First time we were going to hunt in Iran in 2012 but the state authority prohibited hunting in that year. I don't want to analyze the reasons of that decision. We all know that the East is a delicate matter. Do you know that hunting in this Islamic republic (the only theocratic state in the world, not accounting Vatican) is strictly regulated by the authorities?
There are the special security services in all regions. The purpose of those departments is to check and control the compliance with the law and hunting rules. Iran has the rich wildlife. There are different landscape and climate zones and I was impressed by the game variety which inhabitant in that country. Do you even know that there are several areas where cheetahs dwell? Their population is about 500 individuals. They are protected by the State and hunting for them is prohibited but I was impressed just by the presence of those animals there. I know that cheetah’s population in Kazakhstan had been fully destroyed. A close relative of African hyenas, the striped hyena was spread not only on the Middle East, Central Asia and India but had been met in the Central Asian republics of the USSR too. But it's interesting to mention that it's population in Iran is big enough. The predators in Iran are also presented by foxes, jackals, wolves and bears, inhabitant in the mountain regions on the north of the country.
The Caspian Coast (on the north of the country) is very picturesque. The seashore, in comparison with Azerbaijan, Dagestan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, is covered by forests. which come almost to water. Those deciduous forest are the home for the huge boar population, most of them have fangs 25cm and more and for the red deer. They lives not Hangul, or the Central Asian tugai deer, but the separate species- the Caspian deer. The locals call it maral. They told me that maral in Farsi means a deer. Jeyrans inhabit on the most territory of Iran and its’ population is quite stable.
Now some world about the most important things. Iran - is Eldorado for the mountains hunters where they can significantly replenish their collection of mountain sheep and Ibexes. They can hunt there for Kerman and Isfahan mouflons, the red sheep, the Armenia and Laristan mouflon, the Transcaspian urial or the Shiraz mouflons. The Afghan and Blandford Urials and Konya mouflons dwells near the borders with Afghanistan, Pakistan and Turkey. I’m not sure that the last three are in the Club OVIS list but the set, mentioned above, is more than enough to be Number 1 in the world by the number and variety of the species. And I talk just about sheep!
There you can also hunt for the Persian Desert ibex, Bezoar and Syndh ibexes, though the main home range of those goats is Pakistan but they are in the Club list. Iran has no equal by the number of mountain hunting species, presented in the OVIS list, probably Russia can try to compete.
The period of boar hunting lead from the June to the end of March but mountain hunts are in another category. Some years it wasn’t opened at all (as it was in 2012), some years terms can vary from the mid of October to the begging of November or even December. The only stable date during the last years is the date of ending. It’s always February 18th.
It’s not comfortable for the hunters who make their hunting schedule in several month or even years ahead. But what can they do about it? The list of Iranian trophies is so significant that they do their best to accept these difficulties.
So, we flew there…
I was going to take three species of mountains sheep and the Persian Ibex and to spend not less than two weeks there, but... The state authorities entered restrictions for hunting from 1st to 10th of December. It was the peak of the rut season. I agree that it's the most important period in the life cycle of the animals and we should have to be glad that the state officers pay so much attention to this question. But I had to correct my plans and to make by trip shorter. I’d be happy if I took just one sheep from my list.
On December 11th I arrived to Tehran. There was a direct flight (Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday). The local representative of the outfitter met me at the airport and helped with the weapon procedure. The process was clear and didn’t take much time. It’s very important for hunters who like to use their owns guns. The first night I spent in the hotel and next morning met my future guide Khasan and Israfil- the owner of the “Jasmine Safari “company.
I was going to take the Kerman mouflon which dwells in the mountain’s massifs, not far from Kerman town, in 1200 km from Tehran. You have to know that transportation of weapon by domestic airlines, is prohibited there. The hunters have to be ready to drive for a long around that exotic country. It took us about 12 hours drive. I’m sure that some people can describe the landscape, they've seen through the car window while driving and to use the unique, extraordinary words to convey their feelings and impressions from the ancient Persia. But I’m the fan of Jorge Luis Borges and prefer undiluted plot.
At last we arrived to the comfortable base, by local standards, which belonged to the State Wildlife service.
We got up at 5.30 am, tested the guns and moved to the mountains. We were accompanied by Khasan, Israfil and other escorts such as - the representative of the local authority, the local guy (I don’t remember his name) and a young shepherd Jalal. The local guy looked like a 70 years old man, though he was just 54. I was told that he spent three years in the Iraq prison. Jalal was from 35 to 40 and he perfectly knew the surroundings, had sharp eye and could see animals not matter how far they were. He was a real Highlander who knew and loved his land and fully understood its nature. He was detecting sheep beyond the limits of distance, and filled our hearts with optimism and faith that we’d win.
First day we spotted the group of females with babies and Jamal found two trophy size males, grazed in another part of the mountain massif. We tried to approach them. We hiked about two hours but the males had left the place already when we arrived.
On the second day we used the car and drove to the top. There we stopped and began to monitor the surroundings. There were several groups of females. But none of the males had been seen.. We thought for a while and decide to go on by foot. We moved about three hours and crossed several passes before we stopped. Jalal had noticed two fine males pastured in 800 m from us. The rut season was over but there was a female with a lamb near them. We waited for a while. It looked as if the group didn’t plan to move anywhere. It gave us chance to approach and to shoot.
The guides defined the wind destination and put the optimal route. We were ready.
