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How To’s
A massive trophy bull
tahr, or is he?
Photo: Corey Geddes
TAHR AND CHAMOIS
Trophy Evaluation
For the tyro and experienced hunter alike,
judging tahr and chamois trophies on the
hill is a challenging job
They don't have "points" to
count, and an inch each way
can make a huge difference to
the size of the trophy.
There are a few guidelines you'll hear
mentioned, some of which are useful, and
others that have too many exceptions
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NZ HUNTER MAGAZINE ~ June / July 2013
and can therefore be very misleading.
Tyron, Marcus and I did a seminar at the
Tahr Show in Christchurch last year on
this topic. Tyron is a master taxidermist
and a very experienced alpine hunter, and
Marcus is a very experienced free range
fair chase tahr, chamois and deer hunting
guide from the West Coast. We've since
been approached to repeat this seminar
at various shows and hunting clubs in
New Zealand and also across the ditch in
Australia. Getting the three of us together
under the same roof doesn't happen
often, so we decided we'd try and present
the same information in an article.
» EQUIPMENT
First up, we'll run through some
basic equipment that makes a huge
difference to your ability to judge
these animals on the hoof. Number
one here is quality optics. Generally
because of the mountainous terrain
WRITTEN BY ~
TYRON SOUTHWARD,
MARCUS PINNEY
AND GREG DULEY
close enough to do a proper evaluation
through your binos. Often then as
you've put in so much effort to get close
enough to the animal, you are inclined
to shoot it anyway. This has resulted in
many immature trophies of one species
or another being shot over the years.
We're not going to say much about
binoculars here, other than they must be
of reasonable quality and 10x is about
the most useful magnification. Anymore
and you'll struggle to hold them steady
enough without image stabilisation or a
tripod. Although 8x may be good enough
for general game finding in the low
country, 10x will definitely find you more
animals in the serious alpine country
because of the distances involved.
» SPOTTERS
This is the most important tool
for tahr and chamois evaluation.
A quality spotter of somewhere
around 20-60x magnification with a
60mm minimum objective lens size is
required. Unfortunately, the more the
magnification, the better quality the
optics need to be. High magnification
optics show up optical aberrations real
quick! Cheap Asian spotters will not cut
the mustard and only end up frustrating
you. An angled eyepiece spotter is much
easier to use on the steep upwards angles
most often encountered tahr hunting.
Equally as important is the tripod. A rigid
tripod with legs that will spread wide is
a must, or you won't be able to make
use of the extra resolution provided by
the spotter. This is all we are going to say
about spotters here, as their selection
and how to use them is a large topic in its
own right.
» TAHR
We'll start with tahr, regarded by
many as the supreme alpine trophy
all over the world. Let’s say you have
put in the hard yards and got yourself into
a position where you are looking at a bull
or bulls and now you’ve got to decide
whether one of them is a shooter!
» MATURE
ANIMAL
First up, you need to establish you
are looking at a mature animal.
All the criteria we're going to come
to shortly only applies if the animal is
mature in the first place. By mature, we
mean 6 years and older. So how do you
judge whether the bull you're looking
at is mature? This is easier from May till
November as the mature animal’s winter
coat is more defining. He will have a
good thick mane that comes back to
his shoulders, but he will also have a
thick blackish coat over the rear half of
his body and his hindquarters. The hair
length is considerably longer on an
older bull’s hindquarters. In early winter
and the rut he will be fairly dark all over,
but particularly on the east coast as the
winter progresses, middle aged bull’s
manes progressively lighten until they
can be quite bleached and blonde in
spring. The oldest bulls often show less
colour differentiation though, especially
on the west coast, and that long hair
length over the hindquaters is a more
important indicator. Body wise, he will
be twice as large as the nannies, and
half as large again as other younger fully
maned bulls. In particularly his rear end
will be noticeably more solid than any
A quality spotter on a stable rigid tripod
is essential for proper evaluation of tahr
and chamois trophies
these animals live in, you are going to
be trying to judge their trophy potential
at some distance. Often at ranges in
excess of a kilometer or two. The human
eye obviously is not capable of making
the sort of precise judgments required
except at very close ranges. Therefore
you are going to need quality optics.
