New Zealand hunters in general are bloody good as disagreeing with one another, there is however one thing that I think every hunter can agree on. That is, that we need to have the same if not better hunting opportunities available for our future generations. This is something we all have a stake in, and there’s at least one very simple way you can contribute to securing this future and that is by taking a couple of minutes to log the tahr you harvest into the tahr app.

The tahr app initiative from the Game Animal Council is a vital step towards making evidence-based decisions to help manage our tahr resource. We need this information to prove just how valuable recreational hunters are for managing animal numbers, and also to show just how much we value our tahr hunting opportunities.

“It is as simple as this - Every tahr you log in the app is one less tahr that Doc will shoot and leave to rot on the hill”

Forget the scepticism about how the data will be used, individual locations and personal info are not recorded but simply a number is logged as being in one of the 6 management units. So, it really is just overall numbers recorded and below is exactly what doc and the Game Animal Council see. We need to think bigger picture, as this about the future of the tahr herd as a viable and sustainable resource for now and generations to come.

"The more we can show how important our roll is, the more influence recreational hunters will have in future management"

Using the App is simple, you can find the instructions and how to use and download it here.

You simply need to take a photo of the tahr you’ve shot, or at least an image of the general area. Then upload it in the App with the general location, you can do this on the hill or do it when your back home in cell reception.

This app is only going to benefit us, recreational hunter's. So, please get it downloaded onto your phone now, then use it and hassle your mates to do the same. Very simply if we do not use this tool, recreational hunters contributions will be less recognised or not recognised at all in future planning.