At the Joint Meeting of the Presidium and the Trophy Commission of The Club of Mountain Hunters, a series of decisions aimed at the development of mountain hunting were adopted.
After analysing the information received from Mongolia regarding the designation of a separate subspecies of the North Altai Argali, it has been decided to make relevant changes to the rating forms OVIS of The Club of Mountain Hunters (CMH). In the near future, a new entry will appear in the rating form. The habitat of the North Altai argali will be described in the section "Mountain ungulates".
You can find more detailed justification for the designation of this subspecies at the following link.
The club is now in its fourth year of a project to study the Kharaulakh snow sheep. This is a challenging project, requiring significant financial investment and complex practical implementation. Nevertheless, the first results of the research and monitoring of this subspecies of snow sheep have been obtained. These results have been achieved thanks to the financial support of the Club's members.
The population within the hunting grounds allocated to the Primorsky company has been assessed. However, the population on public lands is still insufficiently studied. Therefore, the following decision has been made: only trophies harvested within the hunting grounds allocated to the Primorsky Company will be accepted for registration in the Club of Mountain Hunters rating tables. When registering a trophy, please attach a copy of the license issued by the Primorsky Company.
Trophies taken on public land will not be accepted for registration in the the Club of Mountain Hunters. We ask all members to understand and abide by this decision. When planning your snow sheep hunt, please verify with the organiser the location of the hunt and refer to the description of the hunting grounds allocated to the Primorsky Company on the CMH website.
The Club's projects would not be possible without the financial support of its members. Therefore, it has been decided to offer a special price for the purchase of a Kharaulakh snow sheep hunting tour to those members of the CMH who have contributed to its funding. Details of the terms and conditions are available from the CMH administration.
Recently we have heard a lot of criticism of trophy hunting, one of the reasons being that trophy hunters often prioritise the size of the trophy. The Club proposes that the focus should be on the age of the harvested animal. In order to promote a biologically sound approach, where priority is given to harvesting the oldest males, the CMH has decided to establish a new award within its award system: the Annual Oldest Trophy Award. In the near future, the Trophy Commission will develop the Rules for this award. Stay tuned for updates on our website.
The issue of predation on mountain ungulate populations was also discussed at the meeting. In order to incentivise predator control, the Club's Trophy Commission will also prepare proposals for specific preferences for hunters who legally harvest predators while hunting mountain ungulates from the CMH rating forms. Once approved, this information will be posted on the website.
It was decided to establish a new club award (tentatively named: "For the harvest of 100 mountain ungulates from the CMH rating forms"). The Trophy Commission will be responsible for preparing the Rules for it.
From 23rd to 26th May 2024 a meeting will be held at the Trophy Hunting Forum in Ekaterinburg. You can find all the details in the presentation.
The participants of the meeting draw the attention of all club members to the importance of carefully verifying the locations of trophy hunts in Iran with the habitats presented on the website. This is due to reports of some inaccuracies in the descriptions of the habitats of the species to be hunted provided by local hunt organisers when offering their services.
