Two years had passed since my first visit to Altai from Kazakhstan where I hunted for a Siberian ibex. It was a very active trip and hard hunting. Telling the truth, I wasn’t satisfied by the results because there were not many trophy size goats and I couldn't to get the big one. But I knew a lot during that trip and started to prepare for the new one.
Hunting was organized on the mountain slopes that united four countries - China, Mongolia, Russia and Kazakhstan. The guides told me that animals came to the territory of the Republic and stay for a winter time during the rut season. The wreckage of Soviet shepherd’s cabins, we met on our way, confirmed that information. If sheep could feed there in winter, the ibexes would find what to eat too. From the very beginning I understood that hunting there wouldn’t be an easy walk. In October it was really cold and snow cover was about a half of a meter. The hunting area was in two hours ride by horses from the lodge. Four hours ride (two hours in a one way) was not only tedious but it was a waste of time, we didn’t have enough light hours. Thus, we resolved to stay in the tent on the top.
I trained the whole year to be in a good physical form - trainings, winter equipment and so. Unfortunately, I couldn't arrive there in the last year, the hunting trip was planned on the beginning of December but the host canceled it because didn’t have licenses. I wasn’t upset because the average temperature at that time was -35C in day and dropped to -42C at night.
But next season I booked everything beforehand. The outfitter #1 in Kazakhstan, the leader and the inspirer of hunting tourism of the ProHunt company Nurlan Kikimov did his best and get the hunting license for an ibex. Thanks to him a lot for the support!
So, I was going to travel at the end of November - beginning of December. Then the host confirmed the final date - December the 1st. The weather forecast promised unbelievable figures. It should be expected much warmer than usually about - 5 -10 degrees on the sun. Fantastic! My fellow, who was going to hunt for a maral in same areas, and I drove to the place.
We should drive about 1650 km but it was a hard trip. The thaw caused fogs during all hours while we were driving. But we arrived.
Let's go!
I talked with the guides before our arrival and insisted on staying in the tents on the top to save time and strengths. I knew how they hate to stay in the tents in winter and prepared for everything. I took warm sleeping bags, mats, one more tent, a gas stove, sublimates and many other things. The only thing which I didn't take was a rubber girlfriend.
We stopped by to pick up the guide and drove to the Base. After arrival our team decided not to waste time and began to pack the necessary equipment. Other guides with the horses arrived to the base in the beginning of 9 am and it took us some more hours to ride to the place. It was about noon when we arrived. We detected the group of goats including trophy size males while riding to the place. They were left for a dessert.
I knew where the main circus was, animals preferred to stay there. I pulled out the scope, that bought specially for that expedition and examined the surroundings. Two groups of ibexes were feeding there. Then had spotted the group, consisted of males only. There were about 30-40 animals. But the group was moving somewhere. The guides looked confused.
- Somebody frightened them...
We didn’t have much time to think it over and decided to follow the group. Climbing wasn’t hard. We were rising by the old snow avalanche that was like a stone. It was a pleasure to go by there in the crampons. Then we reached the snow part, it was melting under the sun and sticked to the crampons, we had to make stops to clear boots.
Views were amazing and it was warm. I was dressed in special clothes and covered by camouflage and have some extra clothes in my backpack. The kryptek camouflage was one of the best in my life and helped a lot at that expedition. It was light, waterproof and made with the usage of last technologies. Softshell worked well when I climbed and if the wind became stronger it also helped. The “Yeti” costume protects from the wind but you feel comfortable even there is no wind. There are special zippers to remove excess heat.
We reached the overview point and detected several group of ibexes, some of them were in 200 meters below us. I noticed trophy size males (from 100 to 110sm). We didn’t approach them but followed the big group.
At last, we found their tracks and saw other ones... wolves. It was the reasons why ther were running. The guides looked surprised. There were not many wolves there, they said us before that's why I didn’t take my waba to howl to the wolves. Talking ahead I’d say that we heard and saw wolves each day. It was an abnormal year.
It was 4.20 pm and it was getting dark already. We couldn’t catch up with the group. Later we noticed one more herd and there were several animals and the distance allowed to shoot but I wasn’t ready to hunt the ibex in the first hunting day! One more distance why I refused to fire was the place where they stopped. It was unreal to pulled out the trophy from the gorge where they were feeding. The guides weren’t happy but I insisted on my decision. I aimed and shot to the stone hoping that the huge monster would appear but it didn’t.
