It’s very important for the mountain hunters who just have started their hunting career, to know the difference among the hunting trips, suggest on the market today. The hunting expeditions differ by the hunting objects, geography, the complexity level, accommodation, altitude, where the hunt takes place, climate, size of animal population, season and cost. The average cost for the chamois hunting is about 2-3 thousand dollars. Usually these hunts are organized on the heights not higher than 1000 masl. But if we talk about the sheep hunting, for some species of argali or markhur, it can cost more than 100K dollars and the hunter has to hike on the altitude from 3000 to 5000 masl. There is a huge variety of mountain hunts and each hunter can choose the preferable one by the cost or physical activity.
I’d try to give some advices, based on my hunting experience and hope that they’ll be useful for people who just begin to enter this path.
Everybody, who has joined the hunting community, has the definite goal to visit the particular region or place, to get the certain animal or to collect the full collection of the trophies. The OVIS Association made its own system of mountain ungulates and divided them into two groups - Ovis (sheep) and Capra (goats and chamois). All animals there ares classified by the biology and habitats. It makes the list much wider than the biological list of species. That list is more interesting for hunters who are interested to collect the full collection of mountain trophies. The Ovis list includes 47 sheep species and subspecies, the Capra list has 41 animals.
Sergey Samotin is the close to get the Super 40 sheep. Today he has 36 or may be more trophies from the list. The other hunters such as Konstantin Popov, Vadim Gomzaykov, Sergey Laypuntsov, Victor Kim and Vladislav Reznik have also achieved significant results in this direction. I’ve also got some results by both directions carpra and ovis. There are not strictly restrictions concerning the trophies from the Carpa list, excluding a couple of rare species but we know about difficulties with hunting for some sheep which concerns with the hunting law in different countries. We all know about the situation in China and Kazakhstan. These countries are the habitat for about 10 sheep species but hunting for them is prohibited for years already. I talk about legal hunts only because I want to to identify myself to the real mountain hunter who want to take the definite place in the finite number of the mountain hunters and would never take any offer concerning the nonlegal expedition. Unfortunately, there are enough offers for such hunts, including the countries I mentioned above. People, who take those offers, violate the hunting ethics. Moreover, they can't demonstrate or to register the trophy, taken by this way. They say that Kazakhstan authority are going to open hunting for argali, with some limits and all world hunters wait for the news. The situation with China is more difficult. That country is more closed for the world and the local authority don’t like to discuss the hunting questions but we’ve heard about positive trend and changes in that sphere. Not long ago the Association signed the Agreement about Cooperation with the Chinese authorities. It happened on the 61th CIC assemblies in Milan. It can be the first step to legalize trophy hunting for foreign hunters, based on the sustainable use principles. There is one more unique case. Sudi Golabchi is a living legend among the trophy hunters. He is the one of four men in the world who got 40 different species of sheep and more than 30 goats. He is the owner of several world records and has received well-deserved recognition from the world hunting community. Mr. Golabchi bequeathed his unique trophy collection to the Chinese National Hunting museum and the State authority, as a special token of appreciation, gave him the exclusive right to hunt in their country.
I want to note the fact that there are several mountains regions which are the habitat for several mountain species. You can hunt for Himalayan Tahr and chamois in New Zealand, for Gobi Ibex and argali in Mongolia. Several species of mouflons and ibexes dwell in Iran. And the hunter needs to know and to take in into account when planning his hunting schedule. Once I had to fly back to the New Zealand to get the local chamois because didn’t know about that trophy when was planning the trip.
