A thousand times, cursing everything in the world during the next crossing in the Sayan Mountains with my arms and legs torn to blood by acacia, or being in the saddle of a horse for a week on mountain passes; spending nights in a tent in the snow in wet clothes, suffocating from hypoxia in the Pamirs, I threw myself in my hearts: "Everything, this is your last tour. Stay at home and don't whine!". And then there are these... foreign hunters dangling from behind with ballast.
Then I once again reproached myself for such a short-term weakness and again walked through snow, rock, mountain ranges! Now I am 63 years old. I still walk in the woods and in the mountains, in the heat and in the cold, I sleep wherever I have to. And at the same time, I do not regret or complain at all about my fate as an outfitter, but rather, on the contrary, I am proud that I was among the first in the USSR, I can still overcome such trials and continue to accompany hunters, passing them survival skills and the culture of honest trophy hunting.
The material is based on more than 30 years of experience as an outfitter in the Russian sense of the meaning of this word.
I'll make a reservation in advance! I will not mention any personalities or places of hunting, so that ... you understand the sensitivity of the question.
The term outfitter is not even in modern explanatory dictionaries in the sense in which this word has already been fixed for those people who organize and conduct activities related to being outside (OUT-...) premises, buildings. Basically, this definition is applied to the organizers of the hunt, although initially the word OUTFITTER came to us from the English language and referred to the supplier of equipment, uniforms. But among hunters, this term has acquired a much more serious and very definite meaning than simply providing people with equipment. This term acquired a more capacious meaning in the USSR, and later in Russia.
I would separate the concepts of hunting ORGANIZER, GUIDE and OUTFITTER. The latter does all the work before, during and after the hunt, while the first two are engaged only in the hunt itself. There is also such a reality as an ESCORT. But about it separately and later.
A little bit from the history of the issue.
Now few people think about who and when in our country was the initiator and inspirer of trophy hunts. Many modern hunters often do not even think about how the culture of trophy and commercial hunting came to Russia. Up until the 90s of the last century, no one in the USSR and subsequently in Russia even thought that there was a whole layer of trophy hunting culture and high-quality taxidermy tightly connected with trophy hunting. The forces of the UPDK (the Department of the diplomatic corps) conducted individual hunts for foreign diplomats. And that's all.
While working at VAO Intourist in the 80s, and then in other state and commercial structures in the field of tourism, I began to be interested in the possibility of organizing and conducting trophy hunts for foreign hunters on the territory of our country. The information base was very scarce, if not to say that it could even be allocated separately in the field of hunting tourism. But, being a zealous hunter, having a higher education behind him, he graduated from inyaz VSPI named after P.I. Lebedev-Polyansky in his native Vladimir and a great desire to explore the possibility of organizing and conducting trophy hunts in the country, I began to look for ways and opportunities to put this idea into practice.
Once everything starts to grow together, if you know what you want to achieve and where to go. The paths led me at that time to the Rosokhotrybolovsoyuz, which then turned out to be a skirmisher in the organization of commercial and trophy hunts. Under him, the Department of Foreign Economic Relations was organized, which was then headed by E.N. Stroganov. At that time, this public organization was the leading one in the field of hunting and united the bulk of the lands of societies of hunters and fishermen throughout the country. Thanks to this centralized system, it was possible to carry out a unified policy on the use of hunting resources. And it was thanks to this structure that it was possible to enter the foreign market and organize commercial hunts.
Despite the efforts of the parent organization, many societies did not believe in the effectiveness of commercial hunting. For many, at the subconscious level, the stereotype of a quiet life inside themselves and hunting only for members of society, well, and some guests continued to operate. It was the same in our Vladimir OOOIR. By some miracle, I managed to shake the bone thinking of our "masters" from hunting and explain to them the advantages of a new form of farming. Probably the most weighty economic argument worked. Your meat and money for the trophy will be yours!
Myths and reality.
That's just with the responsibilities of working for a trophy animal, it turned out very badly at first. For a long time, I had to explain that, overcoming thousands of kilometers, the hunter hopes to take with him the trophy he has won, and not just memories of the difficulties of hunting.
How many copies have been broken around this issue in order to explain those simple truths that already today seem to be indisputable postulates of trophy hunting. "This is hunting!" the organizers often told me when, due to problems with the organization and the attitude of the huntsmen, the hunter left without a trophy. Then, from behind the hill, various claims were poured into my address, in which I was not directly to blame. But – this is the outfitter's share, to be responsible for the sins of third parties before the company or the client.
