My friend who shares my passion to hunting Gennady Konoiko and I decided to spend ten days of our vocation on Kamchatka peninsula. I dreamed for a long time to visits there while Gena had been there six times, He hunted a bear there. That time we were going to get a trophy of the snow sheep. The plan was to combine hunting trip with the visit to the Valley of Geysers, located in the Kronotsky State Nature Reserve. Gena hadn't been there yet though visited the peninsular many time. The only way to get there is by chopper. Kamchatka weather was very changeable and each time when he was ready to fly the weather ruined his plans.
We decided not to buy a hunting trip through the Moscow agency. Gennady knew several local outfitters who offered us the interesting variant that suited us well and cost less than the agency could offer. I guessed that the Moscow agency could suggest the higher level of service and comfort but we were satisfied by the conditions of the locals that cost in twice less. The goal of the hunt is a trophy and more important than the service. And our expedition had a decent result.
The hunting fauna of Kamchatka is very diverse and rich. There are many bears, moose and deer. As for predators, foxes are on the first place. There are not many wolves and they live in the remote areas. We were interested in hunting for snow sheep.
Kamchatka snow sheep (Ovis canadensis), or chubuk has a strong body and a short and thick neck. There is no suspension on the neck and chest. The horns are heavy, thick, with a broad frontal surface, but relatively short. The surface of the horns is more even, without sharp transverse rings. The body length of the adult rams is from 148 to 182cm, 95-115cm height in withers, weight - 70-140 kg. Ewes are smaller. Zoologists say, there are not less than 10-12 subspecies of that animal. And this is only in the Asian part of Russia. The skeptics doubt the seriousness of singling out even five of subspecies. It inhabitants in the mountains from the Northern Baikal Region and Eastern Siberia across the Lena River to the middle and northern part of the Far East, including Kamchatka, Chukotka, Yakutia and even Taimyr. American hunters call it bighorn and it lives in the mountains of western North America from Alaska to northern Mexico and the California Peninsula. Snow sheep in comparison with the sheep that dwell on the really high mountains, prefer the remote slopes that alternate with gentle areas, and this is reminiscent of mountain goats. They live from the coastal rocks to the mountain-tundra belt, and sometimes in the mountain-taiga forests; in some areas they live sedentary, in others they make regular seasonal migrations, leaving in the summer in the Alpine belt of the mountains, and in winter in the snow-free areas. They feed herbaceous vegetation, especially like legumes and cereals, dig out the rhizomes of various plants with their hooves, eat mushrooms and ground lichens. They eat tree and shrub food, especially the shoots and leaves of willows Both in winter and in summer. Snow sheep prefer to stay in small separate groups about 4-5 animals. They gathered in big herds in the fall but not more than 20-30 individuals and stay together to the spring.
Snow sheep in North America live till 12-14 years old but you can meet 18-20 years old male on Kamchatka our Yakutia. The snow sheep is an object of hunting both in Russia and in North America. Kamchatka, Yakutia, Okhotsk, Koryak, Putorana and Yablonova snow sheep are in the list of Wild sheep of the World and are accounted as trophies of the International Sheep Hunting Association (ISHA). Their large, massive horns will really adorn any trophy collection. The ovis\ sheep hunters - is a special caste: the each who got 12 mountain sheep of different species are awarded by the hunting prize “SuperSlam” of Ovis Club. There are only about 200 such hunters today. Since the Iron Curtain has gone down the hunters from all over the world rushed to Siberia and Russian Far East. The most part of them was from USA. They raised the prices for these hunts....
After 9 hours flight from Moscow we landed on Kamchatka and immediately drove to Esso, a small village, located in 450 km from the capital of the peninsular - Petropavlovsk- Kamchatksy (PK). The first 100 kilometers we were driven on a good asphalt road, but the remaining "piece" of the way - on a fairly battered gravel road.
The interesting fact about Esso village. It's heated by hot springs: hot water from the wells is fed into the system and then discharged into a large concrete sump pond or so-called pool, and then into the river. It was so warm that we could swim there even in September though the frosts began. And we did it after a long and tedious drive. But we could hardly swim there long, the water temperature was more than 30 degrees!
Next morning the helicopter delivered us to the place of the future camp. The chosen place was between the sky and the earth: above-snow-covered peaks, below-cedar elfin trees. This is the name of the thickets of shrubby cedar that creep along the mountainside. Bears like to feed there; they are fond of pine nuts.
