Отчеты охотников

At the invitation of my friend Mikhail, I hunted at the Toropa hunting farm in the Tver region in early April. This is the time of year when bears actively visit bait stations to replenish their meagre diet with protein after hibernation. One bear came out just before sunset. A male brown bear was taken at a distance of 300 metres with the first shot from a .308 Win caliber.

I had been planning to take a Kharaulakh sheep for a long time, but each time there were urgent matters that forced me to postpone it until next year.  But finally, having made a decision based on the principle of "what you have to do when work interferes with hunting", I found myself in Yakutia. We flew with my friend to Yakutsk, transferred to the An-24, which took us to Tiksi, where we were met by Vladimir Alekseev, who was well known to the members of the MHC.  And in less than an hour the Mi-8 took us to the hunting camp. The camp is located not far from the Khara-Uulaakh river, practically in the middle of the mountain massif of the same name. On the first day of the hunt, we met several groups of females with lambs which, realising their invulnerability, grazed at a distance of 250-300 meters from us. I would like to point out that many people think of Yakutia as a vast, monotonous, snowy desert. However, the reality is quite different - at this time of year we saw incredibly picturesque landscapes. All the colours of the rainbow were there! On the second day we saw a trophy sheep lying on the ridge of the opposite mountain at a distance of 1200 m. I was unable to determine the average wind direction with the necessary accuracy, which led to an unsuccessful attempt to take it. On the fourth day of our hunt we noticed a group of 7 males, among which 3 sheep were clearly distinguishable by their horns.  After a long approach we came to a ridge, on the other side of which sheep were resting. A shot from the shoulder of Evgeny Kharitonov, who was with me, this time with an AX 300 NM rifle (tripod left below), brought me a beautiful 9-year-old trophy! I would like to highlight the extremely professional work of the entire team of Vladimir Alekseev. The accommodation, the food and the whole service in the hunting camp deserve the highest praise. I would like to thank Vladimir Alekseev and his team for a wonderful, emotionally intense hunt. My thanks go to Evgeny Kharitonov, who gave me a shoulder to lean on during this expedition. I would also like to thank Lyudmila Baranova from "Stalker Group" for her organisational support.

The hunt was near the base. The guides reported that a bear had killed a moose and it was necessary to take it. The bear hunting license was available. We went to the place of the bear's crime. The bear was there. It had buried the moose, with only the horns sticking out of the ground, and the bear was lying on this big heap, guarding its prey. It took three shots to bring the bear down.

Back to base camp after the Okhotsk sheep, we had a day of rest. Bath, comfortable guesthouses after the mountains give relaxation. I would like to mention the food separately. The cook is the chef of the restaurant. Afanasy himself is a gourmet and loves to cook. We were treated to stroganina and indigirka, various northern fish were always on the table. For breakfast - black caviar, no joke. Meat: steaks, kebabs and many other things were cooked; liver in different ways, sheep's eggs. Well, in general their cuisine is first class. You can see that they maintain a high standard of service. It's very pleasant when they don't skimp, but do things properly and intelligently. On the 4th day of the hunt, a Yakut sheep was shot. The master of the taiga, Bayanai, gave me what I asked for. Believe it or not. I fed the fire, asked him, and everything I asked for came true. Ruslan, the hunter, saw sheep crossing the gorge about 2 km from us. We ran towards them. We had to leave our sticks as we got closer, we had to overcome small climbs and descents on 2, not 3 legs). We came to 428 metres. One shot - sheep caught! Emotions! Joy! Battle cry!

Trophy 10 years old. Distance to the target 200 metres. Blaser R8 300WM carbine.

     It takes about 3 days to get directly to the hunting ground. By plane with a change in Novosibirsk, then by car on the Kolyma highway, by ferries across the Lena and Malthan rivers, by off-road vehicles and Ural trucks to the base. But I will say at once that all the inconveniences caused by the long way are easily forgotten at the sight of the beautiful nature of Yakutia, the excellent organisational preparation and the rather high density of animals in the area!      In the morning we moved from the base camp to the tent camp in off-road vehicles escorted by an Ural truck. In 2 hours we were at the place. The tent camps are well prepared: tents with stoves, separate tents - dining rooms, all the necessary "furniture" - everything is there. We quickly made ourselves comfortable and left the cook and an assistant to look for sheep. Literally in 15 minutes the guides, who were walking ahead of us, were looking through binoculars at a high slope. There were 3 sheep on one of the ridges and one of them was very good. We decided to take it. We determined the way of approach - we chose to approach from above and I went uphill together with the guides Alexey and Ruslan. The climb took about 2 hours. When we looked from the ridge, sheep were lying on the place. Distance 648 metres, angle -3°. I took a breath, took a position, it was uncomfortable, changed a position, for a long time picked up snow under a handle, ready, shot..... Silence, the guides are silent, looking through binoculars. That's it, I think I missed it..."'Got it" - shouts Ruslan, "that's it, we've got it"! The sheep was still lying there. I didn't go near the sheep, it was a dangerous place and I was tired after the climb. Ruslan and I went down and Alexey went to get the trophy. The trophy was a 15-year-old sheep with 382 points. This is gold.     I thank the owner of the company KUUTA - Afanasiy for the organisation! Excellent organisation, great team, just wonderful new comfortable base, new passable equipment, all-terrain vehicles, competent organisation and high density of sheep! I am sure the company will be a success!

Good Brown bear 2,80 m. One shot from a distance of 100 metres. Blaser R8 300 WM carbine.

At the beginning of the season I hunted in the Koryak highlands of Chukotka. It was my first mountain trophy this year. It wasn't the biggest one, but what the spirit of the raven god Kutkha gave me, I didn't deserve any more ). I shot at a distance of 180 meters with a calibre 300 WM.

It was windy and the temperature was +4°C. We found a group of turs at a distance of 1100 m. We decided to wait for the turs to come down, but unfortunately they didn't. Apparently the turs were comfortable on peaks or, more likely, it noticed us and kept a safe distance from us. After waiting until 16:00 we decided to go to the turs ourselves. The way was very difficult, we had to move through the gorges out of sight of the turs, it was very difficult, but we managed to get to a distance of 440 meters. I made all the necessary measurements and at the moment of the shot, the turs found us and started to climb higher up the slope to cross the peak to the other side of the mountain, but me and the very professional huntsman Novruz decided to cut the turs' path, which was physically very difficult to do. Novruz is a sporty guy, he moved very fast on the slopes with my 9kg rifle on his shoulder. And it was difficult for me to keep up with him and to walk carefully on the rocks so as not to make too much noise, but we cut the path anyway, but the turs were 860 meters away from us at the top of the mountain. I measured, corrected and decided to shoot, as we would not have another chance, the shot was fired and the turs disappeared, Novruz shouted: "I've got him", the tur stumbled, rolled down a few meters and pulled himself together and went over the top to the other side of the mountain. It was getting dark and we decided not to follow the tour in the dark, but to wait until the morning, which was reasonable. Once again I was unlucky - I didn't get to see the trophy. In the morning we were disappointed by the weather, it was cloudy and rainy and we did not dare to go to the mountains, it was too risky. Once again I was left without a photo of the tur in the mountains. This is the second trophy I have left in the mountains. The next day we had to fly home, but Novruz promised to get my trophy. The following day was sunny and he kept his promise.

In the mountains of the Ciera de Gridos, hunting for one morning.

The first mountain hunts abroad.

Taken after the ibex licence was closed

Hunting Siberian Ibex in the Sayan Mountains