"Am I a train to go on schedule?!" is one of the typical responses of a conductor or a huntsman of those times that I had to deal with when organizing hunts. And you promised the hunter that we would set off not at 3 p.m. when the huntsman arrived, but at 1 p.m., as he promised, the day before.
There was no culture of arranging hunting camps, bases, huts. Sometimes you get to a taiga hut or a hunting base at midnight, and there, sorry, it's such a mess that it's hard to even imagine. And so I had to pick up brooms, rags, clean up, wash dishes. Although the organizer of the hunt could have done all this earlier, before the arrival of the guests.
And if we add the most difficult economic situation in the country to the overall picture, then we can imagine how "bread" was given to us in those days. Big problems with gasoline, food shortages, misunderstanding and unwillingness of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to issue permits for the import / export of weapons by foreign hunters, based on the imperfection of legislation in this area. Have there been cases when the plane was already landing at Sheremetyevo, and I haven't signed the RVU form yet?!
It took many years to accustom both the hunting staff and the heads of hunting farms to the elementary things of general culture both in hunting and in life. But, despite this, we outfitters still face mistakes, shortcomings, and sometimes just the negligent attitude of the organizers during trophy hunts. I will try to show how it looks and explain why an outfitter is needed during hunting and during the hunting process itself.
Separately, it should be noted the inability and unwillingness of our guides at that time to determine the trophy qualities of the beast. For the most part, they didn't care what size the antlers of a deer or an elk were. I had to teach them that, too. To teach to lure the beast during the rut, and not to run after him in vain through the forest. To do this, it was necessary for me to learn how to determine the trophy value of the beast, its habits and features of behavior "in the rut". That's how I learned to attract a moose, and both a female and a male. He even lured a spotted deer, while no guide could do this.
A look from the inside.
We often hear from local hunters the opinion that we, outfitters, only interfere with hunting. To be honest, I had to hear such a discouraging phrase once during the organization of hunting, already being on the spot, in one of the farms where the spring hunting for grouse and grouse was carried out. That is, they, the locals, know everyone and everything better than anyone in the world. And do not approach them and do not advise. But at the same time, when they clearly fail the hunt, there are a lot of VERY objective reasons why they are not to blame at all. But the responsibility, both moral and material, ultimately always fell on our outfitter shoulders. There were cases when the guides of the organizer of the hunt were just in the trash drunk and could not lead customers to hunt. Then again I had to take the client myself and lead him either to the current or to a sit-down. To attract the beast itself, or to place the hunter on the woodcock pull, or to seat him in shelters on black grouse. The list goes on. But the organizers always demanded to pay the money in full, at the same time.
Outfitters and maintainers!!!
For some time I had to send someone from my company with a group of foreign hunters. Usually, it was translators. That is, by and large, it is an escort, but not an outfitter. Some companies, I know, and now practice accompanying a group or one hunter with their representative. But he can't be called an outfitter. Such escorts are often not very well versed in the nuances of our profession and work in the field, which can often create conflicts and contradictory situations with the staff of hunting farms. Often, the situation with solving problems created by hunters was largely spoiled by translators, who sometimes voiced to clients what could not be reported to a foreigner a priori. There are many such examples.
The maintainer.
Hunting in the mountains with my clients, we climbed a very difficult route. In parallel with us, foreign hunters from another company hunted in the same mountains. All the conductors kept in touch with each other by radio. Suddenly our guides say that one of the hunters in the other group died on the ascent into the mountains. The representative of the company accompanying those foreign hunters panicked and began to demand that everyone stop hunting. The guides looked at me and thought what to do. I found out with them all the circumstances of what happened and came to the conclusion that my hunters do not deserve to be abandoned in the middle of a 6-hour night climb on steep slopes and frozen rocks, which took a lot of effort and a lot of time. I insisted on continuing the hunt. There were guides with those clients, who called both the Ministry of Emergency Situations and the police. That is, they were not abandoned. But this nervousness of the one accompanying us all and me in the first place was very outraged. Then, at the base camp, we explained to this young and inexperienced attendant his mistakes and an attempt to present himself as the king of the situation.
The role of an outfitter on hunts.