The mountain slopes were covered with bushes of ripe cranberries and blueberries. It was the first time when I met a very interesting berry shiksha or Siberian crowberry. It is the same color like huckleberry, but the flesh is white; it seems tasteless when you eat it , but it has a very strong tonic effect and perfectly quenches thirst.
We set two tents to sleep there and one more open tent to cook and to eat there and to keep food.
In the first day we rose the ridge, that divided the valley into two parts and monitored the surroundings. I made the pictures of the circus of hunting lands. Our guides assured us that there are many snow sheep in this intermountain basin. They told us that last year the foreign hunters got three or four nice trophies there. But we saw nothing. But there were animals on the opposite side. But the distance was too far.
Probably the reason of the animals' absence was the poachers who had hunted sheep using the helicopter. Unfortunately, it was not a rare thing in that area.
For several days we prowled the mountains in the hope that the rams would be close enough to us. One afternoon I noticed two groups of sheep – 18 animals. The herds were on the opposite side of the canyon in two km from us. The guide assured us that there wasn't a worthy trophy among them. Later we knew that he was mistaken. We hoped for three days that they’ll come closer. But it was all in vain. So it was: We woke up- stormed the ridge, sat there and monitored the group. Sometimes we hiked to the right or to the left that took several hours and went back to the camp...
At last we decided to approach them if they were not going to move to our place. Gennady took the position on the ridge. I left the guide on the place and descended to the creek and began to climb. Then it was necessary to go down again and up again. Not far, I thought. It was easy to say but I had to go through huge rocks, taller than a man. Some of them could barely hold their ground: if you leaned on it, it would collapse! And I should look out for sheep while climbing. These animals aren’t small but they are very good at camouflage.
At last I detected four ewes but there wasn’t any ram with them. The approach to the second group was even harder but I was eager to look at them and to know how many of them were there.
Suddenly my guide overtook me and said that they had found the trophy ram that laid on the slope. We tried to call Gennady by radio but the batteries were drained. It was clear that Gena and his guide detected it too.
We changed the route and began to ascend to be above the male. The guide followed behind me and tried not to make noise. The goal of each hunter is to approach as close as it possible and better to make it from above because sheep don't look up and lay to monitor the surroundings under them. Moreover, it's more comfortable to aim and to shoot form such position. The animal will run up if you miss and reduces the distance that gives more opportunities to make the second shot.
We were on the top in a half of an hour. We both sweat out, my legs were wobbly, and my heart felt like it was about to pop out of my chest.
I looked around and began to descend slowly. There were not sheep but I noticed a bear that walked towards Gennady's side. He had waited already for a bear and watched what we were doing. He also saw the ram. Suddenly two ewes jumped out from behind the rock below the place I sat, ran in 200 meters then stopped and stared at me. At that moment I detected the male that laid not far from them on the slope. It was chewing gum and watched the opposite side.
In a second, I was already on the ground behind the rock. And prepared for the shot.
The bear was coming closer to Gennady. Here it was already at a distance of a confident shot – some 200 m. But Gena didn't shoot: he realized that the roar of his well-aimed shot, repeatedly amplified by the rolling mountain echo, would certainly startle the ram. It would cancel out our efforts and leave me without the desired trophy.
The bear was lucky at that day. He crossed the ridge and moved to our camp side. Gena was worried about food we left there and followed it.
The male felt something, stood up and turned to my side. The sun was shining in its eyes, so I didn't wait for it to turn sideways, and shot to its chest. The sheep legs gave way, as if it had just laid down to rest, but it could not stay in place and rolled down the slope. I was afraid that It’d break the face and horns. It somersaulted three times, then caught its horns on a rock and froze. I ran to it and found the nice trophy with excellent trophy size horns, that were safe! The view is quite photogenic.
I have my own ritual: I always kiss my gun after the accurate shot. That time I took Heim cal. 30-06 Spring that used more than 10 years already- I thank the goddess Diana or Artemis, whichever you prefer, for your good fortune.
When my guide came, we made a podium from the stones, put the trophy on it and started the photo session. Then we call for a chopper, loaded the trophy and flew to the camp.
I got the trophy of 13 years old male and it happened on September 13th, in 13 pm. So much for the "damn dozen"!
Unfortunately Gena didn’t get the trophy in that trip. The outfitter suggested to fly to another circus where he could try to get the trophy. But they didn’t guarantee the result. But we decided to use the chance and fly to the Valley of Geysers because weather was fine. So we did. The photos of the stunning Kamchatka landscapes is a testament to it.
But it’s another story…
P.S. At home, in Belarus, the trophy was awarded for a gold medal.
