I flew to Mongolia to the Khovd town, then we drove by car to the main base. The road surprised me by its really good quality. The base consisted of three yurts , located near the road. I accommodated in the separated one with holes what allowed me “to enjoy” by fresh air all days and nights. The restroom, the hole in the ground fenced off by the cardboard, was very close what was good because I had the diarrhea because of the local food. We spent a week in such conditions. All transfers on the hunt were by car but one night we spent in the mountains. It took me 3 days to get the first Ibex and two days to take the second one. So my trophies were Gobi and Altay Ibexes. When everything was finished we decided not to wait for the plane, it could take several days and drive back by car. We drove 30 hours by the desert though the locals didn’t consider it to be the desert.Next morning after our arrival to Ulan Bator, the outfitter called me and suggested to stay for one more week and hunt for the Gobi Argali. Telling the truth I disliked that idea remembering in what condition we lived before and we came to the decision that I’d try to check my hunting luck. I‘d try to get the trophy in the first day if not to fly home. We started at 10 am and drove about 6 hours. I prepared the gun in the car and was ready. When we arrived to the place the guides pointed us the group of 20 argali. Thanks to Tugso , everything was done very professional and fast. The animals were moving and we followed them. The guides showed me 2 good size males. I made one shot from the distance 200m. My trophy got the third place in the world by the SCI classification and received the Carlo Caldesi Award. It was great. Thank you very much to Tugso.
It was one among the short and comfortable hunts in Spain. I booked this trip through the hunting club La Diana in Valencia. The accommodation was in the comfortable 4*star hotel, not far from Alicante. It took us one hour to drive from there to the hunting area. The guides monitored animals and we knew where to drive.After arrival we did not even step away from the car when detected the group of 7 males but they moved away behind the hill. We went around it and suddenly came to the top in 50 m from that group. The guides didn’t allow to shoot and we started to wait. Suddenly the herd moved down and we lost them. I started to tell the guides that we lost the good opportunity to fire and I didn’t want to hike a lot when they pointed me to the lonely sheep which grazed on the opposite slope in 300 m. from us. The position for shooting wasn’t good but I decided to try. I used Blazer 300 with the burris scope. I was lucky because got it by the first shot. It took us 2 hours to take the trophy and butchered it. This trophy was the Spanish record in 2014. I and the hunting landlord were awarded by Diploma on the Hunting Show in Madrid. It was short and easy hunt.
I wanted to combine two hunts for Kuban Tur in KCR and for Mid Caucasus Tur in KBR. We started from the hunt in KBR. In the first day I had to hunt with the American hunter who had some leg’s problems. We tried to climb to the mountain and wait for the animals in the one place but the fog covered everything and we had to come back to the base. Next day we rode by horses to the mobile camp and it took us 5 hours. The guide noticed the group of turs in 600 m from us while we were moving. We all stopped and I took the comfortable position. I fired from the distance 570m and hit to its back but the male ran behind the ridge and we lost it. One of the guided followed it to check , was it wounded or not, while me and the other guide went to the tents. The first PH came in two hours and told us that the animal was wounded but it’d be difficult to find it. We started to think what to do, look for the new trophy or try to find the first one. At last we came to the decision that we all’d spent the night in that place and then would go back to the main base while the guide will try to find the wounded male. He called me when I was on the base and informed that found the tur which laid in the cleft and send me the pictures to be sure that it was my trophy. It wasn’t the easy hunt.
I arrived to this hunt with my wife because expected it’d be easy and wanted to combine 3 trophies : mouflon, Alpine Ibex and Chamois. There was the ads, the hunt with the accommodation in the castle. I don’t recommend it. The castle was awful and there wasn't any breakfast at all, better to stay in any Austrian hotel.In the first day I unpacked my equipment and at 3 pm we went for a hunt. I got the mouflon at 5 pm. Next day we drove to the other place. The climb took us 40 minutes, for two hours we monitored the chamois, which grazed on the opposite slope and at last our guide said to fire. I made the shot from the distance 250m and it was easy. So I got one more trophy.
One of the easiest hunts which I made just for tick in SCI. Animals don’t grow to big size because there are not many of them and this species is very popular among hunters. Everything was organized not far from Malaga. It took us about 40 minutes’ drive. Not interesting at all. The habitat of Ibex, the end of Sierra Nevada Mountains, which come to the Mediterranean Sea, is limited by the big number of roads including some highways. At 9am the guide pointed me to the 6-7 years old Ibex which grazed in 750m from us and suggested to fire. When I was ready, he changed his mind and we drove to look for another male. In 10 minutes he offered to shoot once again but it was almost impossible to make a good shot under such angle and I refused. We drove around the same mountain and he showed me one more Ibex. I started to aim but the guide behaved himself very strange. It looked like panic. He tried to help me putting the sandbag under the gun, or corrected its direction each time when I was ready to fire. The result of the help was that I didn’t shoot. After the lunch we to the same place once again and he allowed me to shoot at last. I took the Bronze medal trophy by SCI classification. I disliked the hunt because the guide had obvious psychological problems and the place wasn’t interesting. The hunt took me one day.
It was my first trophy! The hunt was organized in the Tortosa Beceite near the city Castellon. It took us one hour drive from the coast to the mountains. We made a stop and the guide showed me the group of Ibexes in 130 m. from us. I asked for the trophy which could get the Silver medal and there was one of such size. I fired using the prop, the gun Blazer R8 300 and got the Ibex from the first shot. It was uncomfortable that we had to cross the river and ascended to the steep climb though it wasn’t far. It was the Silver trophy. Next day we went to find the bigger one, I shot from the distance 430m and it was the silver medal by SCI classification once again and I decided to stop.It is nice that you can take your family with you. There is a big SPA center and 5-star hotel in the Castellon town where they can relax while you are hunting.
The way from Barcelona to the hunting area took 2 hours. I spent the night in the hotel in the mountains. Next morning we drove to the hunting area. There was not snow on the coast and the average day temperature was about 10 C degrees but the temperature in the place where we arrived was zero. We started to climb just from the village La Molina, from the funicular and the lifts for skiers. It was the beginning of the season and nobody skied yet. We ascended along the ski slope. It was unusual to put on winter boots and equipment when you just went up from the down where was warm and sunny. I got great “pleasure” when we walked under the snow-cannons. It was like snow rain, and we all were covered by the crust of ice. The elevation was about 2500 masl. We detected some groups of chamois but they noticed us and ran away. The ascend took one hour, then we watched around and started to go down. In a half an hour we spotted two chamois , one of which had the trophy size. The guided leaded me by the fresh snow , as the result I didn’t need to use the prop for the gun because I was breast-deep in snow. The shooting distance was 180m but it was very uncomfortable to fire. It first shot hit to the leg and the second one was the final. I used steyr manlicher scout 308. The trophy awarded the Silver medal. The hunt lasted one but heavy day. It’s really good that all hunts in Spain are very comfortable. You can always reach the hotel or a restaurant.
I got the trophy of the Dagestan Tur on the second day of my hunt. I used Blazer R93, 6-284. We started to climb from the height 2000m and finished at 1pm on the height 2960m The first time I shot from the distance 300m to the male which lay on the slope and missed it. When the animals retired to 500m my rangefinder Leica couldn’t work. I shot once again and wounded it. Unfortunately we hadn’t time to follow it and the guides took it next morning. It was the nice trophy of the Dagestan Tur. Thank you very much to Tzary Sonanov, Petro and other guides.
I got Mid-Caucasus Chamois in the first day of hunt. I fired several times, Blazer R93, cal.6.5-284. Thank you very much to Tzary Sonanov, for the organization of this hunt.
