I was warned and not once that hunting in Azerbaijan was tough. But I wanted to try. On the third day of hunt the optics fastener loose because of the lots of hits, that’s why I put it at random. I was too tired to look for the huge trophy and there wasn’t such possibility. Fortunately we detected two turs on the saline and I got one of them.
In the summer while climbing to Elbrus I met the hunters who talked me about hunting in this area. They said that the populations of turs in that area was uncountable. I don’t believe in such fairy tales but the part of adventurism is in the each hunter. I decided to try. You’ll never know is it true or not if don’t try. At the end of October my friend called me and said that the rut had started already and I had to come.After accommodating in the hotel I went to the balcony to observe the slopes and was surprised to see three chamois through the binocular. We spent one day researching the neighborhoods and acclimatizing. I’d seen some females turs with babies but none of the male. Probable the rut hadn’t started yet. Next day we would come to the mountains.The ascend started from 2100 masl. The guide detected three males but he said that had seen 50 males on this slope before and suggested to look for some bigger ones. We went to the right side checking all places. We found lots of tracks but none of the animal. It was a lunch time and it’d be dark soon and we decided to come back to the males which we saw first. It was about 900 m to them when we define that one of the males had the trophy size but there was an open place between us and It’d be difficult to approach. We didn’t have time to get round because at 4 pm we had to be at the shooting distance. At last the adjacent slope closed us from the animals and we could move faster. One more climb and we crawled to the shooting distance. The elevation was 3200 masl, the distance 370 m. The male laid on the ground and two smaller ones joined him. I had to fire but the goat gazed to our side and the shot would be half-turned. I didn’t have chance to miss. I’d caught it in the crosshair. The shot! The turs disappeared immediately but soon I saw two young goats on the ridge. They stood not knowing what to do without the older one. We discussed the shot with the guide, probably there was a slap but it was difficult to say so because of the mountain’s acoustics. But soon we noticed the birds which flew to the place where we the goat had to be. It was a good sign, the birds saw blood. We climbed to the place and found the animal. It was a good size trophy. I took it. Then we made lots of pictures and went down. It was a hard descend in the darkness which took us three hours. Sometimes I was happy that my flashlight didn’t shine brightly and I couldn’t see the steepness of the slopes.
I and my friends Sergey and Dmitry were going to hunt for Marco Polo in Kyrgyzstan. But the riots in this country made us to change the hunting area from the Issyk Kul region where we wanted to hunt at first to the Naryn region, known as the habitat of the Hume Argali.When we arrived to the Base camp, located not far from the Chinese frontier, the guides showed us through the scope, the herd of sheep which grazed on the slope. It was about 5 km straight ahead to them. Some of the males had trophy size but it was too easy and we didn’t want it. The chief of the camp said that there were 2 males which were really good and two hunters could try. At last the lot fell on me. Sergey and Dmitry rode by horses to the mobile camp for several days. I and Akl, my guide, rode about 3 hours to 3700 masl and then hiked about one km to the elevation 3900 masl. We saw sheep from time to time but the other guides who stayed in the camp and monitored the group with the binoculars, told us by radio where to go. We went to the ridge, tried to spot them and didn’t see. Suddenly the group appeared under my foot and ran. Akl gave me the gun and shouted: “ Shoot the first one! No, the second! No, the First!” I had to make the decision by myself . The third and the forth males were smaller, the first one stood in the good position and the second stood back to me. To shoot to the animal’s back wasn’t ethical. All these thought flashed in my head for a split second. The sheep ran in 100 m from us. I made the accurate shot. Then we made pictures with the trophy and went back to the camp.
On the second day of the hunt I got the trophy of the Balkan Chamois. It awarded the Bronze Medal. The male disguised very well and I could detect it just from the second attempt. It turned its head and this movement was fatal for it. On the third day I got the trophy of the European Mouflon from the distance 200m.
