This is my second trip to the mountains and my first mountain trophy. Last year I was in a neighbouring gorge, but without horses and carrying a 30kg rucksack myself. Due to my inexperience I took a lot of things with me and although I had prepared for several months, I didn't get to the cave where we spent the night, but literally crawled there in the evening. However, I took a tur, but it was not a trophy. But I gained experience, which I used on this trip. It took us about 4 hours on horses to get to the base camp. I would say not even on horses, but on panthers, seeing how they climbed up a steep slope, loaded with bags and people, despite the heat of 30°C. We continued on foot and on the first evening we came to a mixed group of males and females with young. I chose the biggest male. A shot in the neck from a distance of 250 metres and the 8-year-old trophy was taken. But half an hour later I regretted it a little - on the neighbouring hill a group of fifteen trophy males came out for their evening meal and there was someone to look at. But... there was only one licence and it was already closed. However, this does not detract from the joy of taking your first mountain trophy. And it certainly does not diminish the range of emotions and inspiration one gets from gazing at the majestic landscapes of the Caucasus mountains.
We were very lucky with the weather, although it was a bit hot for this time of year and for climbing with a 20kg rucksack, but the sun was good for the soul. The climb took about 6 hours with stops for binoculars, we climbed from 540m to 1800m and covered about 9km. On the way we only saw a few females and young +- six-year-old males. It was far from the mating season, the terrain was forested and adult ibex were in a group high in the forest. Early in the morning we headed for the observation platform in the 'blazing sun', but on the way we unexpectedly came across a large group of trophy ibex in the forest. The huntsman knows this herd well, there are only 3 old ibex among them and this particular grey-haired old man was about 25 metres away! It could have been a record short shot for mountain hunting, but the group of ibex was bunched up and it was risky to shoot, you could also wound the male behind him. Besides, I was in Kabardino-Balkaria a month ago and the hunt ended for me on the first evening, so I did not want to deprive myself of the pleasure of spending a few days in such beautiful places. The ibexes spotted us and went deep into the forest, they did not come out into the open that day. In the morning, the plan was to walk quietly from the hut to the open area ("blazing sun" in local parlance), listening and hoping to find them in the forest. And so it was. And again, incredible luck! Out of 40 males in the only group of ibex in the area, I could only see and approach two, one of which was still a productive male and the other was the same grandfather I could take yesterday morning from a distance of 25 metres) now it was 80 metres away from us in a narrow place between trees and branches. A few centimetres to the left or right and it was already covered by plants. I chose the moment when it was looking at me, standing still, unaware of who was in the woods. The shot was clearly in the heart and ended his long life. A thin and emaciated old male, as it turned out on closer inspection, might not have survived the coming winter and certainly would not have left any offspring. Incredible views of the Sayan Range and the Yenisei River, unforgettable emotions and impressions, and a magnificent trophy of 98 cm - something that will stay with me forever.
It was the fastest hunt ever. It was an 8 hour drive from Khabarovsk to the base camp. Then we had to hunt a bear from an ambush at a bait station. We planned 8 days for this hunt. When we arrived at the camp, we decided not to drive into the camp, but to go straight to the bait station and put food in the barrel. The hunter said that he and I would approach carefully and see if the bear was already feeding. We took our weapons and headed for the ambush. As we approached, we saw a bear coming from the other side. We waited a few minutes for it to come out into the open and I fired 4 shots at the animal. It rolled behind the bushes into the ravine. We went down and saw the wounded bear lying behind a bush on the other side of the ravine. It could not move, but it raised its head and looked at us. I fired a control shot. The bear was taken!
We flew to Mineralnye Vody where we were met by a hunter Daniyal. After loading our luggage into the car, we drove to Tyrnyauz and then set off into the mountains. The first day we got up at 3am, had tea, a snack and headed up. We saw turs, 2 times they came up to 30 metres. There was a strong wind, the turs were in the forest, but unfortunately we could not take them on the first day. We went down the mountain and moved to another gorge. The second day was also a night hunt. The climb was difficult and at dawn we reached the top, where the guides found a group of trophy turs at a distance of 482 metres. The first shot was a miss, the bullet travelled 20cm higher. By the second shot at a running tur the trophy was taken! I would like to make a special mention of the team that organised the hunt for us: Daniyal, Shahman Aliyevich, Akhmat. Everything was very professional, correct and comfortable. The living conditions were excellent. Comfortable, warm house, bedclothes, stove - all this helped a lot to recover after coming down from the mountains. The density of tur was high; we saw large groups of both males and females. We enjoyed the hunting, the communication with the organisers and the nature of the Caucasus.