Probably, to this day, basically only an outfitter can fully understand the situation on the hunt and provide assistance to hunting clients during the time. There was a case when my presence simply helped a German hunter to reach a trophy bear and get it. Along the way, his physical condition caused me concerns. Pure water groggy condition. Shaking hands, glassy eyes, cold sweat. The conditions were really harsh. The heat is under 30 degrees. Steep climb. Complete lack of water and food. Having a backpack with photo and video equipment on me, I had to take his heavy 9-caliber carbine from him as well. Step by step, I still brought him to the shot, while our guide galloped forward without looking back. That huntsman wouldn't have been able to get that hunter out for a shot, and they would have come back with nothing. And, as the hunter himself told me later, after we went down: "Dmitry, what I did today, I did it for the first time in my life! And I won't do it again."
One day, after a 9-hour night climb into the mountains, we did not see any trophy animals, and we had to go down. But the guides suddenly had the idea to go hunt another animal. They offered it to the hunter. The idea was not the best, and could have serious consequences for the hunter. The first day, a difficult climb. The hunter did not react to my warnings and went on. The result! Worn-out legs, great fatigue and two days without hunting.
For one year, the hunter could not approach the trophy spotted deer in any way. Something was constantly in the way. And then I suggested that he try to lure the beast. I already had the experience. We heard a roaring male in the forest thicket, but could not see a deer. I began to beckon. And then he appeared, slowly approaching us. After 10 minutes, the hunter got his beast.
Sometimes I had to use all my knowledge not only of a foreign language, but also of psychology. Thanks to the excellent Soviet pedagogical education. So, there was one case when we unsuccessfully sat for a few days in the spring on a privade. They were waiting for the bear. He walked around the privada in a circle every evening, but did not approach her. The temperamental Italian hunter, as they say, freaked out, and was already ready to leave, but through long negotiations I managed to persuade him to stay at this place and continue hunting. The same evening the bear came out and was hunted. Without me, the guides would have taken the hunter away, and it is not known whether he would have got the trophy or not.
Another case of moose hunting. The hunter shoots at the moose, seriously injures it, but the Siberian giant barely gets up and slowly leaves. I saw the moose go and was sure that it could be reached, but it was already evening and they decided to get it the next day. A team of five people set off early in the morning for Dobor. It was very difficult to make out and find traces of our moose among the many tracks. After several hours of chasing and unraveling the trail lace, the guides were ready to give up and return to base. But my experience of hunting hares and the ability to unravel tracks helped me keep track of our moose and lead both the hunter and the whole team to the trophy, which was obtained to the indescribable joy of the hunter himself.
The race of the maral. We agree with the guide about the action plan and the meeting place. He and the client went one way, I went the other, to another mountain range. There were walkie-talkies. At the agreed place at the agreed time, I can't contact and understand where they are and what is happening. A deer is roaring on my slope. It takes a hunter to get it. But there is no guide?! I go out higher on the ridge and find out on the radio that they changed the place and tried to lure out another deer. I had to order them to come up to me quickly. While they were walking, I "passed" my deer, determined its place after the transition, the distance to it and waited for the guide and the hunter, who was then successfully brought out for a shot and got a beautiful trophy.
Hunting capricorn. The client takes a shot. The beast runs away. The conductor goes to look at the wound in one direction, I in the other. I was sure that it was necessary to look for a wound there. In the end, I was right. The beast was taken. Wouldn't I be with a hunter client to be? And the hunter walked in the mountains, to put it mildly, badly and it is not known if he could make a 6-hour transition down and up again.
There are many such cases, and there is no need to list them all. The main thing I hope is that I was able to show my profession from the inside and tell about the importance of those people who are constantly with you, but always "behind the scenes"!
You can learn more about all the subtleties of the outfitter profession in a unique publication of its kind – the book "Outfitter's Notes", the material for which I have been collecting for more than 14 years. All the photos of animals and nature were taken by me personally, all the events are real.
In conclusion, summing up, I would like to draw the attention of those hunters for whom we organize hunts so that they do not forget and appreciate the work and contribution of Russian outfitters to the origin and development of trophy hunting in Russia and abroad.
Instead of an epilogue!
Back at school, while playing volleyball, all of us in the team read the book "Follow Me" by Hirobumi Daimatsu. This book is about how a man who is completely far from volleyball led a team of Japanese girls of a textile enterprise to become world champions for only one purpose – advertising the products of their enterprise.
This means that even starting any business from scratch, you can reach the top! Since then, the postulates of this book still help me in life and in my profession.
With great respect to all hunters, sincerely yours Dmitry Vstovsky.