It was my tenth hunting trip to the mountains in Abkahzia but the previous ones were futile. We started from the road in the Rizinsky gorge, 280 masl and climb to the elevation 1000 masl. It took us 4 hours. There we set the camp and examined the neighborhoods. We found some tracks of wild boars and a bear. There was a river nearby and we hadn’t any problems with the water yet. Next morning we made a short scouting without the backpacks and detected just old tracks. The guides suggested to come back to the camp, take the bags and go to the opposite side, where my friend and the guide in one person Tay had never been. It took us 4 hours to reach the elevation 1250 masl where we camped . There was snow everywhere and we even cut by axe the place for the tent. Snow was good because we could use it for water but it was cold. Next morning we packed up the camp and went to the slope which were going to cross. The guide told that he knew the way back. We spotted lots of tracks of the Caucasus chamois on that slope. Tay went first, Sikya followed him and I closed the column. Suddenly I heard that Tay fired. We dropped the bags and chased the wounded chamois. The snow and open ground changed each other. The animal ran down and we chased it. I noticed its’ silhouette between the trees and wanted to shoot but Tay stopped me and suggested to put the gun on the stone. While we tried to find it the chamois ran away. We went on the pursuit. Tay decided to check the surroundings and we stayed on the place. I heard the shot. He called us by radio and ordered to go down. He shot to the chamois and wounded it. There wasn’t the way down and the male ran up to our side. Soon I noticed it and prepared to fire. I made the accurate shot and heard the slap. I was so happy and ran down to it. I wanted Tay to see how fast I could run. I found the chamois in 100 meters which laid on the ground. But suddenly it stood up and move to the gorge. I made one more shot to its neck and wanted to shoot more but could not. The shutter did not flinch and I had to make it by hands. The chamois disappeared. I followed it and found it laying on the edge of the cliff. It was still alive but I was afraid to fire because it could fell to the gorge and we’d lose it. We took it using the stick and the noose. I cut its’ neck according to local traditions. I got my trophy. Then we spent one more night in the tent, melted snow to get water while we had gaz. Then we went down and it was a hard way. Once the path rested into the rocks and we had to went up. Nobody knew the road and I remembered the words that the shortest way is the way which you know. Thanks to the experience of Tay we all went down successfully. Later in Gagra we organized the party to celebrate Sykva’s first mountain trip. I promised to slaughter the goat later in the summer according the tradition. Thank you very much to Tya because I couldn’t take my trophy without his help.
We drove three hours from Vienne. Accommodation was in the 3* hotel in the small town. All hunt was organized around the one mountain. It included hiking, driving and the stakeout. It took 3 days. The shooting distance was 250 metes. It was very comfortable hunt.
We flew 3 hours by the helicopter to the heigh 3900 masl and then drove one hour more to reach the elevation 4200 masl. The adaptation was really hard. Accommodation was in the comfortable camp with the bath. Marco Polo: I shoot from UAZ and wounded it. The shooting distance was 505 meters. W e got it on the next day. Mid Asian Ibex: We drove by UAZ to the altitude 4300 masl. Then climbed one hour. The shooting distance 460 m and wounded once again. We found and took in in three hours. The hunt took 3 days and was very comfortable. I used Blazer 300 Win Mag.
- 3 hours by car - 3 hours by horse - ascend one hour (not difficult) - distance 300 meters - hunt took 2 days - very comfortable weapon- Mauser 300 Win Mag
We rode by horses to the altitude about 2000 masl and spent the night in the tent. Everybody got up at 5 am and climb to the height 2500 masl. It took us 4 hours. I got the chamois while we were going up. The shooting distance was 150 meters.Kuban Tur: the distance was 350 meters. It was really tough to go down and took us 6 hours. We went back to the camp in the late evening. I was lucky because hunted just 2 days.
All our actions produced the result - we got the hunting licenses for the Severtsev Sheep. The hunt was organized in the Nuratau Mountains outside the territory of the National Park. In spite of that hunt was the first one in recent 12 years, it wasn’t’ easy. There are lots of shepherd in that area at summer time and the best period to find animals is from October to April but they are afraid of human beings in any case. We hiked about 50 km during three days, there were several long steep climbs when we gained altitude 800 m in an hour. When we detected the males I approached them very fast, going down and climbing the slope from the leeward. But the wind changed several times and they began to move. I fired from the distance 325 meters with the side wind 11 m/s. Unfortunately I didn’t have the opportunity to choose the best trophy or I could loose any chance to make a shot. Ilya Dmitriev helped me to organize that hunt and smoothed some difficulties. There weren’t the working schemes yet and we improvised a lot. If you want to take part in this legal hunt we can help you. Thank you very much to my friends from Uzbekistan. The hunt would not have been possible without their help. I attach a copy of the license and CITES.
I hunted at home in Magadan. In comparison with Pakistan it was really cold. Two days the temperature was -42C. We had some problems with the snow machine's engines. There wasn’t much snow at that time and sometimes it was difficult to drive. But I saw lots of North marals and snow sheep.
In hunted in Pakistan in October, 2015. It was really hot and not good for trekking. I saw lots of animals but if you want to find a good one you need to walk a lot. All hunt was organized well.
