he has never fired before; Steve Richard’s Remington 700 ADL in 300 Winchester Magnum topped by a Leupold 3.5-10x Vari-Power. It is all set up for a real buck fever and bugger job it seems to me, but it turns out to be no worries for Sharkey who is growing in my estimation by the minute. Steve later tells us that he was real toey to shoot and when he finally does the bull is bowled off his feet and gets a finisher also to give Sharkey a wonderful trophy of 13 and 3/8th inches with 10 inch bases and a dark shaggy mane. They tell me up in the Bay that Sharkey is a great talker, but he says very little for the next day and a half and we are becoming a little concerned about the dazed look in his eye. I wake up the next morning to find Sharkey fully dressed and sitting at the window looking at the mountains of Erewhon. “ Can’t sleep Sharkey?” I offer by way of good morning. “ Can’t stop thinking’ about that hunt” he replies.
There are a few Tahr to be found in this country
The next bull was up to me as Mike and Steve had very kindly given me permission to shoot one. It had been a long time; my last Tahr hunt had been in the Whataroa back in the sixties and I was real keen to have a crack after watching the animals and action of the previous days. High on a ridge between two rivers we locate a lone bull on a rock face in a creek at the head of the valley. After a steep down and up I am in position for a shot at 180 yards with a Remington 700 in 7mm Remington magnum with a Leupold Vari-Power and Federal 160 grain Trophy Bonded ammo. The bull is lying down and we wait him out for a better shot. He eventually stands and I am delighted with my 11 and 3/4 inch trophy complete with dark mane and good bases.
Brendon Coe with his Trophy Bull Tahr
This trip must have been a dream for Steve Richards with two trophies, good weather and perfect harmony among the group on the inaugural Huntech Win a Hunt prize draw. He celebrated with some pretty good hare shooting with the .22 magnum on the way out and later told us that next year’s trip would be to New Caledonia for a Rusa. Mike Freeman told Sharkey that Kiwi Safaris would pay to have his trophy shoulder mounted which sent the poor guy back into that stunned daze state just when he seemed to be coming right. Sharkey was happy though I thought as he marched ahead of me along the aisle of the North bound Air New Zealand Boeing, all decked out in his Huntech Realtree jacket and trousers with his Kiwi Safaris cap set at a jaunty angle and why wouldn’t he be, he had just been to the top of the world.
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