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It’s not like the plains. Different climate reigns. V. Vysotsky     5K m above the sea level. Is it a lot or not? Probably it’s so, but it’s personal to each other. The experienced climbers will call this altitude to be childish in comparison with the eight- thousand booms. I respect these people but think they all are a little bit crazy. Unlike hunters, they ascend mountains, driven by dream to reach the place where the usual human being will never reach because of different reasons including health. But hunters always have the definite goal - the trophy, which makes them to climb the heights.   Normal, abnormal. Your friends who have never been on such height, won’t understand what you feel there. It's much easier for the mountain hunters. We always go to the places where the chance to get the worthy trophy are the highest. Marco Polo is one of them. If the local guides tell you that the worthy trophy is in a definite place you will agree to follow them without hesitations. You go there without thinking what will happen next. But the humans from the plains have to be ready for the difficulties, including health problems, which wait for them there. The mountain hunters are not the ordinary people as my friends have already known. There are not many people who can understand the hunters who are always ready to go a dozen of kilometers, to spent nights in the tents or without, in plains and forests all over the world. Not many people, spoiled by the civilization’s benefits, are ready to climb the steep mountains and carry a heavy, about 20kg, backpack. The ascend can take 6 or 9 hours. It often happens at night when you rise and have to do each step by touch. Most of people twist at the temple, when I tell them about my expeditions to Pamir or to the mountains in Kyrgyzstan. Last time when I described my adventures on the Roof of the World, what I felt and what I tested on myself when the altitude was 4000masl and more, they treated me as inadequate person. And they had reasons. Let me tell you everything in more details.   The meeting. I’ve been in Pamir many times.   That time we had to drive through the town Osh where I arrived first. My hunter fellow from Kazakhstan Zhaisan Syzdykov arrived later. I flew directly from Moscow while he drove to Bishkek first and then flew to Osh. There weren't direct flights from Kazakhstan to Osh at that time. The local representative of the company Sayid met me at the airport and we went to try tasty local cuisine while Zhaisan would arrive. I want to say some words about the Kyrgyz food service. First time I visited Bishkek was at 90s and was pleasantly surprised by the variety of the local cozy cafe. All dishes were cooked without refinement but tasted really good and cooks used only high-quality products without any GMOs and food additives. The Kyrgyz cuisine is known by its tasty dishes from fresh beef and lamb. And prices were not high. Once we ate in one of the local restaurants and paid just 140 euro for eight man. I could hardly imagine such prices in Russia. I ate one portion of shish kebab with gusto and drank a cup of local beer. It gave me strength after a long way from Vladimir to Domodedovo and then 4 hours flight to Osh. Sayid didn’t drink alcohol and took a cup of tea. We ate, talked and soon the time to go and to meet Zhaisan became. It was just gone 6 pm when we saw our friend coming to us. We loaded our luggage and drove to the town. After a short discussion we all agreed to stay at night in the hotel. It was safer and much interesting to drive during day that at night. At 8 am we moved. Sayid was the driver while Zhaisan and I enjoyed the sightseeing through the car window. The way to the Pamir mountains wasn’t light though it was flat enough. The first thing, which made me to feel not well, was gaining altitude to 4000 masl. The altitude 2500 masl doesn't suit for people who are used to live on the plains, they feel not well there. But the height from 3000 meters and more are the serious stress for them. I know, that lots of things depend on the individual physiological features of each person. Some people feel better than others because their bodies can absorb oxygen from the thin air more effectively. But some people, even being in a good physical form, can lay a week and can't adapt to the altitude. I had to read lots of book to understand more how our bodies function in the highland’s conditions, studied several methods to adapt to the heights more than 4000 masl and interviewed the experienced climbers. I also used my own experience of overcoming altitude sickness which I got when climb the first times. My friend and the partner Jury Matison helped me a lot in it. He told me about the situations when hunters didn’t follow the doctor’s advice, climbed the mountains and got serious health problems. Some of them could sleep in a pressure chamber only. There were several fatal cases too.   A short retrograde. The reason of 70% death of all climbers who stormed the Everest, were not the fatal physiological changes, caused by the altitude sickness. They went crazy because of hypoxia and lack of oxygen in the mind. That was the reason of the inadequate actions, led to death. Most of them thought that they were ok and didn’t need to go anywhere. The journalists from the Explorer channel made a show about the American climber where showed such situation. I done learned a lot about the mountain sickness, about its progress and what consequences it has on each stage. How and when you can save a victim. Once I even helped the Polish hunter who had reckoned too much upon his strength during the hunting trip in Kyrgyzstan though the altitude was just 3500m above sea level. We delivered him to the hospital in Bishkek with the first signs of the disease. I was surprised but the doctors who examined him didn’t know how to treat the mountain sickness. Thus, I shared my experience with them and told how to treat the patient.   It took me years to collect all skills and knowledge how to get ready for hunts, organized on the highlands from 3500masl. I made the list of medicine and vitamins, recommended by the specialists, which help to make the adaptation process easier. I confirm, it works. I sent that list to Jaizan same time when started to get ready for the trip.   The road to the Roof of the World. We are on our way to the mountains. The first mountain pass on the height 4000 masl, we crossed on the boundary between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Then the road became flat. After we left the last Kyrgyz village Sari-Tash it passes over a flat area. If the weather is fine you can see the Lenin Peak (7134 m). The view is amazing. It impresses all people who visit that area for the first time. The peaks, covered by snow, stand in a row as if somebody took the icebergs from the ocean and carried them there. They all glitter by blue and white caps with emerald tones. The main climbing started. First of all, we had to pass the border post on the Kyrgyz side - passport control, customs, drug control point. Then did the same in Tajikistan. It was on the height 4000 masl. It wasn't well to stay there long but it didn’t depend on us. At last it was all over and we enter the harsh, according its climate, Gorno-Badakhshan district of Tajikistan. Slight nausea and pain in the temples, when I abruptly moved, reminded about the altitude. I had not to forget where I was. The first symptoms are the loss of liquid. You often go to the restroom. The main thing is to avoid dehydrations, you need to drink a lot. especially in the first two or three days. Being in the camp we usually drink a lot of green or black tea with sugar. Sugar is an obligatory nutrition component in the mountains. The last settlement we left, was the village Karakul, located not far from the same called mountain lake. We drove about an hour around the lake and arrived to the place. The mountain base consisted of several cabins. There was a garage, a storage and a service cabin. The main building was for hunters. It was like a five-star hotel, located on the highland. It was really comfortable. There were several bedrooms and a restroom on the first floor. A kitchen and a canteen were downstairs. But all hunters were always surprised by the hot shower and a small swimming pool, located in the building. You can seat in the sauna and then jump to the pool filled with the cold water with ice. But you can enjoy all those things after your body will adapt to the altitude 4000 masl, where the camp is located. Usually it takes from two to four days. The guides won't allow you to carry bags to the first floor if you have just arrived.   On the place. The most important thing in the first days is to be patient and don't be active. It’ll be hard to walk up several steps, you will feel breathe shortness, and your temples will break with a frantic pulse. But it may not happen... In the first day! If you move actively in a day before, hypoxia will catch you next day. The first day your body can use all oxygen from the internal organs to compensate the lack of oxygen in the brain and for the heart muscles. So, you can think that you are well. But it's now so and soon you’ll feel it. Later you’ll feel really bad. I saw and not once how hunters ignored our advices and behaved themselves in the usual way, as they are used to do on the plain. Next day they were very sick. Their skin had green color and they looked haggard. They suffered from nausea, dizziness, and vomiting. None of them was ready for hunting. Hunting was set aside for a few days while they came back. Is it a lot or not to visit the Pamir mountains at the altitude 4000 masl, 4 times during the six month? Once I did it and felt what could happen if you did too often. It was worse than if I stayed on the height for 6 months after the only adaptation. According my experience I could say that the most important thing for the right adaption is your behavior in the first days. You needn't do any sudden movements but not to lay on the bed. The best variant is to walk slowly not far from the camp. Thus, you give your body to be reloaded and to launch reserves for adaptation to high-altitude conditions. The doctors who work with the climbers say to spend 2-3 days on a place after climbing each 500 meters. But we ascend 4000 m in one day. It's an outright and sophisticated mockery of our bodies. I need not less than 2-3 days for adaptation. All that time I have to rest and to walk without strenuous physical activity. It helps me to move actively in other days on the heights more than 4000 masl. I don't like active start in such conditions but usually have to pull myself together and to begin active hunting with the clients from the first days.   The meeting in the camp. All staff came out to greet us. I introduced Zaisan to Yuri, he heard a lot about him. We had lunch and went to rest. It was necessary after a long 7 hours drive. Later in the evening we discussed our plans for the next day. It was always hard to sleep first night on the height. Most of people spend those night hours suffering from thirsty, nausea and dizziness. They go to the restroom very often and drink water. It doesn’t allow to sleep well. The whole night passes in a tiresome half-dozen. We all got up at 5 am. Had light breakfast and drove to the mountains using the old but robust UAZ. The altitude is a test not only for people but for the cars too. The engine power reduces on 30% because of thin air. It could barely drive on the steep ascents though we used the first speed instead of the third one as on the plain. The weather was fine. The sun was rising. The only unpleasant moment in that paradise picture was a strong wind but it was normal for that area. The large temperature difference was a common thing for those mountains. It was cold at nights at the beginning of October, water in small springs had frozen already. But it became warm during day hours and we could even take off some clothes. Zaisan admired the Pamir nature in spite of light hypoxia. I have noticed that positive attitude in the hunting team helps to hunt more effectively. The guides monitored the surroundings before our arrival and we were moving to the definite place where the sheep had been recently detected. The animals were still there but grazed too high as our guides and we thought at that moment. But we all were mistaken. Later you’ll understand what I mean. We talked and decided to go and check another group, spotted a day before. We found them. There were several trophy size males. The group, consisted of 12-13 sheep males, was going to have rest and we resolved to rise and approach them the shooting distance. Zaisan was keen in long distance shooting and was ready to fire from any distance to 800 meters. His gun 300 RemUltraMag allowed to do it. Soon our romantic mood had faded (though I knew It’d be so) when we followed our guides Ruslan and Mansur. The first one wasn’t tall, about 170cm height but had a substantial physique. His fo-fathers were ancient Alans. He was about 50 years old and had the education of electronics specialist. The second one was even older, he was in his sixties and taller than his fellow, about 182 cm. He had thin constitution and was the descendant of the Golden Horde warriors. They both were different but both could walk in the mountains and did it easily. I hunted with them several times and had a high opinion about their abilities to go in the mountains on such heights. The ability to hike long is the base of successes in the hunting expeditions on the Pamir. I’m sure that most of sportsmen or special forces soldiers won't be able to keep up with those guys in the mountains.