Initially a pair of binoculars is generally
used to locate the animals in the first
place, and you can do a reasonable job
of trophy evaluation at ranges inside
200 yards or so with them. Beyond this
though, you really need a spotting scope.
A suitable spotter can save you hours
and miles of hard yards trying to get
June / July 2013 ~ NZ HUNTER MAGAZINE
5
This mature 14.25 inch bull (below right) shows the sort of hair
length and bulk we are looking for in his hindquarters. It goes
without saying he will have a stunning mane! Photo D Campbell
This bull looks pretty good
alongside nannies and younger
bulls, but he’s only a 4 or 5 year
old about 11 inches in length
Photo Corey Geddes
immature bulls hanging around. Don’t be
fooled by a fully maned bull in amongst
a group of nannies and immature bulls.
He will look far larger and older than he
really is. A more mature bull will tend
to be on his own with maybe only one
nanny during the rut. The 5 year olds may
hang around all day with the large nanny
groups, but the real old boys will often be
tucked away in some quiet corner with
just the nanny that’s on heat. He doesn't
waste time trying to hold large groups of
nannies and having to continually fight off
younger bulls when none of the nannies
are ready to mate anyway. He will often
only show himself in the first and last hour
of light.
After the rut you will see groups of older
bulls together, especially in spring, and
this makes it easier to pick out the big
boys. During the rut any bull groups you
see will be immature animals. If you are
quite close to the bull you are trying to
evaluate, you will also be able to see his
annular growth rings. These provide a real
wash board or roof tile effect when side
on in the right light conditions on a bull
with any age. A 13 inch plus bull is going
to be at least 7 or 8 years old, so will have
5 or 6 prominent rings. This is another
indicator that you are looking at a mature
bull.
» THE 2/3RDS
RULE
Ok, so now that we've identified that
he is a mature bull by his colour,
shape, and location, it’s time to get
serious on horn evaluation. There
are two facets of a trophies score,
horn length and horn circumference
at the base - in other words length
and thickness. To help judge this, we
have some simple guidelines, and we'll
start off with the 2/3rds rule. To judge
the length of a horn, we need to look
at three things, how high up they go
before turning back, how wide out
they go before turning back, and the
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NZ HUNTER MAGAZINE ~ June / July 2013
length of the tips after they have turned.
These three things all define how long
his horns will be, and we want some
method of judging them. Starting with
height, we want to see the height of his
horns above his skull when front on to be
at least 2/3rds of the length of his skull.
In other words, if you folded his horns
forward and down along his head, you
want to see them come over 2/3rds of
the way down his nose. This is to give you
an idea of how high he goes up before
he turns and goes back. It also gives you
an idea of the thickness of his bases, as
the higher he goes before he turns, the
thicker his bases will be. The commonly
quoted rule you'll hear is that you should
be able to see two squares in his bases
when side on before the horn turns. Now
that works fine for bulls with parallel
sided bases, but we have seen many
bulls now that have tapered wedge
shaped bases and you can't even get one
square inside their bases. For example,
the standard measurements for a record
book bull of 40 DS is 12 inch length and 8
inch circumference bases. 12 x 2 plus 8 x
2 = 40. Now my 14 inch bull for example
has over 9 inch bases that taper to being
about the same circumference just below
where they turn as the average 8 inch
base bull who has parallel bases. Side by
side with the old two squares rule you
would pick the parallel sided 8 inch base
bull over my wedge shaped 9.5 inch
base bull, and yet my bull scores 3 points
better everything else being equal. That's
why height before the turn is better
judged in relation to skull length rather
than just shape.
