The readers of our magazine and members of the MHC know Asif Ilyasov by his rare articles and pictures in our edition. I like his photographs and was surprised to learn that he didn’t study how to make photo reports. He has the talent to see the world in an unusual perspective.
Asif can really surprise you. Being a young guy , he focused his ambition on becoming the sportsman. He was born in Sheki, one among the few towns in Azerbaijan which located in the spurs of the North Caucasus. He dreamed to become the sportsman from his childhood and his parents Akif Gul oglu and Elena Grigorievna – encouraged his passion. Asif graduated the Academy of the Physical "and started to work in the Army Sport Club. He was involved in martial arts (Boxing, kick-Boxing, Taekwondo, Brazilian JIU-jitsu), and later became a member of Azerbaijan's national team in Rugby. Once taking part in one of the competitions he met his adherent and future business partner Faik Babanly. Faik was the champion of Azerbaijan and the winner of the international competitions in MMA. In a few years they both will organize the company which is well-known among the mountain hunters all over the world - Global Safari Azerbiajan. But before it they hunted a lot in their country and in other countries.
Active sport life is short and once you have to choose what to do next. At 2003 our friends and one more guy Nariman Zulfigirov created the company "Musado". The main goal of it was to organize mountains hunting trips. They made hunts for the waterfowls and Dagestan turs. All rules and principles how it worked they learned from their own experience, from their own mistakes and achievements.
In 2004 the friends hunted in Africa. They had chosen Namibia and were really surprises that hunting there wasn’t so easy as people used to think. It was a tough hunt and they spent lots of time looking for the trophies but came home very happy and with trophies. That trip helped them to understand what they needed.
After that they had been in about 100 countries in Africa, North America, Asia, Europe, Oceania but feel the special love to the Black continent. If they want to feel how the adrenaline boils in the veins they fly to the jungles of South America. They are fond the hot, the abundance of poisonous snakes, when the only way to go ahead is to cut it by machete. Such conditions look very attractive to our friends because there they can check their skills to live, the Nature tests your ability to survive, your physician and physiological conditions. They both didn’t give up training and are in excellent physical form.
The 16 years passed how they started their business and become the professionals. Now they can estimate the quantity of the trophy looking to it through the optics and even can define by the one look to the picture in what region of Azerbaijan and when it was done.
In 2007 they created their own company Global Safari Azerbaijan. Most of foreign hunters including the members of our Club such as V. Reznik, S. Yastrzhembsky, V. Eliseev, S. Mazurkiewicz, W. Kim, V. Gorb, L. Palko, I. Rayevsky, S. Puzinkevich, S. Volochkovich, A. Kim, hunted with them.
They have done a lot but never stop. The State gave them new hunting areas in 2018 what means new record's trophies and new responsivities and less of time. But they both try to find it for the hobbies. Faik is fond of taxidermy and think over the future compositions while hunting. Asif makes hunting movies and nice pictures. There are about 100 hinting videos in his collections and he can’t account the number of pictures.
Asif didn’t study photography but get these skill during the trips. He was awarded and not once by the hunting magazines in our country and different counties too. It’s a pity but he hasn’t enough time to devote it to this hobby.
I asked Asif about his dream and was surprised when knew that he wanted to hunt for the Golden takin. This animals inhabits in China and the hunt for it is prohibited. So the dream has to be unrealizable, but leaving hope.
