I knew the information that the Grand Slam Club had accepted the appearance of the new subspecies , which habitat in several regions of the Eastern Pamir, Matison Argali (ovis ammon matisoni). If I am right this species is known also as Brukey Argali, so I add it to my trophy list under this name but ask to correct me in case of the mistake. Dmitriev Ilya helped me to book the hunt which is organized by the same Yury Matison. We arrived to the hunting area through Dushanbe. Two days we were driving in the one way. The guides waited for us already and knew where to look for the trophy size males. The first attempt to approach the group of 27-40 males we did in the first part of the first day. There were two males which differed from the others. We had hiked from the altitude 4100 masl to 4950 masl but the females noticed us and all animals moved to another side of the ridge. We could detect them once again only in the evening and could approach 660 meters. I fired at the angle 19 degrees. The sheep did flips after the shot but then stood up and hid behind the stone. It was getting dark and we decided not to disturb it till the morning. Next day we found it on the same place. It was over. It was nice 9 years old male with short horns but its’ tips had been polished in the fights. It looked like Mongolian Argali not like Marco Polo. The mountains were very comfortable for hiking but the altitude influenced much. Moreover you have to be ready to shoot from the long distances. Thank you very much to all who helped me to get the next new level.
On the New Year Party of the CMH I’ve won the hunt for the Kuban Tur in KCR. The expedition was organized by the Stalker company and took place in the private hunting farm in the Arkhyz region. (Romantic).Everything was done on the high level (transfers, accommodation, guide’s support and ect.). The population of animals is very high. Special thanks to my guide Ali, who helped me so much.
I hunted for the Kuban Tur in the Karachay Cherkess Republic. The hunt was organized on the very high level. Thank you very much to the guides. I used Blazer R8. The shooting distance was 430m.
My friend Edward Bendersky told my about the opportunity to hunt for the Snow Sheep of the Yablonov ridge ( the modern name Stanovoy ridge). I put everything off and flied to Blagoveshchensk. Dmitry Medveded who arrived with his team from Irkutsk met me there. The helicopter brought us from Blagoveshchensk to the Stanovoy ridge (Habarovsky krai), the hunting area. Three days we were looking for the trophy and met just 18 animals including one young male. On the fourth day at 5.30 am Evgeny Haritonov met two trophy size males. They were feeding in 700m from us on the opposite slope. One of them light color turned to me with the right side. The distance was 652m, the angler 23 dergee. I used Hornary cartridges 338 kal ELD Match, 285gr.I took the positon and waited when the wind subsided then I shot. Two males ran fast and disappeared. In 20 seconds they appeared again and were so active that I decided that I missed the first attempt and shot once again. My goal was the dark one because its position was more comfortable for shooting. They ran away once again. In few seconds the light color ram appeared, it stayed looking back and waited for the dark one and then it came away. Its behavior showed me that I was successful. When we approached the place , we found two trophies! The 13 years old the light one and 14 years old –dark. I understood that there were three rams at first, two with light color and one with dark but I each moment I saw just two from them. Fortunately Dmitry had one more license and I became the owner of two rare and beautiful trophies.Thank you very much for Dmitry Medvedev and his team for the professional organization of such uncommon hunt. My appreciation to Evgeny Haritonov who helped me so much during this trip.
It was one of the most difficult hunts organized on the height 3200-3400 masl. The weather changed very often: sun, rain, hail. We spent two days and one night in the mountains. It was impossible to put the tent there because of the steep slopes and stones. At noon of the second day we found males. I fired from 340m and the goat fell behind the slope. It was decided not to stay for one more night there and the guides came back to take the trophy on the next day. Thank you very much to the North –Ossetian Hunting Company and personally to Tzara Sozanov.