Just after the hunt in Alay Kazakhstan was finished I flew to Almaty for the move to Djungarian Alatau for the hunt on Dzhungar Ibex. The night road took us about five hours. At night I checked how the rifle shoots by killing a fox from the first shot. About 6:30 in the morning we with ranger Nikolay Mitrofanovich, who was seventy six years old at that time, and with Vladimir started elevation to the mountains. After an hour and a half we were observing the first group of Ibex. They behaved according to the mating period: males and females were moving actively in joint groups. At some moment, we started to observe three groups of Ibex, which established themselves in the different parts of the mountains. There was a group below us, which included one large and dark male. We started planning how to go down for them. At that moment, a male Ibex of the age eight or nine years old approached us to the distance 70 meters. I decided to shoot and took the trophy. As people say: “A feather in the hand is better than a bird in the air”.
This hunt was organized by my fellow and colleague, the head of the Association of Hunters and Anglers, Nikolay Abramovich Proskurin. It took place in the National Park but was legal, we had all necessary permits. Katon-Karagay National Park is located in the unique place near the boundary with Russia, Kazakhstan, China and Mongolia. We arrived by plane to Ust-Kamenogorsk and then drove 500 km to the hunting lodge located near the village Archety. Next morning we rode by horses to the mountains. After 40 minutes of riding we noticed the first animals. It was the group of males. One the them stood out form the others on the top of the rock. I and my guide were climbing by the next slope and the old male was going down towards us. The distance between us reduced to 320m. under the angle 32 degrees. I calculated the shot for a distance 280m, waited when the goat turned its side and fired. The bullet went through it and damaged its lungs and internals. It ran down few meters and fell in 50 meters below the place where I shot it. In 15 minutes the crows circled above the place where it laid and it help us to find it. It was the old male 15 years old. Knowing that the average age of the goat who live in captivity is 16-18 years I could say that we got very good trophy because that specimen gave all its best genes already. Thank you very much to my guides Roman and Alexander for the organization of this hunt. Coordinates where I took the trophy: latitude 49 12 24 36 and 86 35 56 10 east longitude. It was my 33rd trophy from the MHC Capra List.
I planned to hunt for this sub species of chamois from 2013 but had to changed dates several times by different reasons. At last I could flew for the hunt in France. The local outfitter was Renault Daso, recommended me by Bernared Loze. He knew lots of Russian hunters. Renault worried that we didn’t have enough time to get the trophy. I could devote to the hunt just one day. The average trip is not less then 3 days. Telling the truth we were lucky with the weather. It was the strong cyclone the day we arrived and all ridges were covered by the fog. But the weather forecast was auspicious. Fortunately it was correct, the rain was over and it was clear star night when we went for a hunt. We accommodated in the small village in 50 km from Grenoble. The mountain range of Chartreuse is isolated and comes close to the Alps. The elevation of the mountains there is about 1500 masl and they are covered by thick forests, what makes the task to find the animals not easy. The inhabitants of these forests are red and roe deer, boars, mouflons and chamois. The predators are represented by wolves and foxes. We started to climb at 6.30am from the elevation 1100masl and it took us 40 minutes to reach the height 1540masl. I couldn’t say that it was the easy climb, it was steep and feet constantly slid on the wet grass. After rising to the top we observed the surroundings. We watched lots of the chamois which fled from us. Thickly fallen leaves, branches and loose stones betrayed us and the animals found us before we found them. At some point I detected the chamois and fired but missed. It was not comfortable to shoot through the bushes. We went on to searching. In twenty minutes I spotted the silhouette of the chamois in the forest. I commanded Lui to lay down, because he stood on the line of fire, aimed and made the sure shot. The hit was evident, the chamois fell and rolled down. We easily found it by the bloody track. It was the lonely old female, 11 years old and my 9th chamois from the Capra List. I has to get one more chamois- Anatolian on in Turkey to get the prize “ World Chamois”.
Next day after the hunt for Tibetan Argali we drove to look for the Pamir Ibex. We found the group of animals, three of which had decent horns. We approached at 650m distance and I decided to shoot. I took the comfortable position when Ibex, startled by the noise from the Marco Polo herd, ran up to the mountains. I shot three times from the distance 670m. The last one was successful but I aimed lower than it had to. The goat walked about 1.5 km. We took it next day. The horns were 118 and 119.5 sm.Thank you very much to people who helped me to get it. This Ibex opened the third dozen of trophies from the Capra MHC List.
On the third day of the hunt we saw two large males, one of which was good trophy size. We decided to approach at the shooting distance. Sheep noticed us and ran up the mountain. We understood that it’d take just few minutes for them to hide behind the ridge. It was too hard for us to came down, went around the mountain and climbed once again. The height was 4685m. I shot from 900m. The wounded ram moved about 1km and lay down. Thank you very much to everybody who helped me to organize this hunt. This trophy became the 30th from the MHC List.