Above: You want to see the height of the
horns above the head coming over two
thirds of the way down the nose when the
bull is front on. This bull is 13.5 inches long
Above: You want to see the horns
coming at least two thirds of the way
out to the tips of the ears. This is also
a 13.5 inch bull, 9 years old. (Ignore
the height above the head in this pic
as the camera so close to the nose has
distorted the comparison with head
length.)
At left: You want to see the tip length
as two thirds the overall front to back
horn length when viewed side on.
This 12 inch bull with great tips should
not have been shot. It is a classic
example of a 4 year old bull with great
potential, if only allowed a few more
years to grow those bases!
Distance very similar
Length to head
Next we'll look at tip length - that is
length after the turn. Looking side on, we
want to see the tip length around 2/3rds
of the overall distance from the very front
of the horns at the base of the ridges to
the tips. In other words, the length after
the turn is twice the width of the bases
when viewed side on.
Lastly spread - when front on we want
to see the horns come out to at least
2/3rds the length of the ears when they
are in the reasonably straight out position.
The wider the horns go out before they
turn back adds length for the same height
of horn. Also if they go out wide and
then turn back in (what some refer to as
sweep), they give you more length for the
same length of horn when viewed side
on.
Often you'll hear people say if you can
see the horns turning back in towards
the tips, they'll be a 12 inch plus bull.
Again, this does not take into account
shape. In my early years hunting tahr I
have shot bulls that turned in nicely, but
still only measured 11 inches in length. If
they don't have sufficient spread before
they turn back in, they still won't get the
length. Willie's best bull to date is a 13.5
inch bull with parallel tips and no sweep
at all. He gets just as wide as my 14 inch
x
An underneath shot of
my 14 inch bull showing
turn in and tip length
x
8+ YEAR OLD BUCK
13-14 TYPE LENGTH IN HORNS
4-5 YEAR OLD BUCK
11-12 TYPE LENGTH IN HORNS
bull though, but just doesn't turn back in.
Spread is more important than sweep or
turn in, but most really big bulls 14 inches
and over will have both great spread and
sweep.
Tyron has another simple yard stick
for a side on bull you can use in a
hurry that gives you an idea of horn
length. He looks at the length of the
horn in a straight line from base to tip (not
around the curve), and compares it with
the head length from base of horns to tip
of nose. If the straight line horn length
is the same as the head length, the bull
should be in the 13 inch plus class. If it’s
only 2/3rds of the head length, it will be
the usual 11 to 12 inch bull.
If you’ve made sure you're looking at a
mature bull to start with; and if he then
meets the 2/3rds criteria for height, length
and width; you can be almost guaranteed
of a really good trophy in excess of 13
inches long and 43 DS.
This 13.5 inch bull has parallel
tips with no turn in
Distance only about
2/3rds Length of head
There are far too many hunters after a
good tahr trophy who keep tipping up
11 to 12 inch bulls hoping they're going
to get a 13 incher or better. Now 13 inch
plus bulls don't start life that way, they
have to survive through the 11 and 12
inch years to get enough age on them
to achieve their potential. If we can all
learn to judge bull tahr better on the hoof,
and leave the 11's and 12's, then there
will be plenty of 13 inch plus bulls for
everyone. This is especially so with those
young bulls that’ve had a great first year
and have exceptional tips but just need
age to grow their bases. These are the
bulls that if left alone have the potential
to grow into the 14 inch plus bracket.
That's why the height criteria is the most
important. If you shoot a bull with great
height above his head and therefore base
mass, he will be an older bull for sure. He
may still only go 12 inches in length if
he's got broomed off tips or had a tough
first year as a kid, but he'll have reached
most of his potential. Do not shoot the
12 inch length bull with exceptional tips,
but little base height. Those are the big
bulls of the future, so learn to judge
them properly and if in any doubt,
let them grow!
Here you can see an
11.5 inch bull with not
enough width or height
The same 11.5 inch bull. He does
not have the height in his bases
nor the overall length of horn.
He is just plainly too young!