The sunny morning again! It was like summer weather and even with mosquitoes. Everything looked so easy. After the breakfast we saw off Anton and Vadim who rode to their camp. It’d take them the whole day. Nikita, Kostya and I discussed our plans for the day, agreed to spend it in the test regime, checking the surroundings and walking not far and not for a long and left the camp. We went up. This is how things got started. One km, by the coordinate system of our guide, multiplied by a half of an hour in his time meaning was the most reliable way provide the hunter with unforgettable experience from the very beginning. Kamchatka taught us from the first time. I'm sure that most of the readers known what I’m talking about. Chumuntick looked at us with the sad fatalism.   Warmup I listen to my recently operated knee and went on climbing. Our group consisted of me, Nikita, Gena and Radik. The last two were very experienced Koryak who hunted a lot a that area. I was still weak after a week intestinal disease and needed to take care about myself. That's why we started very slowly. We were ascending for 15 minutes after a 5 minutes rest. At last we reached the top where stopped and began to monitor the surroundings. Landscapes around us were so picturesque that I was ready to spend weeks there just enjoying them. The area was quite typical for the sheep habitat. The miles circuses with alpine meadows replaced each other. There were open areas with rock above. The sheep had enough place to eat, to hide and to have rest there. Three hours later we climbed the first ridge. The altitude was 850m. There we made a stop for a lunch and to observe the mountains. Each mountain hunter will confirm my words that there is nothing better on the highlands than a cup of hot tea with the chocolate. We carefully tested first few ravines and detected the sheep tracks but old ones. In an hour we moved to another side of the ridge and studied a few more circuses. There were not tracks at all. No matter. The first step was the only difficulty. By the time, the strong eastern wind sprang up, we were cold (there was snow in the deep ravines) and decided to stop in a ravine and to eat something. It was 1 pm. The distance, we hiked, was enough for the test climbing. The guides suggested to move back to the camp, walking along the ridge. Thus, we had chance to check a few more ravines. The dense clouds began to cover mountains while we were eating. It was so unusually after so many sunny days! Everything was strange, a cloud could cover us and we sat for 5 minutes in a milky fog and couldn’t see anything. Then the wind blew and there was the full visibility all around. Thus we were going along the ridge and look around but without any result. It was about 3 am when we decided to talk by radio with the camp and to notify about coming soon. We just switched on the radio when heard Kostya was swearing. At last he could tell us that the group of males was grazing not far from the camp within line of sight. We were angry that didn't’ switch on the radio earlier and tried to plan what to do. The ravine with the sheep was in two ridges from us, the direct distance was about 2km. But that was in a straight line! We had twice to go up and down! It sounded terrible! I could just go down and that’s all. That was supposed to be a light walk. It was always the same. The first day! What a shit! What had I do? We ate the last piece of chocolate, gathered our strength and went. The first climbing we did well, because we were full of enthusiasm. The willpower helped me to overcome the second one. It was about 5pm when we reached the rocks. We all were cold and tired because left the camp at 7am. Suddenly the clouds lifted and I detected the group of sheep. Kostya send one of the natives Sergey to correct our approach. The group of 13 sheep had rest. All of them were the adult males. But two sheep stood out from others by the body and horns size. They were not less than 15 years old. They even had different color- darker in comparison with the others. It was about 1 km to them. Each 15 minutes the thick clouds covered us or them. We tried to decide what was the best way to approach them. The sheep had chosen the place on the hill far from the ravines or stones. It was impossible to come closer than 500-600m. It was too far for my wayward HS Precision. We had a great consultation and came to the conclusion that the sheep would move to our side when it’d be time to eat. Their tracks and the wind destination confirmed that idea. Thus, we decided to wait. It was the idyllic waiting but Kostya from time to time threatened to take the gun and to shoot all sheep straight from the camp. It was past six o’clock. There was no more than one hour of daylight left. We were cold and hungry. The sheep still laid on the slope and just a couple of the young ones grazed and fought from time to time. Siesta. But we had time to study each of them and to choose the biggest one. The chosen male and the sheep which was also old but had shorter horns laid apart from the main group.   How long had we to wait them? We discussed the situation once again and the guides agreed with my scenario. Gennady and I should try to approach the sheep when the clouds covered the slope. We noticed that the average cloudy period was about 30 sec. We had to ran all that time and to cross the maximum distance. But when clouds would lift we had to fall the land and to hide behind the stones, waiting for the next time. The aim was to come as close as it was possible. There was not any variant at all. Just did it. We switched off the radio, took the rifle and the scope only and ran using nebula as the veil. The main goal of that running wasn’t to reach the place but not fall safely. We succeeded to run about 200 meters under the first cover. It wasn’t bad! We had hide behind the small scattering of stones and waited when clouds would cover us once again. Soon it happened and we ran. 100 meter behind. I carefully looked out the stone. Its size wasn’t more than 30 to 20cm (there weren't bigger ones around us). Our sheep was still laying. The rangefinder showed 308 meters. I hadn't to make a mistake. But there were a couple of problems. The first one was that mine sheep laid in a full face to us. That position didn't suit for the shooting and the sheep could see us. Later we thought that it didn’t have a sharp eye because of its age. The second problem was in the ground around us. There was not any space to take the comfortable position for shooting. We had nothing to do but wait for the next sky camouflage. But the weather began to change, the wind died and we waited 20 minutes to the next fog. Then we went down 20 meters to the flatter place when the wind finally died down. Thus, we used the only chance to approach the animals. But it wasn’t enough, we needed the moment to shoot not to miss. It looked as the sheep was going to stay there for a night. This was not part of our plan. 5, 10, 15 minutes had passed. Gennady and I still sat behind the stone and watched to them through the magic glass of the scope and tried to decide what we had to to do. "Good idea comes after the". - Gena - I said. - Be ready to throw down a small stone. The sheep will interest what have happened and it stand up. I’ll shoot it. - Clear! He didn't need to ask twice. My heart rate was more than 150 per second. I was watching the male through the scope and heard Gena lifted and threw the stone. The sheep rose the head, pricked up its ears, and began to stand up. It did it slowly, stretching the legs. My carbine and I became one. It was the part of me. You couldn't tell where the shoulder ended and the butt began. The eye was a part of optics. I couldn't blink or breathe, caught the feeling of infinity, aimed to its shoulder blade and pushed the trigger. But something was wrong. - Higher! Higher! Higher! - Gena was screaming. Even I saw how the soil exploded above the male. I could hardly realize what had happened. The herd took off and ran away from us. They passed 5-10 meters in a second. I had one more chance to shoot. - I see it. It's the right one! Shoot one more time! - Gennady broke into a scream. I heard the notes of desperation in his voice. We were on legs from 7am, it was our chance to get the trophy and I missed it. I could understand him. All those thoughts came to my mind while I was leaping my feet and tried to catch in the crosshairs our running sheep. At last I caught its ass through the sight. My hands were shaking and the sheep in the sight was shaking too. The distance increased by 50 m and became 350 meters. I was due to shoot in a half of meter higher. I gathered myself and fired. - You hit it! Hit it! Hit it! - I heard the hysterical scream. Are you sure? It can’t be so. There’s no way. It was running. I shot with hands. The distance was 350 m and I hit to its ass. Unbelievable. If I had 100 more chances to shoot, I’d never hit it again. But our sheep, definitely our sheep, fell to slope, rolled about 30 meters and passed away. Then the very strange thing happened which none of us has seen before. The second oldest male, which ran near our one, noticed that its friend didn’t move, stopped and stayed near it for a long. Then it lowered its head and slowly moved to the side, opposite to the herd had run. It happened after the shooting. Probably, it was real sheep male friendship! But we were not up to it. Gennady was happy like a child. He told me while we were coming to the body, that saw shots for 500 and 700 meters but had never seen how the hunter hit the running aim. I could hardly believe that it happened in reality. I was sick for a week; we spent that day hiking by the mountains and I did such incredible shot. Moving ahead I’d say that have realized how difficult it was only a few days after it. Nikita and Radik joined us in a half an hour. All that time they were in the thick cloudiness and didn’t see how I got the trophy. The radio by Kostya's voice demanded the immediate report. I was absolutely sure that he had danced in the tent when heard the news, then drank and smoked. The photo session took about thirty minutes then we cut meat and went back to the camp. Nobody was tired. Kostya waited for us and met us with the traditional glass of vodka, and Russian pancakes with red caviar. But the best thing was hot shower. Then we ate sheep liver, drank alcohol and talked till 2am. I fell into a dead sleep, the first time during the last years. But none of us forgot to load guns and put in near the bed. The dog was barking during all evening and it meant that bears were not far from the camp.   