A few facts pulled out for the back of your hand.
- Released: 1904, near Aoraki/Mount Cook, by gift from the 11th Duke of Bedford.
- Feral range: 706,000 hectares, Rakaia to Hawea, both sides of the Main Divide.
- Management units: seven, plus two exclusion zones.
- Population (2023 DOC mean): roughly 30,000.
- HTCP 1993 cap: 10,000.
- Trophy / rut window: May to early July.
- Mature bull age: five and a half to eight and a half years; old bull eight and a half plus.
- Solid trophy horn length: 12 to 13 inches; 13 inches plus is trophy of a lifetime; 14 inches plus is exceptional.
- NZDA records minimum: 40 Douglas points or 13-inch horn.
- Visitor Firearms Licence fee: NZ$25.
- Hooker-Landsborough/Adams ballot fee: NZ$60 per application.
- Ballot opportunities: approximately 252 per year (28 sites × 9 weeks).
- AATH offset rule: roughly five non-trophy tahr per trophy taken, or one hour of culling time per seven trophies.
- CITES: tahr is non-CITES; no permit needed to export from NZ.
- Common rifle calibres: 7mm Rem Mag, 6.5 PRC, .300 Win Mag, .270, .308.
- Typical engagement range: 200–450 metres.
- Typical guided 5-day tahr hunt cost: around NZ$11,000.
- Suppressors: legal and common in NZ.
- NZ alpine helicopter rate (indicative): NZ$2,500/hour.
- Pack base-weight target (DIY spike camp): 12–15 kg.
- Daily caloric burn on the hunt: 4,000–6,000 kcal.
- Food calorie-density target: 4.5–5 kcal/g.
- Daily water intake target: 3–6 litres.
- Training programme length: 12 weeks.
- Peak training pack weight: 20–25 kg over 3–5 hours.