The 13.5 inch bull side on. Now
you can see real base height and
total horn length, even though
he has lost a bit off his tips
7
Side on you can
see the hooks.
C
» CHAMOIS
A
Firstly, you need to learn how to
distinguish between a buck and
a doe, and this can be the most
difficult for those new to chamois.
A 9 inch chamois verses below
an 11 inch front on. We want
to see horns approaching
twice the height of the ears
B
Above & above top: Marcus shot
this big bull last year. He is 10
years old and 13 ¾ inches long.
Not a wide one, his massive
bases are obvious side on. Front
on apart from his growth rings
his size is not apparent
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NZ HUNTER MAGAZINE
Again, a buck will usually be on his own,
or with a solitary doe during the rut. They
are more solid than a doe, although this is
really only evident when they are side by
side. Their horns always have more hook
than a doe’s, whose often have little turn
down at all. They are also always thicker
than a doe’s. This last can cause a bit of
an optical illusion when front on, with
the thinner horns of a doe often looking
longer than the fatter/ more hooked
horns of a buck. Chamois are scored the
same way as a tahr, with just length and
base circumference considered. There are
less things to look for when evaluating
chamois, as the major part of their length
comes before the turn or hook, unlike
tahr where most of the length is after the
turn. Therefore the most important criteria
is height above the skull. The general rule
of thumb here is you want to see horns
at least 1.5 times as high as the ears when
they are in the usual forward pricked
position. Next you ideally want to see a
nice wide hook that curves well back and
well down. You can make up quite a bit
of length here if the buck has exceptional
hooks, but you won’t see it front on. Take
the time to get both front and side on
views.
The base circumference adds little to the
score, as the difference between a really
thick set of horns and a really skinny set is
only half an inch. This means a maximum
of an inch in score in the most extreme
scenario. Chamois pretty much set their
trophy potential in the first couple of
The same 9 and 11 inch bucks in C & D have very similar average type hooks. Photo E is an 11.75 inch buck with
exceptionally wide and deep hooks that give it a score way beyond what you would expect when viewed front on.
Photo F is a nanny showing their characteristic skinny horns and very weak hooks
D
E
F
years, as after that the annular rings only add
a little length each year. Many 10 inch bucks
are only 4-5 years old. Bucks that have 11 inch
horns will nearly always be 7 years plus. For
the Douglas Score, you're not worried as much
about age as with tahr, more whether the
horns are long enough in relation to the ears,
and whether in conjunction with the hooks
they'll go more than 10 inches. But very old
bucks are often the most impressive trophies.
They carry plenty of growth rings like an old
bull tahr, providing plenty of character. The
CIC scoring system used to score chamois in
Europe gives chamois trophies extra points for
age. It also measures the height and spread of
the horns. Unfortunately our own system does
not give these qualities any merit.
West coast chamois in particular can be quite
susceptible to horn rot, to the extent they
actually rot right off in some cases. Very few
bucks get over about 8 years old and still have
their horns. Even mild horn rot can affect your
trophies score over time, as the degraded
base section will shrink loosing you both
circumference and length. This happened to
my big Fiordland buck who measured over 11
inches with 4 inch bases when he was shot,
but by the time he got to the NZDA Nationals
months later, the horn bases had shriveled
to the extent he had lost about half an inch
in both length and circumference. East coast
chamois don't seem to suffer as much from this
malady, due to the drier climate more like their
Austrian homeland.
That about wraps it up.
Properly evaluating tahr and chamois
on the hoof takes time but is very
rewarding. You get a real buzz when
after much spotter gazing you call an
animal a trophy, and after the shot your
judgment is proved spot on!
Here is Hamish’s massive 12 incher and then
alongside 10.5 and 9.5 inch bucks. The wide hooks give the 9.5 more
length than you’d expect, but for the best mix of shear height and
hook, that 12 incher is absolutely tops! Photo Hamish Sutton
June / July 2013 ~ NZ HUNTER MAGAZINE
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