Preventorium Now I could have rest. The soft warm wind patted the edge of the tent, and the sun heated through the waterproof cloth when somebody called us for breakfast. It was 10am. I still felt some kind of the aching pain in my legs and thoughts mixed in my mind. I was fully relaxed. We didn’t need to go anywhere. It was an ambiguous situation because I carried out the main task and reached the goal, that's why I could slowly pack the things and to go home. But my fellows just started to hunt and had a few days. I decided not to waste time but to take part in a bear hunting, fishing and to pick up Rhodiola rosea, which was known as a golden root. It’ a very good thing. Highly recommended. In the first day after the sheep hunt we went for fishing to the small river, not far from the camp and I caught two one-kg chars. After the hot shower in the evening we ate fresh fishing soup. As you know the difference between the fish soup and the soup from a fish is in vodka which you need to drink while eating. We did what we had to make that soup much tasteful. Next day was devoted to the bear hunting. It was August and bears' skins weren't good quality but it was silly to lose such opportunity for the hunting. In several days Nikita would celebrate his 18th birthday and he really wanted to take part in such hunting. We climbed the highest hill in one km from the camp and spent the whole day monitoring the surroundings. Tea, the interesting book, fresh berries and clear air were My components of happiness at that day. We saw bears but all of them were far from us and didn’t have trophy sizes. In the evening we took hot shower, drank a little bit and talk till night. Then I checked the gun and went to sleep… Later in the evening our friends connected with our camp by radio and said that Anton got his trophy while Vadim was still in the process. That's why we went on having rest. To be continued.

If you want to laugh Kamchatka, tell about you plans. We’ve been on Kamchatka 5 times during the last six years and used to all surprises. Kamchatka is one of the most beautiful place in our country there is no the direct road which connects the peninsula with another part of the country. It’s known as a land of volcanoes, geysers and bears. All our expedition were very unexpected. Once we spent 5 days waiting for good weather to fly to the hunt, next time we waited even more to leave that area. From the one side it’s washed by the Okhotsk sea and by the Pacific Ocean from another. The fifth trip was very strange. I’d caught the virus in a couple days before the departure and was going to stay at home but changed my minds in the last moment. I took all pills, I had and decided to fly. I didn’t drink any alcohol and became the team leader, took the responsibility for the physical condition and spirit of our group. Telling the truth, I wasn’t brilliant in that role. The group consisted of my old friends Anton and Vadim, who hunted together for a long time and my grown-up nephew Nikita. And one more group member was our Chumuntik. The first evening we accommodated in one of the rest houses and spent time relaxing in the hot springs. Time difference between home and Kamchatka was eight hours. The weather forecast did not Bode well- rains. Kamchatka aviation couldn’t fly in bad weather and we prepared to wait for a few days. Don't trust weather forecasts in your phones. We just came into the airport when the boarding started. To the plane! It was too easy. The passengers loaded their luggage into Yak-40, there was no steward and the toilet on board, and the plane flew to Tigil. Tigil - is a village on the western coast of Kamchatka. There we should have to change the plane to the helicopter Mi-8 and flew to Palana. Tigil met us by real summer + 28C. There was no any cloud on the sky. We loaded our luggage to the chopper and flew further. It took our two hour more. So easy! I didn’t believe it. The locals confirmed my thoughts that it was a very rare situation. We couldn't believe it too. They say, the climate changes. As as the confirmation to those words, later the weather had surprised us so much that even natives didn’t remember such weather. So easy... Chumutchik looked very thoughtful all the way. The rest of the first day we spent sightseeing Palana, having rest and made a short ride around surroundings. The local outfitter Konstantin suggested to drive to the sea shore and we agreed. It was sunset and several groups of anglers were finishing their work. We drove closer and saw what they did. They'd casted the net for 20 meters from the shore and then pulled it back. Each operation took about half of an hour, and gave them about 30 kg of salmon. - It's the beginning of the spawning and fish stay on the bottom near the shore - Kostya explained. Thus all fish, caught here, are exported to China, not to Russian cities. The second stop we did near the dump to watch bears there. For educational purposes only. Bears appeared just behind the village. We accounted more than dozen of Paddington, which came to have fresh fish dinner. Some of them were young but there were several middle size individuals. They are not afraid of people. The hunters kill about ten bears each year, which enter the village and represent danger to people. Just in case. We were surprised by the presence of fish and bears at the beginning of hunting.   The next day met us with summer warm. There was no wind at all but there were lots of mosquitoes. What could we do in such weather on the seaside? We went for fishing. We boated to the bay where found the big cargo ship. It stood on the land not in the sea. I’m not mistaken, it was on the land. There was about 100 meters to the sea. The ship was new and fresh colored. The reason of that phenomena was in high ebbs and flows. We forgot about it from the last visit. The ship sailed into the harbor When the water level is high. Then water left and the ship left on the land. It gave time to unload it. In two- three days water would come back and the ship went to the sea. It looked funny. Chumuntik liked it. In an hour the locals packed all necessary equipment and we went for fishing. Our goal was the most expensive local fish. It was halibut. The highest salmon concentration is usually near the bay exit and all seals prefer to stay there. Those animals are about 2,5 meter length with the weight to 250 kg. The natives used to hunt for them in all other periods but not at that time and seals swam near the boats. We reached the place, drank a traditional glass of vodka to appease Neptune, kissed Chumunta, listened the instruction how to fish and prepared the rods. The main secret is to feel the difference between the bite and the impact of the pilker (sinker) on the bottom, - said our guide MIsha. Fishing was very interesting and unpredictable. Sometimes Anton and I caught small halibuts ( 3-4 kg), sometimes out loot was a flounder. Few times I caught ugly gobies. Vadim and Nikita were fishing from the next boat and had caught several hair crabs ( with unshaven legs). Vadim didn’t like fishing but had caught a lot. The surprise waited for me when we were going to boat home. The bite was so strong that I had almost fell from the boat. It took me five minutes to pulled out the huge halibut! It was about 10 kg but it was the record catch for me. We returned back to the bank and talked with the local anglers, most of them were women. Next day we should be going to the hunting that's why spent the rest of the day buying food and cooking our catch. I enjoyed the soft meat of halibut and crabs, Japanese beer Asahi and Chinese beer Kharbin. The celestial is famous not only by it’s gadgets and manufacture of clothing. I didn’t try it but my fellows said about the divine taste of the Chinese beer. The only thing caused our concerns was that the last two day weather was beautiful. According our previous experience we knew that the hard beginning meant successful finish and were worried. Everything was too good... The beginning. But the next day everything began to change. The morning met us with the deep fog and the typical musson rain. Hurray! Kamchatka! We used 30 years old ATV to drive to the hunting area. It was one of the last survived ATV in the village. It's not clear what people will use when the last ones will be broken because there are not a real replacement for these machines on our North. We sat on the roof of the machine under the rain and left the village. The plan was to reach the Base of Kostya in 50 km to the north, it was about 4 hours’ drive. The Base consisted of 6 wooden cabins and a shower cabin. There was a generator, horses and guides who waited for us. They didn’t keep vodka on the base after one very strange case. Once Kostya left some vodka on the base not to deliver it each time. When their group arrived to the base next time, they found boar's tracks but that animals didn't habitat on Kamchatka. The boars visited the Base, destroyed supplies and disappeared. The Koryaks who told them about it looked very convincingly and sincerely. After that they decided not to leave alcohol not to destroy the landscape. The views around us had changed to the hills, cedar woods and tundra rivers but the endless rain didn’t allow to enjoy the trip in the full measure. One time we stopped for an hour because of the broken caterpillar (it often happened with those machines) and the mosquitoes could eat their fill. We watched about dozen bears while moving. At last we arrived, hanged up our clothes to dry and went to the bathhouse.. After we tested guns! Kostya organized everything very well. He put targets on 100, 200 and 300 meters beforehand, gave radios to guides and put the table. The test took just 30 minutes and we all, including Vadim could get an acceptable results. I used just 20 cartridges for my very capricious HS, then we had dinner in the real canteen with the fireplace and went to bed. The plan for the next day was to drive about 170 km to the north. Sorry, I lie! NIkita and I managed to run to the nearest river and to catch a couple of chars. Vadim who is indifferent to the fishing stood near us with the gun. Nobody risked to leave the camp without the rifle because that area was crawling with the bears who killed dogs, horses and could attack people.   