Wake up at 40:00 o'clock in the morning. Happy with this, soon from the boat to the ground. We drain the Zodiak and on the shore. The ground! No toss! How wonderful! Though the body is still tossing automaticly. Raise to the mountain. From the far the mountain looked inaccessible. In two hours we raise 500 masl. On the road observe a group of females. It feels like they see the man at the first time. We start to move along the ridge. It is amazing how the forage reserve is poor. The Siberian Dwarf Pine is all around.If we seen no females, I would think, “what are we doing here?” Soon after we noticed a single grazing young male. He is some kind of enchanted. We move further to the cliffs. Time for lunch. Sun burnes. The ranger Vasiliy suggests to have a rest and drink some tea. He sais tat the rams will be soon. Everything was like he said. At first we noticed to young males. And higher, just right above our heads, He was standing! Very large, athletic body! We even didn’t have to look at the horns. This is the real male! The distance was 225 meters. Almost up on the 90 degrees. The shot! Missed? No, the blood fountains from the neck. Got! In to the target! Should make the second shot? Vasiliy stops. We put off the backpacks and prepare to go up to the trophy. We have to go by the vertical cliff very high. And then the miracle takes place. The ram makes several steps and fells vertically down. Going to break the horns! Thought I. With my heart stopped I come to the trophy. The hors are safe on the right, the tip is broken on the right, but it is an old breake. The trophy is taken! Splendid male! 10-11 years. Kolyma Snow Sheep is taken!
I was hunting from the 1st to 9th of September in the Sayan Mountains and got nice trophies of Ibexes with the horns – 105 and 87 sm.The used gun was BLAZER R8, cal. 300 Win Mag, bul. RWS EVO 11,9 grThe shooting distances were 310 and 280 m respectively. The both males were taken by the first shot.There was an average wind and weather was fine about +17-22C during the day hours and -5-0C at night. Accommodation was in the wooden cabins and tents.Mountains there are very steep. Being in Altay region we used horses. The local guides are very professional. There were lots of animals and we saw several groups of Ibexes which consisted of 20-40 males and more.It wasn’t an easy hunt. I estimated it as average hard. Thank you very much to the Stalker Group and personally to Jury Morozov.More comments concerning trophies 1. Altay Ibex 2. Sayan Ibex More comments concerning trophies
One more time I arrived to Konstantin Kallin to hunt the Snow Sheep. He and his crew, in my humble opinion, are the most professional organizers of the hunting on Kamchatka. I took the Sheep on the same place, where I was hunting 8 years ago. The elevation was hard, but the one receives significant advantage under the sheeps only if gets to the top. At first I found lonely male on the distance of 3 km. I found one more group comprising 4 males, when started to approach the first one. I took 10-year-old male with the first shot from the distance of 330 meters and the angle 25 degrees.
Timo Tipp, who had the experience in the organization of the international hunts, hold for us the hunting expedition in the Ismail region Azerbaijan. It took place from the 26th to 30th of June. Tip agreed to join us. The three hunters, including me, arrived to Baku and were met by the representative of the local outfitter. The we drove 3 hours to the north-west of the country where made the first stop. There we had dinner, loaded all needed equipment to KAMAZ and moved to the base camp. The car was moving along the dry river bed and in four hours we arrived to the place. It was the extreme trip. The staff waited for us and set a fancy table. Next morning we rode by horses to the mobile camp. Each of us was accompanied by two guides. In the first day we spent riding and walking about 12 hours and, telling the truth, it was harder than we thought it’d be. We didn’t detect any male in that day and spend the night in the tent camp located on the altitude 3700 masl. It was hot during the day but at night the temperature dropped to 0C. Next morning the guides found the group of Turs about 50 males and we began to monitor them trying to approach on the shooting distance. We all went up and down and one of the thought which worried me was how to make the accurate shot after such difficult physical exercises. Thanks to the very professional work of our guides we could come close and fired. I shot from the from the narrow ledge vertically downwards. The first shot was missed but I got my trophy by the second one. It was very strong and nice 10 years old male. The distance was about 150 meters but it wasn't easy because of the shooting angle. I can’t describe how beautiful nature is there but the hunt demands from the hunters to be in the good physical form. Hard efforts were rewarded by a beautiful accommodation and an even more beautiful trophy.
