Chasing Tahr in Aoraki with Kane Maniapoto

“As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a hunter.”

Born in New Zealand and raised in Australia, Kane grew up—like many of us—with hunting as a way of life. During the week, he works in the fisheries and forestry industry, but come the weekend, he's either out in the bush or planning his next adventure. For Kane, it’s not about the trophy—it’s about the challenge, the terrain, and pushing the limits of both himself and his gear.

“It’s never been about taking an animal, that’s the end goal. It’s always been about the adventure and going to faraway places that most people would never go.”

On a recent Tahr hunting trip to Aoraki, he found all of that and more. Dropped by chopper into the remote, snow-covered South Island Alps, he and his crew expected a bit of snow—but what hit them over the next few days was far beyond that.

“Being prepared with quality hunting equipment is a must when your life is in your hands.”

With their MIA tent set up, EPIRB and medical kit packed, they began their trek. After several hours following a creek and stopping frequently to glass the steep slopes above, they spotted a lone bull Tahr moving effortlessly across a sheer cliff. “How they can be so sure-footed and not fall to the valley floor will always have me baffled.”

The bull joined a good-sized mixed mob behind the cliff, giving Kane the cover he needed to move in and take the shot. “It didn’t take long for the crosshairs to settle on his shoulder and the projectile to hit the mark. That turned out to be the easy part…”

Not usually afraid of heights, Kane’s nerves were tested as a gnarly ascent to retrieve the animal had him slipping, crawling, and hanging onto anything he could grab.

“People say don’t look down when you’re up high. As we were standing there on the side of a snow-covered cliff. I inadvertently looked down and thought to myself, ‘there will be no walking away from this if you slip.’ Strangely, it's times like this that make me feel most alive…”

Gripping whatever he could, Kane pushed on up the mountain, eventually finding the Tahr lying in the snow. “Such an achievement... I sat with it for a while before thinking to myself, how am I going to get down off this bloody hill?”

After the ritual “paparazzi shoot”, knife work, and a few near misses on the descent to keep the adrenaline pumping, reaching the creek at the bottom brought a wave of relief. Over the next two days, they managed to take one more Tahr before the snowstorm hit.

“Waking to over a meter of snow was a truly breathtaking sight. We could barely walk with the snow being so deep! Animals living in that kind of condition are truly remarkable.”

"Stay safe, hunt hard and always keep the wind in your face."

Hunting was out of the question. Then came the message from the chopper pilot: “Boys there’s more snow on the way. I can pull you out shortly or you are going to get stuck in there for the next 3 days or more.”

Sometimes, you’ve got to play it safe. This time, the mountains won. “These mountains have not seen the last of me, I will be back to hunt on them again.”

Kane's Go-to Gear

"Hunters Element backpacks to their daks play a major part of my equipment decisions. Depending on the time of the year and where in the world I will be, I am running a mixed element layering system. If asked to pick essential items that I wouldn’t leave home without are the Hunters Element thermals or Venom V2 Gaiters (AU only), they are always the first things I pack."