The sunstroke The next morning met us with the sun! It was incredible. Were we on Kamchatka? There was just one rainy day among the four we’ve been there. It couldn’t be so. It was too easy... At 7 am, we made sure that Chumuntic with us, we moved. If I had go-pro in my mind I would record this track on the flash card. Our travel reminded the expedition from the summer to the fall and all those beautiful views around us imprinted in the mind. I could hardly imagine before the unforgettable transfer from the lush, green tundra to the yellow landscapes of infinity. We overcame the swamps and debris, rivers full of salmon, rose the mountains and watched the crystal-clear lakes with young broods of ducks and bears. The last day we saw about thirty of them. There were 2-3 big bears but they were experienced and prefer to hide in the cedar woods while the youth allowed to approach 20 meters. Once we scared the bear which killed another bear and guarded the body. I could hardly imagine what would happen with people if they moved that way by foot. At last we crossed the full-flowing river. Our ATV was a super machine although it was carried over the current, it reached the opposite bank in 50 meters below. We stopped for a lunch on the shore of the big river called the Middle Forest. We ate and fished there. Anton caught just one char but we understood that soon salmon would come for the spawning and the river would be full of fish. There were lots of places which suited for fishing such as slopes, floodplains, bays- salmon preferred to stay there. The both banks of the rivers were covered by bear's tracks, it was also a good sign. We moved further. The people inside were tired from the noise and smell while the others who sat on the roof suffered from shaking and branches slapping the faces. It was getting cold. We moved higher and felt cold and the strength of the strong wind. Only my fellows who felt freedom were happy no matter what. The first circuses appeared on the height 500 masl. They looked as typical sheep places and connected with the mountains gorges which led to the no-man's land. At last we arrived to the camp, located on the river’s side and close to the mountain slope on another side. The huge rock protected the camp from the wind from the third side. The guides were setting the camp while our group had taken the rods and went to test the small river in one km from the base. Unfortunately, we didn’t catch anything. The camp consisted of the four tents for people and the canteen. The new modern tents were for hunters and more cheaper ones for the guides. The plan was so- Nikita and I, as the youngest would stay in the camp and walk for hunting. We'd take fly-camp and spent 2-3 days in the mountains if it was necessary. Vadim and Anton would ride to the next gorge and stay there. The group of guides arrived there a week before and detected several sheep groups. They told us about it by the radio. The difference was that nobody inspected the surroundings where we stayed and we should have to do it by ourselves. But we would stay in the Base camp, with the canteen and a generator. It was our compensation. Moreover we even had the bathhouse! I couldn’t but advertise that technical wonder, made in Novosibirsk. The bathhouse was done in the tent, divided into two sections. The material was fully wind and water proof, there was a real stove inside, covered by stones. It was located on the river bank. The relax in the steam room could recover any organism after the long hiking. I guess that each outfitter has to have such bathhouse in the long expeditions.   To be continued.

It’s very important for the mountain hunters who just have started their hunting career, to know the difference among the hunting trips, suggest on the market today. The hunting expeditions differ by the hunting objects, geography, the complexity level, accommodation, altitude, where the hunt takes place, climate, size of animal population, season and cost. The average cost for the chamois hunting is about 2-3 thousand dollars. Usually these hunts are organized on the heights not higher than 1000 masl. But if we talk about the sheep hunting, for some species of argali or markhur, it can cost more than 100K dollars and the hunter has to hike on the altitude from 3000 to 5000 masl. There is a huge variety of mountain hunts and each hunter can choose the preferable one by the cost or physical activity. I’d try to give some advices, based on my hunting experience and hope that they’ll be useful for people who just begin to enter this path. Everybody, who has joined the hunting community, has the definite goal to visit the particular region or place, to get the certain animal or to collect the full collection of the trophies. The OVIS Association made its own system of mountain ungulates and divided them into two groups - Ovis (sheep) and Capra (goats and chamois). All animals there ares classified by the biology and habitats. It makes the list much wider than the biological list of species. That list is more interesting for hunters who are interested to collect the full collection of mountain trophies. The Ovis list includes 47 sheep species and subspecies, the Capra list has 41 animals. Sergey Samotin is the close to get the Super 40 sheep. Today he has 36 or may be more trophies from the list. The other hunters such as Konstantin Popov, Vadim Gomzaykov, Sergey Laypuntsov, Victor Kim and Vladislav Reznik have also achieved significant results in this direction. I’ve also got some results by both directions carpra and ovis. There are not strictly restrictions concerning the trophies from the Carpa list, excluding a couple of rare species but we know about difficulties with hunting for some sheep which concerns with the hunting law in different countries. We all know about the situation in China and Kazakhstan. These countries are the habitat for about 10 sheep species but hunting for them is prohibited for years already. I talk about legal hunts only because I want to to identify myself to the real mountain hunter who want to take the definite place in the finite number of the mountain hunters and would never take any offer concerning the nonlegal expedition. Unfortunately, there are enough offers for such hunts, including the countries I mentioned above. People, who take those offers, violate the hunting ethics. Moreover, they can't demonstrate or to register the trophy, taken by this way. They say that Kazakhstan authority are going to open hunting for argali, with some limits and all world hunters wait for the news. The situation with China is more difficult. That country is more closed for the world and the local authority don’t like to discuss the hunting questions but we’ve heard about positive trend and changes in that sphere. Not long ago the Association signed the Agreement about Cooperation with the Chinese authorities. It happened on the 61th CIC assemblies in Milan. It can be the first step to legalize trophy hunting for foreign hunters, based on the sustainable use principles. There is one more unique case. Sudi Golabchi is a living legend among the trophy hunters. He is the one of four men in the world who got 40 different species of sheep and more than 30 goats. He is the owner of several world records and has received well-deserved recognition from the world hunting community. Mr. Golabchi bequeathed his unique trophy collection to the Chinese National Hunting museum and the State authority, as a special token of appreciation, gave him the exclusive right to hunt in their country. I want to note the fact that there are several mountains regions which are the habitat for several mountain species. You can hunt for Himalayan Tahr and chamois in New Zealand, for Gobi Ibex and argali in Mongolia. Several species of mouflons and ibexes dwell in Iran. And the hunter needs to know and to take in into account when planning his hunting schedule. Once I had to fly back to the New Zealand to get the local chamois because didn’t know about that trophy when was planning the trip. The leading country which have the most variety of hunting trophies are Russia and Iran. In Russia we can take 11 ranked trophies. They are snow sheep (Kamchatka, Okhotsk, Koryak, Kolyma, Yakutia and Putorana); turs (Kuban, Dagestan, Mid-Caucasian), Siberian Ibex and Caucasian Chamois. The hunting for Putorana snow sheep is prohibited now. But we have the information that the Ministry of Natural Resources is going to enter this species to the list of hunting objects. There is a minor population of Altai Argali in the Altay mountains and Bezoar Ibex on the Caucasus but hunting for these species is also closed and we are not sure if it is opened or not. I know about hunting enthusiasts who have delivered the European mouflons and breed them. Now these animals habitat on the territory of the hunting farms but we can’t add these animals to our trophy list. In Iran you can hunt for two sheep species (Kerman and Red); four mouflons (Shiraz, Laristan, Armenian and Esfahan), two urials (Transcaspian and Afghan) and two goats ( Persian Desert and Bezoar). The North America- Alaska, Canada and Mexico is the motherland for several sheep species such as Dall and Stone sheep, the Desert and California Bighorns and the American mountain goat. Spain