It was twilight when we descended to the place where the camp should be, but it wasn't. I tried to find out why it happened. Shal- the guide began to whine and complain that we should go down to change horses. I asked him why we had carried there all those sleeping bags, tents and other things but he repeated again and again that horses needed oat. It was clear that he wasn’t going to cross the ridge and to follow big ibexes, another guide was sick and didn't want to sleep in the tent too.
It was a deep night when we came back to the lodge. They sent two horses to the village and then I had to drive to get oat to feed the new horses that would come next morning. But it happened that the new ones were the same we send to the village yesterday.
Those guides deserve to say some words about them. I hunted with one of them two years ago. He was a strong, experienced guide who knew a lot about hunting but he caught a cold and cough that’s why we left him near the horses. The second one, about sixty years old, was experienced too but was lazy and not share trophy hunter’s passion. He wasn’t happy when knew that I was going to look for and to get the big trophy- his mentality and hunting skills were aimed to get meat only.
The professional guide is not the same as the good hunter. He has to be on the same wave with the client and to be aimed to find the biggest trophy. If the mountain hunting is the top of hunts, the mountain trophy hunting is a top of the tops! I felt the difference in that expedition. Training of such guides is a great deal and it has to be done for developing hunting tourism in the country. We need to start doing it urgently.
Next morning.
It was about 9 am when we left the camp.
The group, which we saw yesterday, was detected in the first gorge. I felt that my guides wanted me to hunt for one of them. I looked at them through the scope and noticed a couple of good ones. They were in 300m from us staying or laying in 50 m from the edge of the ridge, covered by forest.
Shal suggested to approach them directly from the down but I didn't like that plan. The goats were grazing in a hollow and we couldn’t come close by snow. It crunched, plus stones rolled under the feet. Nobody could guarantee that we would see them if went from that side.
I thought it would be better to climb by the wooded gorge parallel to them. Then one of the guides should fright them and to send them to the needed direction. They should go the the ambush and I would have time to choose the best one while they were moving. I put the picture, made a day before that event to demonstrate where it happened. The red line means - ibexes’ route, the green is ours.
I still was monitoring the herd while we were discussing the plan and saw the wolf. Then two more. They were coming to the animals from different sides. Animals stiffened but didn’t run. I tried to make pictures through the scope but they were not good. In any case It was clear what was going on. The animals gathered together and looked in tension. Then I saw the incredible thing- the wolves laid among the ibexes and in ten minutes the goats began to feed if nothing had happened.
We all were shocked: why didn’t they run? I heard the wolf’s hunters told me about such situations when wolves were migrating together with the saiga’s herds. The ungulates are used to wolves and treat them like shepherds. The predators hunted them but just for feed. Stockholm syndrome.
We didn’t like it. Shal insisted we approached from the down. He told me that one of the famous Russian hunters - Edward (how do you think who was it) approached the herd by the same way and got a nice trophy.
It was a hard climbing: snow, rocks, a slope. Only crampons and the combined alpenstock helped.
100 meters left when the radio informed us that the group began to move and withdrew on 700 m already. The guides thought that wolves made them go but I guessed the goats reacted to our coming. It occurred to me to ask what was the shooting distance when the Russian hunter got the trophy. Shal replied it was about 300 or 400 meters. Three hundred meters was not the same as fifty.
The only positive moment was that ibexes were going by the route; we expected and crossed the ridge in the place where we planned to make an ambush. We hoped they would stop in the upper part of the gorge. But it didn’t happen. We were following them along the brook and soon we found the exit on the opposite slope of the high mountains (it’s a green star on the red, on the scheme).
The situation looked critical. One of the guides should have to go down to the village, he was invited to the marriage, another one had to go home to feed the livestock. We had no time to descend to the circus where we were in the first day. And it was useless to follow the group - the guard stood on the top and monitored the surroundings.
The only way was to rise the gorge and to go to the ridge above the ibexes. Soon we realized how difficult it was to do. The horses sank into the snow up to their chests and soon refused to rise. Shal looked at me and said that only insane could rise by the northern side. But it was the only way!
It took me about two hours to ascend 200 meters. I didn't go, I was crawling. It’d be better to say that I rowed, dug, swam. But there was not any choice with a waist-deep snow. I had even invented my own method how to move. I was cutting the upper level of the rammed snow (about 20sm), then put the knee on that so called chair to press the soft snow and made a step, and repeated everything by the other leg. When I had overcome about 100m I saw the guide who followed me though he was sick.
