Pakistan is one of the countries where a mountain hunter can significantly replenish his list of trophies. My goal for that expedition to this original country was to get two trophies; the Suleiman Markhor and the Afghan urial. The hunt was planned in the Quetta region, Balochistan province, on the border with Afghanistan. I was met by a large number of different employees at the airport, they were quite friendly, but examined very carefully the contents of my luggage. I flew directly to Quetta without weapons just to save time. The organizers promised to give me a certain number of carbines to choose. The fact is that all customs formalities with weapons in Pakistan are carried out only at the Islamabad airport. Due to time saving and a busy work schedule forced me to give up my carbine in favor of a rented one. I prefer my own one, but I' m experienced enough to adapt quickly to what is at hand. I got a light 300WM mountain carbine with a tolerable 14x Leupold sight. I had shot the carbine at 200 meters at zero, and decided which marks to shoot at a distance of 300, 400 and 500 meters, just in case. The journey from the airport to the base camp took about five hours. We met small tent camps of nomads along the way. Their entire property was an awning sewn from rags, which saved them from the scorching sun, and they lived under it, both children and adults and livestock- the main value of the family. So, they wander from Pakistan to Afghanistan and further to the borders with Tajikistan in search of fresh grass for their sheep. Little dirty kids, running barefoot on the scorched earth, play with newly born sheep. These people live in a different system of coordinates and values, different from many, and they are happy in their own way.
At noon we got to the base camp, it was a clay house with many rooms. There was a separate room for hunters, with a stove in it, there was even a separate toilet. Everything was quite simple, but was very comfortable for the mountains. There was no time to have rest. So, I changed of clothes, shot the gun and we went to the mountains to search for the first trophy of the Suleiman markhor. The climb took an hour and a half and we reached the altitude of 2900. The rocks were very steep, but the wild mountain goats preferred to inhabit in such places. The local guides were very colorful. Mostly Pashtuns lived there, they dressed completely differently than in Gilgit, where Ismailis lived. I was accompanied by a large group of locals who went with me. That whole group was actively searching for animals. The first group of three males was noticed quickly, they were peacefully resting under the rays of the spring sun. The shooting distance was about 500 meters. If I had my own carbine, I would immediately make a decision to shoot, but I considered it a mistake to shoot at such a distance from someone else's. The guides offered me to rest too. Their tactic was to wait for the animals to start moving, then we would begin to hide them, depending on their direction and the wind. The rest in the shade of a large stone was not long, after about 30 minutes the animals got up and began to walk away from us . All attempts to catch up with them, rounding the neighboring ridge were unsuccessful. The Markhors seemed to have disappeared into the mountain range. Sometimes you wonder how quickly the situation changes in the mountains and the animals that seem to be very close disappear without a trace. That meant further active search and many hours of walking in the rocky mountains. I couldn't say that the way was very difficult, but a series of ascents and descents was flaring up, especially on the first hunting day. At about 5 p.m. we decided to go back to the camp, it was already beginning to get dark. The hope of meeting animals on the way to the base camp was spinning in my head, as it happened more than once. I guess that many hunters even pray at such moments. After a while, one of the observers reported on the radio that he detected a group of Markhors. Everyone was revived, the staff began to negotiate actively and we adjusted the direction of our way. After about 50 minutes of walking, we reached the slope we needed, and occupied a strategically important position from above. After about 10 minutes, we noticed a large mixed group of animals below us. It consisted of both females and cubs and several males. The wind came from below during the day, so nothing should interfere with us. We all looked actively out to evaluate the qualities of potential trophy. As a result, we made an agreed decision to shoot I began to look for a comfortable position to make a shot. It wasn't very convenient to fire at a large angle of about 35 degrees. The distance of the shot was about 300 meters, taking into account the correction for the angle of the target minus 100 meters, the brand of aiming corresponded to 200 meters, which the carbine was aimed at. I took the breath and got the trophy! There was no limit to the joy of the whole group. It was luck to get the trophy of Markhor on the first day of hunting. Then, there was an equally difficult descent along steep cliffs and we return to the camp after dark.
Half of the work had already been done though less than a day passed. One trophy had been taken. Next day we'd try to find and get the second trophy of the Afghan urial. The peculiarity of hunting sheep in March is that at this time young juicy green grass is actively rising in the lower part of the mountain range. The animals come down in the morning to feed.
We left the camp around 6 am and after 30 minutes walking, we found two males, which were coming down to feed. It took no more than 30 minutes to approach the distance of 150 meters and we were unnoticed. Then, I did what I had to, and the trophy is taken. It'd been only 23 hours since I landed in Quetta. I couldn't even describe my condition and thoughts at that moment. But don't get a misleading impression about hunting in Pakistan. I spent 10 days hunting in that country a week before. It took me five days to get to the hunting lands; three days by car, then a two-day 35 km hike through rugged mountains at an altitude of 4000 meters under constantly falling snow. I got my trophy of the Blue sheep only on the sixth day of the labor hunt. The hunt for the Kashmiri Marhor was completely unsuccessful, we wasted two-day searching and climbing on steep rocks but it did not have any effect, trophy males were not found at all. I had to return to Moscow, because the permission was not received at the time scheduled for hunting in Quetta. Then a few days later, I returned to Pakistan and a hunted successful.