also has several mountain ungulates. You can hunt there for four subspecies of the Spanish mountains goats, two subspecies of chamois and introduced Barbary Sheep. Originally this species is from the North Africa (Chad, Morocco and Sudan). There are not hunts there now there because of danger for foreign hunters from the local wars. Hunting in Sudan is closed from this year and nobody knows when it’ll be open. That county is also the habitat for the Nubian mountain goat. Mongolia is the place where you can hunt for three species of argali: Atlay, Gobi and Khangan and the Gobi Desert Ibex. The number of the licenses is limited and it’s the reason why hunting there is so expensive. The price fluctuates from 90 to 160K dollars. The most expensive and labor trips are hunting for markhors in Pakistan. The cost starts from 120K to 140K per the trophy. The situation with the markhor in Pakistan is a great example who the cooperation of the international public and hunting communities and the state authority can change the situation. The Ibex population in the country was rapidly declining due to the local poachers who killed animals for food. We talk about the most remote and traditional parts of the country. But the authority partly allowed to foreign hunters to hunt for these animals. The CITES Convention, which regulates the transportation across borders the endangered and rare species of animals and plants, has set a quota for each species of markhor. There are several of them in Pakistan - Kashmir, Sulaiman and Astor. The Pakistan government adopted the law. The most part of the trophy payment transfer to the local community where the trophy has been taken. It happened to be the most effective mechanism to protect those rare animals. The locals gave up to use that hunting resource and started to protect. It’s a good example how trophy hunting can protect wildlife. The hunter who want to take this trophy, has to be ready to work hard and to pay the high price. Pakistan is also the habitat for the Syndh and Himalayan Ibexes, Punjab and Blandford urial and a Blue sheep. Hunting there is safe and the hosts make their best for the foreign hunters but the whole situation there is very tense. The terrorist threat level there is the highest among all hunting place in the world. American unmanned drones are constantly checking mountains for the terrorists. But I’m sure that these circumstances won’t prevent Russian hunters from the visit to this country. In 2014 the authority of Tajikistan legalized hunting for the spiral-horned markhor. It costs about 75K dollars. The problem is that the country doesn't have SITES quota and the hunter can't take the trophy to home though he's got it legally. But he can register it in trophy list of different hunting Associations. Also, you can hunt there for the most desirable trophy among all mountain hunters for Marco Polo argali. Today's record belongs to Hussein Golabchi and is 178cm. Pamir mountains is the habitat for Siberian Ibexes too. Most of them have good trophy characteristics and 130cm horns are not unusual there. All hunts take place on the heights from 4300 to 5000 masl and the hunters has to be in a good physical and moral form. They have to be ready to spend the night in the tent when the temperature is 15-20 degrees below zero and to hike a lot. It’s one of the most hard and difficult hunts. Hunting in Kyrgyzstan is usually organized on the lower heights from 3500 to 4500 masl. Hume and Tian Shan argali dwell there. The trophy sizes of these animals impress not less than their Pamir brothers. But people need time to acclimatize there. Usually it takes 2-3 days to adapt to the altitude. You can feel headache, nausea, shortness of breath, and fatigue during that time. It’s better to use medical pills, recommended by the doctor, to drink much of water and to completely give up alcohol. Pamir and Tian Shan mountains saw lots of tragedies which happened with hunters who overestimated their strength. It's one of the most difficult hunts at that region but it’s often successful because of the argali density population which is high. Last year the group of American scientists spent three months on Pamir near the Karakul lake. The aim of the expedition was to account the number of argali and the result exceeded all expectations of game-biologists and scientists. They counted 18K individuals what was in two times more than the previous data. Hunting for the Blue sheep and Himalayan Tahr is also considered to be the difficult one. It always takes place on the altitude from 5500masl. But it’s always well organized. Usually it takes few day to climb and the each hunter is accompanied by a large number of Sherpa. It's looks unusual when the staff gives you a warm water and a clean towel just after your waking up. They do their best to make the hunter to feel comfortable n that conditions. The animal population is quite stable there and it's not hard to get the trophy. Not all mountains hunts are difficult and unpredictable. Hunting in the mountains of Europe and Turkey relates to the comfortable ones. Austria, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, France, Slovenia, Romania, Macedonia and Slovakia are the part of the county list, where you spend so called hunting weekend. The hunters accommodate in the hotels, located not far from the hunting areas, they don’t need to hike and can drive most of time. The average altitude in those areas is about 1000masl. There you can hunt for chamois, European mouflons, Alpine and Bezoar Ibexes. Ovis distinguishes 10 subspecies of chamois- Alpine, Balkan, Carpathian, Chartreuse, Low Tatra, Pyrenean, Cantabrian, Anatolian, New Zealand and Caucasian ones. Hunting for them isn’t difficult. Chamois are active during day hours and moved along the mountain ridges. They prefer to stay on the same pastures. In Turkey you can try you luck and to get the trophy of the Konya mouflon, which is one of the most expensive sheep of that species. There is a limited number of the licenses for this hunt and they all are sold at auction. The price can reach 80K dollars. But let's back to Russia. I consider Snow Sheep hunts in Siberia to be the most labor ones. The mountains there are very different. They can be covered by vegetation, like on Kamchatka, or to look like a lunar surface near the Okhotsk sea or on the Kolyma highland. Rapid temperature, the long hikes and a small amount of animals make that hunt interesting and unpredictable. You have to get yourself all psyched up and to be ready to work hard before that hunt. Once in the mountains of Magadan I met the American hunter who spent two weeks sitting in the tent because of rain. The mountain hunters use to hibernate in such situations. Strong wind, fog and rain with snow don’t allow to poke the nose outside. The outfitters suggest to hunt three species of snow sheep: Kamchatka, Kolyma and Koryak, during the one trip. I could hardly believe that it’s possible but have taken part in that expedition and can confirmed it now. The only problem is the expensive and complicated logistics. The cost of one hour flight by chopper is from 120K to 150K rub. The flight expenses amounts for most of the price. There are some alternative ways how to reach the hunting area but they make the process much longer. There are several reliable local outfitters in Kamchatka and Magadan. They all work on the hunting market long time and have good reputation. They are the KULU Safari, belonged to Sergey Rudakov, Kolyma-Travel - Igor Merkulov and Fart- Konstantin Kallin. They managed to create a good material base, to hire professional guides and to build the right logistics to make hunts more effective. Few words about Caucasus. I consider these hunts the most beautiful ones. Rich flora and fauna of the Caucasus create the unique landscape. The Caucasian Tur, inhabited there, is the endemic species and can be ranked by the Ovis and Capra lists. Biologists say, it’s between these them. That animal has powerful horns and is the desirable trophy for many hunters. The populations of Kuband and Dagestan turs are quite stable and if the hunters can climb to the altitude 3500-4000mals, the chance to get a good trophy is high. The complexity of the Caucasian terrain and significant variations of altitude make these hunts really hard. But hunters from all over the world arrive there each year to get their portion of emotion and adrenaline. I want to say some word concerning the planning process and the organization of mountain expeditions. Mountains are everywhere. So you can a hunting schedule for the full year. The peak season is Fall-Winter period. Some hunts you need to book in years beforehand because of the limited hunting resource. You have to pay attention to the equipment you’ll need. The mountains don't forgive the mistakes. I offer to make the catalog of equipment you’ll need in the expedition. I highly recommend to talk to people and to collect feedbacks about the outfitter\agent and place where you are going to hunt. There are two options. The first one - the hunter looks for and contacts directly the outfitter in the place where he is going to hunt. The second one when the hunters uses the hunting agency which organizes everything. The second way is more preferable from my point of view. The experienced company with good business reputation can take a large part of problems from a hunter. There can be lots of them. As practice shows, the hunting rules or hunt terms can change, the local outfitters can start to play their own game or the logistics is so complicated that you should have steel nerves to solve all problems. I work with the Profi Hunt company for many years already and thing that it’s the right choice. I plan for two years ahead and trust them to decide all organizational issues. Dear readers, I’m sure that you’ll fell in love with mountains hunts when get your first trophy and enter this fascinating world. “Only mountains can be better than mountains, those that you have not yet visited”- song Vladimir Vysotsky. Believe me, it’s true!