In a half of an hour we climbed the next ridge where the sheep could be. 200 meters left! We saw several females joined the group and the herd moved to the next ridge.
We didn’t make any mistake. The animals couldn’t hear or smell us but they left. Next time we saw them far from us and didn't have time to follow. Surprise!
It took us two more hours to go down to the car. We reached it in the deep twilight. Later all hunters and guides gathered around the fire and after a short lunch we told about our unsuccessful try to approach the sheep.
The third day was devoted to the looking for animals in the dried river bed area. There were puddles in some places still. The plan was for that, sheep would come to drink where we waited for them. We spent there all-day hours but didn’t spot any animal.
The last day came…
Lucky Jalal and I went to check the place where we hadn’t been yet. We left the camp very early It took us about 12 hours to climb. The tiredness had accumulated somewhere inside me and those two hours were very difficult for me. But I went up and up like a machine.
I want to give an advice to the hunters who are going to the mountains for the first time. Never try to catch up or overtake the local hunters. It's obviously clear that they walk much better in the mountains. Hunting is not a competition for speed. The experienced guides estimate the hunter’s ability to walk and fit to the them. The hunters has to move with the optimal tempo and to keep his strength and confidence. In worst case you can lose all strength in the first day and didn’t get any positive emotions from hunting and mountains. The wrong tempo could discourage you from self-confidence and you could try to avoid such stress in future. Always use the trekking poles to unload legs and to take the stable poses when moving. Be attentive when going down. The muscles, used when we are descending, are not used in the walking process, that's why the descend requires more efforts then the ascend. The main load falls on the knees.
“Semifinal”
Hunting for sheep at that day was finished by failure. I still remember about it with annoyance.. There were several groups of ibexes but without big males. We didn’t have time and I should have to accept the circumstances. We went back to the camp.
Suddenly... Such things are always exciting! The God of Hunt gave me a chance. I noticed two fine males, in the sheep females’ group. They both were not less than 10-11 years old. The shooting distance was about 450 meters. The strong side wind complicated the ballistic calculation. The animals were above us and they didn’t stand but actively moved to the ridge. I didn’t have time to think. It was the first time during the last five years when I missed. The bullet hit 20 cm to the right from the male. The next two shots, I did to the running male, looked like a gesture of despair. They didn’t give any result.
It’s better to keep silence than to say that I was upset.
But hunting is hunting. Those unpleased moments are the integral part of the process. We spent four days, looking for the trophy, walked lots of km but the weather condition and other things didn't give me time to make the correct calculation.
There was no any possibility to stay in Kerman mountains anymore. The fact was that Israfil could arranged and got the permit for the Persian Ibex hunting till my departure. We said goodbye to the local guides and drove to the new place in 300km to the north.
I need to say some words about the locals. They all seemed to be very friendly. They treated in such way to each other and to me as to the guest. The country made a very pleasant impression on me. It was under the pressure of the international sanctions and the US embargo for about 36 years but could build all necessary infrastructure and factories which work. I could hardly see such active cargo traffic in other countries of the world. I was also surprised by their high road quality. The cost of gasoline there is just a quarter or 7-8 rubles. The guys asked me about the gasoline price in Russian and were shocked by the difference. I’m not fluent in English and couldn’t explain them why our rich by gas and oil country inflated the price of gasoline so much.
I didn't plan to hunt for the Desert Ibex but Israfil insisted to take my first trophy of that species exactly in Iran. Moreover, he arranged all permits for hunting in the region with high and stable population.
The subspecies - the Persian Ibex is similar to the Bezoar Ibex which you can meet in the mountains from Iran to Turkey or Dagestan. The only difference is in the horn's color. The Persian Ibex has light ones while the Bezoar Ibexes have more the darker horns. But the form is very similar. Only the experienced hunters could see the difference. I didn’t know about it until the guide explained me.
It was the fifth hunting day. The place where we were going to hunt belonged to the state but it looked as if nobody hunted there before or many years ago. The guides told me later that I was the first hunter who got the Ibex there.
The ibex population in that area is more than impressive. We watched huge groups of those animals on the rocks and could choose the worthy trophy. I even made a picture of my future trophy when it stood against the sky. We drove almost to the animal. The Ibex was crossing the road, moving to the next ridge. The trophy's horns were 106 cm each, I took it from the 150 meters by the first shot.
That nice touch completed the picture of my first trip to that beautiful, original and rich for the mountain trophies country.
In conclusion I want to say some words. The population of the country about 75m. lives on the big territory (1648 sq. km). About 90% of all population is Shia but there are a huge Armenian Diaspora and about 3m. Azerbaijan. Islam regulates all spheres of common life there. Alcohol and drugs are prohibited. The usage of drugs carries the death penalty. All women, not matter of what religion they belonged, have to wear scarfs on the heads. People have to follow the rules to avoid problems. It was funny to watch the Lufthansa stewardesses in the scarfs.
But I was impressed by one more tradition. There are monuments in the each village, devoted to the warriors killed in the Iran-Iraq war. The Saddam Hussein army used the unstable situation after the Islamic revolution and invaded into the oil rich south-western regions of Iran in 1980. It took them eight years to oust the Iraq units from their territory.
This is how I saw Iran. It’s a very distinctiveness country with not an easy geopolitical position but very attractive to the mountain hunters from all over the world. American hunters don't have the opportunity to hunt there now but that place is very popular among the Mexicans, Germans and Spaniards. The number of Russian hunters had also increased during the last years. They arrive there for the individual and group hunting.
