Not all hunting trips are going on as you plan. New circumstances can change everything. I was going to Turkey to hunt for the Konya Mouflon and Bezoar Ibex and was sure those trophies would be in Top 5 of the SCI record book. But fate punished me for my pride. On the other hand, it gave me unforgettable impressions and allowed to discover Turkey as the country with outstanding traditions and varaity of hunting species. There you can hunt for a deer, a mouflon, a chamois, an ibex, a wild boar, feathered game and others. Everything was organized ( we hunted with the Safari company) on the very high and professional level. But first things first.
It didn’t take much time to plan that trip. My friend and the manager from “Safari Expedition” Dmitry Yastrebov knew the Turkish outfitter and they prepared everything in a short time. I was going to hunt for two trophies. The Konya Mouflon is threatened with extinction but Turks could have risen its population. They’d established the National Reserve and then added two more to protect those animals. The number of those animals have risen enough and each year they give four hunting licenses for the local hunters. All other license are available for the foreign hunters. As for a Ibex, it’s widely spread all over the country.
The trip started pretty well. We could manage to leave Moscow although there was a snowstorm and the flight had been delayed in two hours and were in time for the transfer flight in Istanbul. I was surprised that the weapon had been overloaded to the next plane though the transfer between two flights lasted just forty minutes. But customs officers were really surprised when saw we had only guns cases and no luggage. Nobody told them that our luggage left in the Istanbul. The local outfitters waited for us and all procedures took just fifteen minutes.
Konya had happened to be a big city with one million population. Its total square was about 39 000 square meters. The Turks consider is to be one of the main Muslim towns and very religious. Most of women wear headscarves. You can’t find alcohol in the city restaurants. There is a famous museum of Jalaleddin Rumi - one of the followers of the prophet Muhammad. The Rixos hotel didn’t impress me but all food was excellent and I could even drink beer there. We discussed future plans and went to bed.
We got up at 7 am and left the hotel. It didn't take much time to drive by good asphalted road, about 50 km, then some stone parts and at last we arrived to the territory where were going to hunt. It was about 5000 ha and all fenced. It was big enough. The guides researched of the surroundings while waited for us. We got acquittance with each other and moved to the hunt. I used Surgeon Rifles Scalpen with the caliber 300 WinMag. Its shooting limits is 1000 meters and it was first time when I took it. I had no experience of shooting from that gun that's why I did several ballistic tables, for the bullets I had, and took them with me.
In a half an hour we detected first sheep, the group consisted of three dozen males but none of them had trophy size. Later we met one more herd, about 150 animals but nothing extraordinary. Then another and another, but there were not worthy trophies. We decided to hike a little bit. It was a sunny day but wind was so strong that each time when I make a step the wind tried to knock me down. I couldn't imagine what the correction had to be done for such wind. We had walked about an hour and met two more sheep groups but there were not record size males. It looked like the sheep were afraid of people as if they were constantly hunted. They ran away as soon as they saw our car.
At noon we had lunch which consisted of olives, bread and tea. Then the group went on driving. In the second part of the day we met two more sheep groups but nothing interesting. Later on the sunset we noticed two trophy size males but they didn’t give us any chance to approach and disappeared in the rocks. We were sad but had no choice but drive back to the hotel. Next morning, we decided to start the hunt earlier and from that place.
One of us suggested to taste the local food and we all went to the center to the national restaurant. There we knew that city restaurants had no alcohol. I had to drink ayran. I tasted local dishes, one of them looked like pizza but has thinner bread with different ingredients and spices. I really like the local dessert with the fried cheese.
Next day we woke up earlier and went for the hunt at 8 am. Our adventures had started at that time. The cartridges 300 WinMag were done by the specialist who did them specially for that kind of shooting distance. Probably that series was not good quality and one of the cartridges broke right in the barrel. I had bad feeling and was right. In thirty minutes, I spotted a good size male. It began to run up to the top but stopped from time to time and glanced to us. I jumped from the car, set the rifle and measured the distance, 400 meters, then i put in the bullet into the chamber... Oh no I couldn’t do it. The bolt didn’t open. While I tried to do it and even changed the cartridge, the male disappeared. The reason was in gunpowder remained in the barrel when the first cartridge ruined. I cleaned the barrel and tried to put in the new one but it ruined right in the magazine. I thought: “Oh, that is so going in”. I had twenty cartridges and a half of them was bad quality.
The spirit dropped but I chose three good ones and we followed the male. It was gone while i was busy with the rifle. In a few minutes we detected one more herd about 280 individuals. The animals didn’t plan to wait for us and also ran away. I said the guides that we all would have lunch just after the trophy was taken. They agreed. The weather was fine. It was warm with light wind, +12- 15 degrees. One of guides noticed two huge herd which grazed in one of the hollows. They also ran away but we had time to review them through the binoculars and detected a good size male. I took the comfortable position and measured the distance, 425 meters. Dmitry switched on camera. The sheep were going up the slope, when the chosen one stopped for a minute, I shot. The herd was out of sight, and so was ours. They said, I missed but it wouldn’t be so. We watched video and I saw the bullet flew up to the left.
