Chamois Rupicapra rupicapra were introduced here as a gift from Emperor Franz Josef in 1907 and released in the Mt Cook region of the South Island. They are a popular hunting prize in their native Europe which was why they were liberated here. Chamois live mostly in alpine regions but sometimes can be found close to the sea. They are extremely wary animals and will vacate the area as soon as they suspect danger is about.

Chamois don’t do well in captivity and so are still mostly hunted the hard way. They are by far my favourite animal to hunt as they are the most cunning of the alpine species I have hunted. Like Tahr, Chamois were only liberated in the South Island. This herd is the only wild herd in existence outside their native habitat in Central Europe.

Like the Tahr, both the male and female have horns (the bucks are slightly thicker) which is their most characteristic feature as they grow almost vertically and curve near the ends to form sharp hooks. Male Chamois (bucks) live a mostly solitary existence and only tend to join the female groups for the rut mid-April through to June.

Chamois are well known for their keen eyesight and sure-footedness they can negotiate steep rocky faces with ease, often at considerable speed. During the day they tend to bed on a vantage point giving them a commanding view of all approaches to the area making it difficult for the hunter to approach from below.

Helicopter Access

Most of our camps on mountain hunts on crown land are accessed by a helicopter that means no backpacking and puts you straightaway into the prime hunting area.

Each campsite has a different flight time and almost all of the different operators I use have a different type of helicopter with a different charge out rate.

So depending on when you ask me how much to fly into Tahr or Chamois country you are going to get different price options to go into different areas depending on the time of year and the number of hunters going.

Fees

The Canterbury Tahr hunting Guide as an Outfitter member of the New Zealand Professional Hunting Guides association Inc. holds a Hunting Concession to commercially operate on Department of Conservation (Crown lands) Only Outfitter Members of this Association hold this concession. Any out operator that’s not a member is doing so illegally including all overseas-based outfitters unless they are going through one of the NZPHA members. As part of this concession, a trophy of NZ$150 per Tahr and NZ$100 per Chamois and NZ$1 per stag is paid to the crown by the operator to the crown. Some small games species are exempt such as Pigs, Goats and Wallabies.

**Important  Canterbury Tahr Hunting Guide is a concession holder to legally hunt on DoC lands (crown or public land) as part of that concession a trophy fee of NZ $150 per Tahr, NZ$100 per Chamois and $1 per stag taken, must be paid by the concession holder to crown. In addition, DoC charges a daily guiding fee of NZ$15 per day per client. Only registered Outfitter members of the New Zealand Hunting Guides Association hold this concession to legally hunt on DoC Lands. To simplify any quote the Trophy fee is not included in the quote but charged for at the end of the hunt when the number of trophies is known.