The leading country which have the most variety of hunting trophies are Russia and Iran. In Russia we can take 11 ranked trophies. They are snow sheep (Kamchatka, Okhotsk, Koryak, Kolyma, Yakutia and Putorana); turs (Kuban, Dagestan, Mid-Caucasian), Siberian Ibex and Caucasian Chamois. The hunting for Putorana snow sheep is prohibited now. But we have the information that the Ministry of Natural Resources is going to enter this species to the list of hunting objects. There is a minor population of Altai Argali in the Altay mountains and Bezoar Ibex on the Caucasus but hunting for these species is also closed and we are not sure if it is opened or not. I know about hunting enthusiasts who have delivered the European mouflons and breed them. Now these animals habitat on the territory of the hunting farms but we can’t add these animals to our trophy list. In Iran you can hunt for two sheep species (Kerman and Red); four mouflons (Shiraz, Laristan, Armenian and Esfahan), two urials (Transcaspian and Afghan) and two goats ( Persian Desert and Bezoar). The North America- Alaska, Canada and Mexico is the motherland for several sheep species such as Dall and Stone sheep, the Desert and California Bighorns and the American mountain goat. Spain also has several mountain ungulates. You can hunt there for four subspecies of the Spanish mountains goats, two subspecies of chamois and introduced Barbary Sheep. Originally this species is from the North Africa (Chad, Morocco and Sudan). There are not hunts there now there because of danger for foreign hunters from the local wars. Hunting in Sudan is closed from this year and nobody knows when it’ll be open. That county is also the habitat for the Nubian mountain goat. Mongolia is the place where you can hunt for three species of argali: Atlay, Gobi and Khangan and the Gobi Desert Ibex. The number of the licenses is limited and it’s the reason why hunting there is so expensive. The price fluctuates from 90 to 160K dollars.
The most expensive and labor trips are hunting for markhors in Pakistan. The cost starts from 120K to 140K per the trophy. The situation with the markhor in Pakistan is a great example who the cooperation of the international public and hunting communities and the state authority can change the situation. The Ibex population in the country was rapidly declining due to the local poachers who killed animals for food. We talk about the most remote and traditional parts of the country. But the authority partly allowed to foreign hunters to hunt for these animals. The CITES Convention, which regulates the transportation across borders the endangered and rare species of animals and plants, has set a quota for each species of markhor. There are several of them in Pakistan - Kashmir, Sulaiman and Astor. The Pakistan government adopted the law. The most part of the trophy payment transfer to the local community where the trophy has been taken. It happened to be the most effective mechanism to protect those rare animals. The locals gave up to use that hunting resource and started to protect. It’s a good example how trophy hunting can protect wildlife. The hunter who want to take this trophy, has to be ready to work hard and to pay the high price. Pakistan is also the habitat for the Syndh and Himalayan Ibexes, Punjab and Blandford urial and a Blue sheep. Hunting there is safe and the hosts make their best for the foreign hunters but the whole situation there is very tense. The terrorist threat level there is the highest among all hunting place in the world. American unmanned drones are constantly checking mountains for the terrorists. But I’m sure that these circumstances won’t prevent Russian hunters from the visit to this country.
In 2014 the authority of Tajikistan legalized hunting for the spiral-horned markhor. It costs about 75K dollars. The problem is that the country doesn't have SITES quota and the hunter can't take the trophy to home though he's got it legally. But he can register it in trophy list of different hunting Associations. Also, you can hunt there for the most desirable trophy among all mountain hunters for Marco Polo argali. Today's record belongs to Hussein Golabchi and is 178cm. Pamir mountains is the habitat for Siberian Ibexes too. Most of them have good trophy characteristics and 130cm horns are not unusual there. All hunts take place on the heights from 4300 to 5000 masl and the hunters has to be in a good physical and moral form. They have to be ready to spend the night in the tent when the temperature is 15-20 degrees below zero and to hike a lot. It’s one of the most hard and difficult hunts.
Hunting in Kyrgyzstan is usually organized on the lower heights from 3500 to 4500 masl. Hume and Tian Shan argali dwell there. The trophy sizes of these animals impress not less than their Pamir brothers.
But people need time to acclimatize there. Usually it takes 2-3 days to adapt to the altitude. You can feel headache, nausea, shortness of breath, and fatigue during that time. It’s better to use medical pills, recommended by the doctor, to drink much of water and to completely give up alcohol. Pamir and Tian Shan mountains saw lots of tragedies which happened with hunters who overestimated their strength. It's one of the most difficult hunts at that region but it’s often successful because of the argali density population which is high. Last year the group of American scientists spent three months on Pamir near the Karakul lake. The aim of the expedition was to account the number of argali and the result exceeded all expectations of game-biologists and scientists. They counted 18K individuals what was in two times more than the previous data.
Hunting for the Blue sheep and Himalayan Tahr is also considered to be the difficult one. It always takes place on the altitude from 5500masl. But it’s always well organized. Usually it takes few day to climb and the each hunter is accompanied by a large number of Sherpa. It's looks unusual when the staff gives you a warm water and a clean towel just after your waking up. They do their best to make the hunter to feel comfortable n that conditions. The animal population is quite stable there and it's not hard to get the trophy.