Watching the mountains before the climb, we didn't see any animals. We started moving and halfway up I saw two males grazing in the fold just behind and to the right of me. The chamois were grazing in the fold, so they had not been visible before. I had to shoot quickly and handheld as we were on a steep slope and had to shoot in the opposite direction. The distance was 180 metres and the second shot was successful. As we were climbing at dawn, within a minute of taking the shot, the sun came out from behind the mountain at exactly the same angle as the chamois. Had I not seen it at the right moment, or had I waited for the sun to appear, I would have been left without this trophy, as the sun would have blinded me. This was probably the most memorable part of the hunt.
The trophy was taken on 10.10.2023 in the Tyutsuu Gorge. I shot at 570 metres, angle +24 degrees. Cartridge rws 300wm, speed tip pro, 10.7 grams. After the first shot the tur turned 2 times and got up. My suggestion to shoot the second time was rejected, we decided to wait until it reached us rolled away on its own. But it started to move 2-3 steps towards the rocks. We moved to shorten the distance and look for a shooting position. We reduced the distance to 240 metres, but the tur was lying behind a rock close to the cliffs, with one horn visible. The hunters suggested shooting at a stone above the tur to make it get up. After the shot, the tur stood up, its upper back and neck were visible. A second shot to the neck knocked the tur down and it rolled away. Great hunt, a 12-year-old trophy of a Middle Caucasian tur taken! After cutting it was not clear how the tur could have moved at all after the first shot. The bullet entered the lower part of the scapula, broke the bone, opened up, hit the liver, part of the lungs, ribs near the spine and the main part came out behind the second scapula. A very strong animal!
At the invitation of Oleg Shemyakin, my friend Mikhail and I visited the Khabarovsk region. As a result, we enjoyed fishing and I managed to take a rare Amur (Ussuri) subspecies of moose.
Охота проходила в начале октября в Аймиконском улусе в республике Якутия Саха. Много видели баранов в основном самки с молодняком, интересующие нас рогачи в это время года находились на самых вершинах гор. На третий день охоты удалось найти группу рогачей и сделать удачный выстрел. Калибр 300wm, дистанция 680 метров, охотский баран добыт! Трофей оказался шикарным, возраст 13 лет, длинна рогов 99см. Спасибо команде KUUTA trophy hunting и лично Афанасию Шишигину. Шикарная охота, шикарный трофей!!!
Рано утром выдвинулись к месту охоты дорога заняла около двух часов от лагеря.Прибыв на место начали искать трофей,поиск осложнялся туманом и облаками в низу но несмотря на это на растоянии полутора километров под нами обнаружили группу из шести козерогов решили подходить.Спустя час сократили дистанцию до шестисот метров к этому моменту козлы начали движение а позиция желала лучшего.Не смотря на это решил стрелля угол наклона дистанция и спешка сделали свое дело выстрел -досадный промах,козлы как нивчем небывало срываются сместа и идут в верх по противоположному склону.Быстро сменив позици на приемлимую введя поправку и найдя цель козел был добыт,этим трофеем была закончена охота в монголии.На следующий день был долгий перезд в исходную точку Уланбатор.
Переез с предыдущего места охоты занял пачти сутки с учетом ночной остановки.По прибытию остановились на чабанской стоянке откуда планировали начать охоту,перекусив и дождавшись месных проводников узнали от них что неподолеку есть группа неплохих козерогов несмотря на позднее время решили испытать свой шанс.Прибыв на место обнаружили козлов они находились через реку от нас практически под вершиной горы на растоянии 460 метров.Выбрав трофейного козла сделал ввод поправок и произвел выстрел 2-й монгольский трофей добыт.подход к трофею фото на память а утром завтрак и опять в путь.