I hoped that it’d be easier when we reached the rocks but it didn't. There were lots of cracks where I fell from time to time. The snow slide under my feet and once or two I had almost fell off the cliff and only the alpenstock helped (it’s an obligatory thing for such hunting). We had reached the mid of the mountain but I had not any more strength to go further and my fellow went ahead of me. It was much easier to follow somebody than to be the first, in 100 m we changed each other.
The sun went down when it was about 200 meters to the top. There wasn’t any sense to chase the herd.
We turned around and went down doomed.
I asked the guide to hunt tomorrow till noon and to go back at 1pm in any case. Shal heard that we were going to try once again on the next day and advised to go by the ibexes’ tracks by their path. But I insisted on my variant.
The last day.
It was dark yet when we left the camp as it had to be. At 8 am we were on our yesterday path. It frozen during the night and it was a pleasure to go. The distance left to the top was more than 200m, as we thought yesterday but we managed to reach it. But we had to be nervous. We were near the top when heard how the snow above us began to crack. Then it began to settle. We didn’t know what saved us from the snow avalanche.
Fortunately, we got out safely. And quickly.
I prepared the rifle and took off the cover from the optics. The mountains covered by light fog and we went to monitor the south slope. Soon we noticed ibexes’ tracks on the edge of the ridge. They were not fresh; the group of animals went there but not yesterday. We went to the ridge hiding and there they were! They were grazing in 700m from us on the left side.
We both fell down on all fours and crawled back. Hunting from above gives some advantages to the hunter. The goats are used to watch from up to down. The warm smell of a human rises in a winter time and they can't smell you. If there is a need to chase the herd it’s much better to make going by the ridge while they move by the slope, there are not much snow and it’s easy to go.
I stopped to take a breath. And suddenly I hear a crunch... What kind of obsession? It was the crust crunching under the hooves! We ran as fast as we could and crawled to looked what’s happened. O my god! The herd was moving. They’d heard us (an orange star on the scheme). There were 700 m between us once again.
We ran as fast as we could. There was the additional obstacle for ibexes - the rough slope ahead. I pulled out the phone while running to check everything. It’d be a long-distance shot. It was not cold and the bullet should fly lower. I got all analytics from Garmin (I used the special thermal sensor that laid the outer pocket of the backpack. It showed the last 24 hours analytics). From the other side, the altimeter showed almost 3000 meters-rarefaction. It meant that bullet would fly higher! It’s important to know how those values compensate for each other. The calculations gave an adjustment of 1.25 MOA, it was less than on the testing. Rarefied air gave a greater correction than low temperature. It was about 20sm on 500m - a sure miss.
I took the position but saw just females. Then we ran to the right and noticed the end of the group, consisted of males. I pulled out the rangefinder - 495m. Let's do it/ I made the correction and caught the males in the crosshairs. Chose the most beautiful one. A shot, then twisted a bolt.
I hit it. I aimed and fired to the visible part of the ibex and saw how it stepped back. The guide shouted: “One more! Don’t allow it to fall down”. I aimed once again and shot. One more hitting. It sat down and turned over to its side.
- Yes!!! I’m not used to react so emotionally.
We did it! The most difficult and beautiful hunt was over, emotions were overwhelming me! It was a little bit more than 11 am. Unbelievable!
We were happy like kids! Then went to the trophy. The rest of the group ran down and happened on the opposite slope. The goats were running in a chain. I tried to make a photo but couldn’t put them in one shot. There were not less than hundred animals. Probably there were other ungulates on that mountain. We admired the stunning sight.
Our male rolled down 50m and stopped at the end of the cliff. It was a time to use my alpenstock once again. I tired the belt to it, then bind its horns and slowly pulled the trophy up on the small platform.
Capra sibirica sibirica! It was even more beautiful when we came close! That male differed from the TianShan ones by the combination of white and brown colors. Plus, the length of the coat was amazing, on the neck-15sm! Its horns had smaller intervals between knots. The length was about 122-124 sm. But it wasn’t the biggest one! There was the chance to the get the World Record trophy! It's 135 sm now.
Then photo session and we went back. One of us went to the marriage and I drove home.
I watched the two heads Belukha when was driving home. The weather cleared again, the sun flared up, it became warm, and despite the fact that the body was exhausted to the limit, the soul sang. That was our hunting happiness.
PS For somebody who is interested: the used carbine CristensenArmscarbon.300 WinMag, the sight VortexViper4-16x50, bipods Harrisbipod, cartrige Federalaccubond180 gr.