We resolved to move back to the base and to check the rifle. Unfortunately, we didn’t have many good quality cartridges. The test showed that I shot down the scope while we were driving. There was no wind and I didn't guess to check the corrections. That's how confidence of the fighters fails. When I shot at 100 meters the error was 20 cm. We ascertained it after wasting several cartridges. I repaired the gun and we moved to the mountains once again. The local inspector, who accompanied us, always moved behind our cars but that time he decided to drive the first. He wasn’t good in hunting and missed the group of sheep, grazed on the slope. The animals noticed him and started to move away slowly. My guide said that there was a good male and I took the shooting position. He pointed to the sheep and asked to wait for a while that male would separate from the others. I did as he asked. The distance, the shot - the male ran about 70 meters and fell down. Everything looked well but soon we found that it was not big. Thus, my dream, to get the mouflon from the, Top 5 had crushed. We all were sad but there’s nothing to do. The photo session was done in the silence. We did few pictures and drove back to the town not even drinking tea.
I needed to change the activity that's why we visited several local museums, ancient mosques ( some of them were 900 years old or even elder), the mosque and the tomb of Mevlana and other local saints. There was a relic - the part of the prophet Muhammad, smelled by incense. The relic was in the box with few holes which allowed to feel the smell. There I knew that the first school for monks were opened in that place. Lots of Muslim tradition started from that area including namaz. Some of the rituals look very strange. For example, the monks, talking to Allah, should spin into one side during long time (about 7 or even 8 hours) and don't stop for a minute. We saw how they did it and I was impressed. I still don’t understand how they do it. The daily program finished on the local bazaar where we tasted and bought fresh Turkish delight, nuts and dried fruits for home.
We had dinner accompanied by the local band, watched dance show and moved to Antalya. The next hunting territory was in 150 km from Konya. At midnight we arrived to the place. There we changed the guides. It wasn’t planned but mum of our chief guide was sick and he had to leave us. At 6 am we met the new ones. They were very professional and provided by the local company. The accommodation was in the nice wooden boutique hotel. It was cozy but not warm. It was not the touristic season and they didn’t heat it well yet. They gave us a heater, one per each room and we also made fire each time when sitting in the canteen. The staff consisted off two persons, the man who spoke German, cooked and kept the house and a women, I didn’t know what she was doing. We woke up at 5 am and in an hour stood near the foot of the beautiful mountains not far from the one of the small villages.
The group of eight locals waited for us, they monitored the Ibex for a week before our arrival. The outfitter even gave them phones. They informed us about the ibex location and said we had to go. Then one of them pointed the direction. I looked to the direction, they showed and was afraid, there was no any sign of the road but we took our backpacks and started to rise. We noticed new paths while rising to the top, the guides knew all of them. The ascend wasn’t really tough and took three hours. We were lucky with weather, it was sunny, about 7 degrees. We liked everything. I enjoyed the spruce smell of the forest, we crossed. I liked the rocks, we were crawling over, listened to the murmur of springs and breathed the wind, it wasn’t strong yet. We found ibexes where expected. Dmitry and I laid and began to wait for our trophy. It came but not soon. I had the chance to shoot but Dmitry didn't find it by camera in time. “Not a problem”- we thought. But it was. It was a very wiser and experienced male and soon we found it out.
We waited it till 2 pm. We glimpsed it twice in 500 and 700 meters and then it crossed the ridge. It had the talent to find trees, which used like the covers, and moved invisible for us. After a lunch we solved to follow it because the guides who stayed down said the male was on the next slope already. The next march took us an hour and a half and was tough. I sweat a lot when marching and always take extra underwear to keep myself dry and warm. And there we were. The situation repeated. It didn’t us any chance to aim. We saw it twice in 700 and 1000 meters and then the male went back to the slope where we had been before. In the evening the guides said that next morning the program would be the same. We should get up and start the hunt earlier. It took us two hours to come back but it was easily. We crossed the amazing canyon when we going back. We also found the ruins of the ancient house and the well which the locals use when pasturing the herds in the summer time. There was a picturesque mountain road which could be used just for men and horses.
At last we arrived to the hotel. I was tired and dreamed about the rest but the hotel was full of smoke. They didn’t do it on purpose, the hotel manager just couldn’t fire the fireplace. One more advice. You should check the clothes after coming back from the forest. We found several ticks. One of them was on my jacket, another one on Dmitry’s. We took hot shower and it helped to feel better. The hotel cook made good dinner. We tasted the lamb roast and went to bed. I fell asleep as touched the pillow. The village rooster woke us at 5 am better than any alarm clock and crowed about an hour till 6 am. We had short breakfast and was on the yesterday place in thirty minutes. The guides gleefully told us that the Ibex is still on the place. We started to ascend; the feet pained after the yesterday exercises but I could go. We just started when one of the guides felt sick and left us, we shared his luggage between us and went on. The hunters know what each extra 100 gr means in the mountains. Later in an hour we changed the way because met the group of females. We went to the right and hit to the rocky rise. Dmitry called our trip as mountaineering’s hunting.