First time we were going to hunt in Iran in 2012 but the state authority prohibited hunting in that year. I don't want to analyze the reasons of that decision. We all know that the East is a delicate matter. Do you know that hunting in this Islamic republic (the only theocratic state in the world, not accounting Vatican) is strictly regulated by the authorities? There are the special security services in all regions. The purpose of those departments is to check and control the compliance with the law and hunting rules. Iran has the rich wildlife. There are different landscape and climate zones and I was impressed by the game variety which inhabitant in that country. Do you even know that there are several areas where cheetahs dwell? Their population is about 500 individuals. They are protected by the State and hunting for them is prohibited but I was impressed just by the presence of those animals there. I know that cheetah’s population in Kazakhstan had been fully destroyed. A close relative of African hyenas, the striped hyena was spread not only on the Middle East, Central Asia and India but had been met in the Central Asian republics of the USSR too. But it's interesting to mention that it's population in Iran is big enough. The predators in Iran are also presented by foxes, jackals, wolves and bears, inhabitant in the mountain regions on the north of the country. The Caspian Coast (on the north of the country) is very picturesque. The seashore, in comparison with Azerbaijan, Dagestan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, is covered by forests. which come almost to water. Those deciduous forest are the home for the huge boar population, most of them have fangs 25cm and more and for the red deer. They lives not Hangul, or the Central Asian tugai deer, but the separate species- the Caspian deer. The locals call it maral. They told me that maral in Farsi means a deer. Jeyrans inhabit on the most territory of Iran and its’ population is quite stable. Now some world about the most important things. Iran - is Eldorado for the mountains hunters where they can significantly replenish their collection of mountain sheep and Ibexes. They can hunt there for Kerman and Isfahan mouflons, the red sheep, the Armenia and Laristan mouflon, the Transcaspian urial or the Shiraz mouflons. The Afghan and Blandford Urials and Konya mouflons dwells near the borders with Afghanistan, Pakistan and Turkey. I’m not sure that the last three are in the Club OVIS list but the set, mentioned above, is more than enough to be Number 1 in the world by the number and variety of the species. And I talk just about sheep! There you can also hunt for the Persian Desert ibex, Bezoar and Syndh ibexes, though the main home range of those goats is Pakistan but they are in the Club list. Iran has no equal by the number of mountain hunting species, presented in the OVIS list, probably Russia can try to compete. The period of boar hunting lead from the June to the end of March but mountain hunts are in another category. Some years it wasn’t opened at all (as it was in 2012), some years terms can vary from the mid of October to the begging of November or even December. The only stable date during the last years is the date of ending. It’s always February 18th. It’s not comfortable for the hunters who make their hunting schedule in several month or even years ahead. But what can they do about it? The list of Iranian trophies is so significant that they do their best to accept these difficulties.   So, we flew there… I was going to take three species of mountains sheep and the Persian Ibex and to spend not less than two weeks there, but... The state authorities entered restrictions for hunting from 1st to 10th of December. It was the peak of the rut season. I agree that it's the most important period in the life cycle of the animals and we should have to be glad that the state officers pay so much attention to this question. But I had to correct my plans and to make by trip shorter. I’d be happy if I took just one sheep from my list. On December 11th I arrived to Tehran. There was a direct flight (Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday). The local representative of the outfitter met me at the airport and helped with the weapon procedure. The process was clear and didn’t take much time. It’s very important for hunters who like to use their owns guns. The first night I spent in the hotel and next morning met my future guide Khasan and Israfil- the owner of the “Jasmine Safari “company. I was going to take the Kerman mouflon which dwells in the mountain’s massifs, not far from Kerman town, in 1200 km from Tehran. You have to know that transportation of weapon by domestic airlines, is prohibited there. The hunters have to be ready to drive for a long around that exotic country. It took us about 12 hours drive. I’m sure that some people can describe the landscape, they've seen through the car window while driving and to use the unique, extraordinary words to convey their feelings and impressions from the ancient Persia. But I’m the fan of Jorge Luis Borges and prefer undiluted plot. At last we arrived to the comfortable base, by local standards, which belonged to the State Wildlife service. We got up at 5.30 am, tested the guns and moved to the mountains. We were accompanied by Khasan, Israfil and other escorts such as - the representative of the local authority, the local guy (I don’t remember his name) and a young shepherd Jalal. The local guy looked like a 70 years old man, though he was just 54. I was told that he spent three years in the Iraq prison. Jalal was from 35 to 40 and he perfectly knew the surroundings, had sharp eye and could see animals not matter how far they were. He was a real Highlander who knew and loved his land and fully understood its nature. He was detecting sheep beyond the limits of distance, and filled our hearts with optimism and faith that we’d win. First day we spotted the group of females with babies and Jamal found two trophy size males, grazed in another part of the mountain massif. We tried to approach them. We hiked about two hours but the males had left the place already when we arrived. On the second day we used the car and drove to the top. There we stopped and began to monitor the surroundings. There were several groups of females. But none of the males had been seen.. We thought for a while and decide to go on by foot. We moved about three hours and crossed several passes before we stopped. Jalal had noticed two fine males pastured in 800 m from us. The rut season was over but there was a female with a lamb near them. We waited for a while. It looked as if the group didn’t plan to move anywhere. It gave us chance to approach and to shoot. The guides defined the wind destination and put the optimal route. We were ready. In a half of an hour we climbed the next ridge where the sheep could be. 200 meters left! We saw several females joined the group and the herd moved to the next ridge. We didn’t make any mistake. The animals couldn’t hear or smell us but they left. Next time we saw them far from us and didn't have time to follow. Surprise! It took us two more hours to go down to the car. We reached it in the deep twilight. Later all hunters and guides gathered around the fire and after a short lunch we told about our unsuccessful try to approach the sheep. The third day was devoted to the looking for animals in the dried river bed area. There were puddles in some places still. The plan was for that, sheep would come to drink where we waited for them. We spent there all-day hours but didn’t spot any animal. The last day came… Lucky Jalal and I went to check the place where we hadn’t been yet. We left the camp very early It took us about 12 hours to climb. The tiredness had accumulated somewhere inside me and those two hours were very difficult for me. But I went up and up like a machine. I want to give an advice to the hunters who are going to the mountains for the first time. Never try to catch up or overtake the local hunters. It's obviously clear that they walk much better in the mountains. Hunting is not a competition for speed. The experienced guides estimate the hunter’s ability to walk and fit to the them. The hunters has to move with the optimal tempo and to keep his strength and confidence. In worst case you can lose all strength in the first day and didn’t get any positive emotions from hunting and mountains. The wrong tempo could discourage you from self-confidence and you could try to avoid such stress in future. Always use the trekking poles to unload legs and to take the stable poses when moving. Be attentive when going down. The muscles, used when we are descending, are not used in the walking process, that's why the descend requires more efforts then the ascend. The main load falls on the knees.   “Semifinal” Hunting for sheep at that day was finished by failure. I still remember about it with annoyance.. There were several groups of ibexes but without big males. We didn’t have time and I should have to accept the circumstances. We went back to the camp. Suddenly... Such things are always exciting! The God of Hunt gave me a chance. I noticed two fine males, in the sheep females’ group. They both were not less than 10-11 years old. The shooting distance was about 450 meters. The strong side wind complicated the ballistic calculation. The animals were above us and they didn’t stand but actively moved to the ridge. I didn’t have time to think. It was the first time during the last five years when I missed. The bullet hit 20 cm to the right from the male. The next two shots, I did to the running male, looked like a gesture of despair. They didn’t give any result. It’s better to keep silence than to say that I was upset. But hunting is hunting. Those unpleased moments are the integral part of the process. We spent four days, looking for the trophy, walked lots of km but the weather condition and other things didn't give me time to make the correct calculation. There was no any possibility to stay in Kerman mountains anymore. The fact was that Israfil could arranged and got the permit for the Persian Ibex hunting till my departure. We said goodbye to the local guides and drove to the new place in 300km to the north. I need to say some words about the locals. They all seemed to be very friendly. They treated in such way to each other and to me as to the guest. The country made a very pleasant impression on me. It was under the pressure of the international sanctions and the US embargo for about 36 years but could build all necessary infrastructure and factories which work. I could hardly see such active cargo traffic in other countries of the world. I was also surprised by their high road quality. The cost of gasoline there is just a quarter or 7-8 rubles. The guys asked me about the gasoline price in Russian and were shocked by the difference. I’m not fluent in English and couldn’t explain them why our rich by gas and oil country inflated the price of gasoline so much. I didn't plan to hunt for the Desert Ibex but Israfil insisted to take my first trophy of that species exactly in Iran. Moreover, he arranged all permits for hunting in the region with high and stable population. The subspecies - the Persian Ibex is similar to the Bezoar Ibex which you can meet in the mountains from Iran to Turkey or Dagestan. The only difference is in the horn's color. The Persian Ibex has light ones while the Bezoar Ibexes have more the darker horns. But the form is very similar. Only the experienced hunters could see the difference. I didn’t know about it until the guide explained me. It was the fifth hunting day. The place where we were going to hunt belonged to the state but it looked as if nobody hunted there before or many years ago. The guides told me later that I was the first hunter who got the Ibex there. The ibex population in that area is more than impressive. We watched huge groups of those animals on the rocks and could choose the worthy trophy. I even made a picture of my future trophy when it stood against the sky. We drove almost to the animal. The Ibex was crossing the road, moving to the next ridge. The trophy's horns were 106 cm each, I took it from the 150 meters by the first shot. That nice touch completed the picture of my first trip to that beautiful, original and rich for the mountain trophies country. In conclusion I want to say some words. The population of the country about 75m. lives on the big territory (1648 sq. km). About 90% of all population is Shia but there are a huge Armenian Diaspora and about 3m. Azerbaijan. Islam regulates all spheres of common life there. Alcohol and drugs are prohibited. The usage of drugs carries the death penalty. All women, not matter of what religion they belonged, have to wear scarfs on the heads. People have to follow the rules to avoid problems. It was funny to watch the Lufthansa stewardesses in the scarfs. But I was impressed by one more tradition. There are monuments in the each village, devoted to the warriors killed in the Iran-Iraq war. The Saddam Hussein army used the unstable situation after the Islamic revolution and invaded into the oil rich south-western regions of Iran in 1980. It took them eight years to oust the Iraq units from their territory. This is how I saw Iran. It’s a very distinctiveness country with not an easy geopolitical position but very attractive to the mountain hunters from all over the world. American hunters don't have the opportunity to hunt there now but that place is very popular among the Mexicans, Germans and Spaniards. The number of Russian hunters had also increased during the last years. They arrive there for the individual and group hunting.

Рино, Невада, США 28 - 31 января, 2015 Из российских компаний в выставке приняли участие: Профессиональные Русские Охотники (ПРО), Клуб Айбекс, Сталкер Групп.

That’s enough. I saw dark circles in front of my eyes. I thought they could be just in the cartoons. But they were in the reality. I couldn’t move. The dull hammering in my head started again. I didn’t see anything. I couldn’t breath. Somebody asks to give him the carbine. I do it without any emotion. Suddenly the interesting thought occurred to me. I need to give up hunting. It's not mine! How well it all began! It was my dream to hunt in Azerbaijan. The friends, from our Belarus Safari Club, had hunted there about 5 years ago. They told us that hunting there was the hardest in their lives. I wanted to try my hand and to know what am I good for? Sergey Arkadievich agreed to accompany me. Our last trip to Kyrgyzstan gave us a lot of positive emotions. Artem Chernushevich took responsibility to organize everything. The advantage of hunting in Azerbaijan is the direct flight from Minsk to Baku. It makes the gun’s transportation process easier.   The first day Asif and Canon waited for us at the airport. The paperwork took just few minutes and then we moved to the hotel. It was getting dark. Patrick Estev, the legend of French rugby in 80s, joined our group. I was admired by the night Baku! Telling the truth, I didn’t expect to see such beautiful city. When the trip was over I made sightseeing of the city and was impressed even more. I spent the day walking in the town and it happened to be amazing. The skyscrapers and the embankment impressed me most of all. I couldn’t but say few words about the Azerbaijani cuisine! But, all in good time. Next morning we drove to the hunting area. The trip started with buying food on the local bazaar and a shot stop for a lunch. It took us about three hours. The buyers were making fun of my friend, who made pictures of Eastern abundance of bazaar but didn’t buy anything. - Will you be fed up in the evening just by pictures of fruits? They couldn’t know that our outfitter Canon was responsible for buying products and knew how to do in the right way. We met the rest of the team at the appointed time and place. The leader of guides was Nariman. The second part of the trip started when we’d reloaded all equipment to GAZ-66 and moved to the Base camp. It took us more 3 hours driving along woods and mountains. A part of the road went by the dried-up riverbed. Today, I write about it as about an ordinary thing. The road .. along the dry river bed. But at that moment I treated to it as to adventure and the way to the base made me nervous. Was it real? Nariman made a stop and suggested to test guns. Each of us made three shots and satisfied by results. The rifles worked well; we were ready. The Base camp was located on the height 1600 masl. For dinner our cook made tasty lamb on the bone. Delicious dish! It’s not a good idea to eat your fill when you are going for a hunt in the mountains. You have to carry just one backpack and it has to be on you back.   The second day In the morning Nariman gave the instructions with whom and where we’d go. I rode by horses with the guides Sasha and Dadysh. Sergey and Artem went with Adyl, Azer and Boris. Patric left for a hunt with Nariman. Everybody felt envy for me because I was the only hunter who rode by horses while others went by foot. First of all we had to ride down to 1100 masl. Then we needed to rise to 1600 masl and to go by foot to 3200 masl where the mobile camp was settled. The total distance of the route was 19 km, I measured it by GPS. It took us almost all day. We left the Base camp at 10am and arrived to the tents at 7 pm. After getting off horses we carried all food and equipment by ourselves. We were climbing along the grassy 60 degrees slope. It was hard but I slowly kept going up. I could hardly believe when reached the tents. I did it! I thought the climb would never end. At the moment we came Sashe suggest to go and to check the salt flats. The next ascend and suddenly we saw.... We detected three turs! My heart leaped with joy- there was a trophy! My torment would be over! It seemed as I would be the first who finish the hunt. - They are small, - said my guide without any emotion. We went down to the tents, had dinner and went to bed…   The third day It was 6.30 am when Sasha rushed into my tent and shouted. - Turs are coming! I tried to get ready but couldn’t wake up. We moved in the darkness and I could hardly understand where we were going. Our way led to the ridge. The sheep smelt us and, as the guides said, ran to the ridge. - Shoot! - Where? To what? The herd of 15 animals was running just in front of me but I couldn’t differ males from females there. It's all happing so fast, that I couldn’t ask again. Animals left… Sasha and Dadash were upset. But I couldn’t fire at random! We ate some snacks and began to go up. Yesterday I thought that we reached the top. But I was mistaken. The top was above us. We were rising. But there was another one and even higher! We ascended and discovered one more top! It was endless… Altimeter showed 3400 masl. Sasha hurried me constantly. - Faster, faster. The males are leaving. There were about 500 meters to them. Three hundred meters. We were almost running by the rocks, faster and faster. I moved on all fours, climbing steep cliffs. And here they were! - we rose to the new ridge! - Let's move faster! They are leaving! We can't catch them. - Sasha shouts. We climbed the next ridge and he said that there were 150 meters to them. They disappeared behind the new ridge while I’d reached it. And so again and again. That's enough! I saw dark circles in front of my eyes. I thought they could be just in the cartoons. But they were in the reality. I couldn’t move. The dull hammering in my head started again. I didn’t see anything. I couldn’t breathe. Somebody asks to give him the carbine. I do it without any emotion. Suddenly the interesting thought occurred to me. I need to give up hunting. It's not mine! I had a shot rest and climbed to the next ridge. I saw how the guides scampered up mountains like turs. They left further and further. There were about 700 meters to the group when I heard the shots. One, two, three. It insulted me to the heart! How could I put somebody's trophy on the wall?! I will always go by and think: “It's not mine!” What had I done? The guides came back. But none of the them carried anything. Sasha said that he shot three times but missed. Thank you my God! It’s much better without the trophy than with another one. I calmed and firmly said that would shoot the trophy only myself. We took a breathe and went to another split. But there was fog. We needed to have rest. The sun was warm. Nice. I was tired but satisfied. I needn’t deal with moral compromise… I woke up from a day-dream and noticed that the clouds lifted. The guides suggested to come back to the tents and to check the salt flats later in the evening. In the evening the weather began to change. The clouds covered the mountains and filled all space between the separate tops. I wanted to jump there from above and to lay on such feather bed.   