Not all mountains hunts are difficult and unpredictable. Hunting in the mountains of Europe and Turkey relates to the comfortable ones. Austria, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, France, Slovenia, Romania, Macedonia and Slovakia are the part of the county list, where you spend so called hunting weekend. The hunters accommodate in the hotels, located not far from the hunting areas, they don’t need to hike and can drive most of time. The average altitude in those areas is about 1000masl. There you can hunt for chamois, European mouflons, Alpine and Bezoar Ibexes.
Ovis distinguishes 10 subspecies of chamois- Alpine, Balkan, Carpathian, Chartreuse, Low Tatra, Pyrenean, Cantabrian, Anatolian, New Zealand and Caucasian ones. Hunting for them isn’t difficult. Chamois are active during day hours and moved along the mountain ridges. They prefer to stay on the same pastures. In Turkey you can try you luck and to get the trophy of the Konya mouflon, which is one of the most expensive sheep of that species. There is a limited number of the licenses for this hunt and they all are sold at auction. The price can reach 80K dollars.
But let's back to Russia. I consider Snow Sheep hunts in Siberia to be the most labor ones. The mountains there are very different. They can be covered by vegetation, like on Kamchatka, or to look like a lunar surface near the Okhotsk sea or on the Kolyma highland. Rapid temperature, the long hikes and a small amount of animals make that hunt interesting and unpredictable. You have to get yourself all psyched up and to be ready to work hard before that hunt. Once in the mountains of Magadan I met the American hunter who spent two weeks sitting in the tent because of rain. The mountain hunters use to hibernate in such situations. Strong wind, fog and rain with snow don’t allow to poke the nose outside. The outfitters suggest to hunt three species of snow sheep: Kamchatka, Kolyma and Koryak, during the one trip. I could hardly believe that it’s possible but have taken part in that expedition and can confirmed it now. The only problem is the expensive and complicated logistics. The cost of one hour flight by chopper is from 120K to 150K rub. The flight expenses amounts for most of the price. There are some alternative ways how to reach the hunting area but they make the process much longer. There are several reliable local outfitters in Kamchatka and Magadan. They all work on the hunting market long time and have good reputation. They are the KULU Safari, belonged to Sergey Rudakov, Kolyma-Travel - Igor Merkulov and Fart- Konstantin Kallin. They managed to create a good material base, to hire professional guides and to build the right logistics to make hunts more effective.
Few words about Caucasus. I consider these hunts the most beautiful ones. Rich flora and fauna of the Caucasus create the unique landscape. The Caucasian Tur, inhabited there, is the endemic species and can be ranked by the Ovis and Capra lists. Biologists say, it’s between these them. That animal has powerful horns and is the desirable trophy for many hunters. The populations of Kuband and Dagestan turs are quite stable and if the hunters can climb to the altitude 3500-4000mals, the chance to get a good trophy is high. The complexity of the Caucasian terrain and significant variations of altitude make these hunts really hard. But hunters from all over the world arrive there each year to get their portion of emotion and adrenaline.
I want to say some word concerning the planning process and the organization of mountain expeditions. Mountains are everywhere. So you can a hunting schedule for the full year. The peak season is Fall-Winter period. Some hunts you need to book in years beforehand because of the limited hunting resource. You have to pay attention to the equipment you’ll need. The mountains don't forgive the mistakes. I offer to make the catalog of equipment you’ll need in the expedition.
I highly recommend to talk to people and to collect feedbacks about the outfitter\agent and place where you are going to hunt. There are two options. The first one - the hunter looks for and contacts directly the outfitter in the place where he is going to hunt. The second one when the hunters uses the hunting agency which organizes everything. The second way is more preferable from my point of view. The experienced company with good business reputation can take a large part of problems from a hunter. There can be lots of them. As practice shows, the hunting rules or hunt terms can change, the local outfitters can start to play their own game or the logistics is so complicated that you should have steel nerves to solve all problems. I work with the Profi Hunt company for many years already and thing that it’s the right choice. I plan for two years ahead and trust them to decide all organizational issues.
Dear readers, I’m sure that you’ll fell in love with mountains hunts when get your first trophy and enter this fascinating world.
“Only mountains can be better than mountains, those that you have not yet visited”- song Vladimir Vysotsky. Believe me, it’s true!