Telling the truth, it was the most difficult ascend in my hunting career. We should crawl on all four on the cliff and then went by the narrow path near the abyss. Moreover, we all had heavy backpacks and various thoughts came to mind at that moment. The next part of the way was easy after we had overcome the rocks. The guides told us later that they were mistaken with the path but there was no way back and we were good fellows that could do it. They didn’t know how we could come back by that way. We met ibexes on the same place. My male still hidden among trees. We had waited about two hours when it appeared in 400 meters. Everybody was ready and I shot. In a second the herd disappeared from our view. I realized that I missed. I didn’t do the wind correction though it was 20 meters per second at that time. I was terribly upset but all guides together took the binoculars and scopes and ran to the next slope to monitor the opposite mountains. They expected ibexes would come there. It was true. The animals showed there in 40 minutes but they were too far. I watched to them through the scope and they looked as small as bugs.
The guides made fire and sat to have lunch while the one of them stayed to oversee the herd. I asked about our plan. They replied that there were two ways what we would do. We should go back to the camp if goats cross the ridge. In the other way if animals stood on that height we'd solve what to do. We had lunch (olives, cheese and canned tuna) and continued to observe ibexes. In 40 minutes, we realized, they were not going to move from that place. They were grazing what meant that were calmed after the shot. The guides had a plan. We should run up and down about 5 km (two and a half hours) and to approach them from ahead. Dmitry and I exchanged glances but there was nothing to do. It was my mistake and I had to correct it.
I won’t describe our torments though they had been. We crossed debris, fell into springs and snow but did it. It was common for the mountains. At the end the wind was going to blow into our side what could ruin all plans. We were close to failure, but found the way out. The decision was to rise higher where the wind would blow above the herd and we could do it. We came to them through the gorge, the shooting distance was 400 meters. My male had rest under the tree while the herd was pasturing. I knew that it was not fair to shoot to the laying animal but I was so tired by its behavior and couldn’t resist. The bullet had been blown off to the right and I hit to its belly. The Ibex ran into 10 meters and stopped. I shot once again ( with the strong wind) and broke its back legs. It laid down. All guides started to jump and were happy like kids. They hugged me and Dmitry. I also exulted in the soul. I did it!
Then they set their cameras and asked me to shot once again. The guides had to make video reports for the boss. I had just two cartridges left and had no right for the mistake. I got my act together, aimed and fired. The goat fell down. The mountains once again resounded with joyous shouts. We all were full of feelings. Dmitry told that was one of the most difficult but interesting hunt in his life. I agreed that felt the same.
We went down while three guides stayed to get the trophy. Dmitry, Dzhegar - our chief guide and I made fire and ate some snack. Soon we heady happy cries and went to meet them halfway. The Ibex, I got, was 134 cm, though they promised me 142 cm, but it was a labor trophy. Such trips and trophies you won’t never forget. Guides made much more pictures with the trophy than we had. They use cameras and phones. It became dark, snow with rain started. The guides cut meat and was going to take it all to the camp but fortunately we didn’t have hands enough and they left a part of it on the place. They hung it on the tree till the next day. At last we went home and the way back was awful. It was dark and stones under our feet were wet and we should use flashlight or phones to light the road. Everybody who has been in the mountains knows how dangerous is the night descend. It was tough but I was in a high spirit. That was the only reason why I didn't feel tired.
In two hours, we came to the abandoned hut where had found fire and two more guides. They waited for us to help. We drank some tea, had short rest and moved to the Base. It took us two more hours. We knew the road because went there yesterday and it was flat enough. At last we arrived to the camp where the rest of the group waited for us. They congratulated us. We had a bottle of vodka and celebrated the successful hunt with our new friends. Then gave tips to the team. They don’t work without them and if you don’t give tips they will remind you about it. But the team worked them out 100 percent.
After coming back to the hotel i took hot shower. It was real happiness after such long and cold hike. The weather became worse lightnings began to flash more frequently, and one struck very close. The light went out and we had candlelight dinner. It was so romantic. We thanked our hospitable hosts, left the hotel at 11 pm and drove back to Antalya. We drove 140 km, the flight to Moscow would leave early morning. We all slept till the town but our driver worked hard. The weather was awful. Next morning, we woke up and didn’t believe. There was no any sign of clouds on the sky. I saw turquoise sea, complete calm, ships on the sea. It was a stark contrast in comparison with yesterday's weather. Hunting - such a thing!