Day # 4 We climbed to the salt flat in early morning. There was a female tur. The whole picture looked amazing. It was a thrilling experience to watch the wild animal when it didn’t know about your presence. But the other animals didn’t come there. We decided to check the yesterday’s split once again. The only thing which I didn’t like, we had to climb. We’d ascended the ridge when heard the shots on the opposite slope. Probably it was Sergey, who fired. Just imagine what I felt when saw the herd of turs running close our mobile camp. We didn’t need to go anywhere, they came to us. If I can predict future, I’ll live in Vegas- says a well-known proverb. Or we can say the same thought in other words. Had I known where I would fall, I wouldn't have come to that place at all. No sweet without some sweat. Never do today what you can put off until tomorrow. It doesn’t suit to that situation… We spent the day walking in the mountains. Once we even saw fem males but too far. There wasn’t any chance to approach them. We all were tired, not satisfied when came back to the camp. Two hunting days left and then I had to drive back to Baku and to fly home. Sasha was nervous. He said there were two variants to get the trophy. The first one was to wait the male near the salt flat and the second one was to follow the herd we saw. I had the feeling that next day we’ll get the result. Suddenly I noticed the optics joints were loose. The bracket didn’t fix well. There were lots of scratches and impact marks from the rocks on the front blend. I didn’t even notice when it happened. That’s the result of climbing. What had I do? I could fix it because had necessary tools. But I didn't have the chance to test it. I’d scare all animals around us if shot. The only way was to put the bracket on the same place and fix it. I hoped there wouldn’t be much difference in one hundred meters.   Day #5 It was fog in the morning. We went up to the small salt flat. Sasha detected an animal and signed me to come. I’d got out and saw two turs. - What of them has bigger horns? - The right one is bigger and it stands well. The distance was not more than 100 m - it was good taking into account how I fixed the optics yesterday. The Shot! The slap. I hit it! One of the sheep ran to the right and another one to the left. They both were in the shadow and I didn’t them clearly but heard how one of them fall down. It fell and rolled down. I got it! We switched on lights and went down. We were descended for some time. I felt how the tension grew up and began to pray not to lose the trophy. Suddenly I heard Dadash. “I found it!” Hurray! I got the trophy! The bullet tore into its shoulder blade. The offset was about 5 cm to the left. But it didn't matter. I got the trophy. It didn’t have the record size but it was mine! The photo session became the last happy moment at that day. Then we hardly walked back to the camp though my guides were almost running. It took us an hour to go 2 km, according GPS. But I felt those two km like a thousand. We moved along the slopes with the 60 degrees. I was ready to ask to kill me when we reached horses. But we had to move further. I couldn't walk anymore but it was hard to ride by horse too. I was completely exhausted when we reached the camp. And not just me. The horse was also tired. Thank you very much to her. Sergey, Artem and Patrick waited for me there. Sergey and Patrick took nice trophies and were really happy. I was happy to take hot shower and to crawl to the party table.   Day # 6 We made pictures with the boiled horns. It was difficult to say goodbye to those beautiful mountains but we all were in a high spirit. The way back to civilization was hard to me. Probably the reason was in plentiful food, I ate yesterday. I’d never forget the local driver who drove along the mountain serpentine on a high speed, steering with one hand and talking by phone all the way. All the way! He talked 2,5 hours! Later we knew that he talked with his wife. Later in the evening Asif invited us to the luxury restaurant where we tried tasty eastern dishes. Day #7 was devoted to the sightseeing of magnificent Baku. I could see how the greatness of antiquity flows into modernity, and it looked harmonically. I’d never forget it. To the conclusion I want to say thank you to Asif, Canon and Nariman for the excellent hunt organization. Thank you very much! It’s strange but I miss.. The mountains. I’ll be back.

Till the beginning of 90s people in Kazakhstan hunted for Ibexes just for meat. Nobody paid attention to the trophy’s size and it was normal to leave horns on the place there it was taken. Once at the end of 80s, before the humiliation of the Soviets my friend suggested to drive for the Ibex's horns to the commander of the border post in the Narynkol area. Somebody needed them for the armchair legs and it was the opportunity for us to earn money. To visit to the border area at that time was more difficult than several years later. The line, width the width from 50 to 150 km and the length about 1500km along the mountain border of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, was the world's largest protected area. It was conditionally protected. The borders guards could poach without any limits; their authorities even encouraged that kind of meat preparation. We spent time looking for the horns among the “kitchen waste” and found more then one hundred of good size horns pieces. We knew nothing about their value and didn't measure the length. I just remember how we’ve loaded them to the car and I can estimate the average size as 1,5 meters. In 1990 the German company Mistal send us the first foreign trophy hunter. The old German hunter asked our guide: “What is its size?” - 120, - the guide replied. - Fabulous! It's a record! - whispered the hunter, stammering with joy and pushed the trigger. But his face fell when they measured the trophy! The horns’ length was just 70 cm. – What is it? - he asked the guy perplexedly. - It’s fat, don't doubt! - the guide hasn’t understood why the client dislikes it. The hunter insisted on another attempt. - Why not. We are not greedy. - the guide agreed but thought: “What does he need? Why is he picking on me?!» The German didn’t rely on the guider's estimation and chose the male, he desired based on his own experience. And he was right. It wasn’t hard to get the trophy with 124 cm horns among the countless Altyn-Emel herds of Ibexes. – Fantastic! It's a record! - replied the old man and flew back to Germany where he showed his treasure to his club members. But he was not proud of this remarkable achievement for long. The new hunter arrived to Alty-Emel in a week and his new achievement outshined the previous one. He got the Ibex with 129 cm horns. The champions at that time changed each other as fast as the exchange rate. The record bar has been raised to 137 cm at that year. The journalist from the «Wild und Jagd» magazine Tom Ivanovich noticed that hunting bacchanalia. He almost lived in Alty-Emel, wrote dozens of articles and made several movies. At the end of the hunting season each hunter knew about Alty-Emel. That place was surrounded by rumors as Eldorado or the lost town of Montezuma. Sergey Stepanchenko, the pioneer of foreign trophy hunting, with the support of Nina Soverson- the leader of the Dutch hunting company, promoted their company “Asia Safari Service” to the world top of outfitting companies. It happened in 1996-98 years. There were several reasons why he created such powerful company with its own an aircraft squadrons, a auto repair shop, hotel: the hunting regions in the borders areas were just opened, it was the habitat for 5 (by SCI version 6) species of mountain ungulates and the huge added value of semi- legal business. The staff of the company was about 500 people. The Asia Safari presented more than 15 world records in different nomination during 10 year after it was established. In 1998 Sergey opened the Eastern spurs of the Djungarian range in area of Ucharal for the foreign hunters. It took several days to lift UAZ on a winch to the Zhabyk plateau. It was hard but it allowed to drive on the plateau in the perimeter of 30 km. When UAZ drove to the shepherd's cabin at the first time, the guy, who sat there, was shocked to see the car on the plateau. - Have you seen the white car here? - Stepanchenko joked. - Nooo - the sheрherd couldn’t find a word. The record in Djungaria only in the first season was 149 cm. The interest for the hunting in Kazakhstan at the beginning of the century was very high. But the collapse of the wild life protection system led to the depletion of wild animal resources. The trophy level fell down. Problems were identified when Stepanchenko was alive but when he passed away in 2005, the trophy hunters forgot about Kazakhstan. In 2011 the situation on the hunting market became stable but not on the same level as it was in the 90s. The legislative reform of hunting economy has given first results and today we have 650 private and public hunting farms. No more than a dozen of them organize trophy hunts on the regular base. The trophy hunting has happened to be “accounting for the Hamburg scores". Do you remember the story, written by Kuprin, where he described how fighters met with each other in Hamburg for the fair fights? Because the results of the official competitions had been false. You can adjust the results of accounting the animal population but it doesn't work for the trophy hunting. If you want to work with the foreign hunters you need to have stable and high density of population of Game and a wide variety of trophies. After 2010 the hunters started to visit Kazakhstan once again and to get record trophies. The President of Ovis Club Denis Campbell took two Ibexes 132 and 136 cm in the Dzhambul region. During the last two years the hunters got ibexes with the horns 130, 132 and 136cm. All those trophies were taken in the hunting farm Kygey (Dzyngar Alatay). The average size of the trophies from the Tastay hunting company was about 120cm. But the record trophy 141 cm was hunted in the Terskey Alatay in 2011. The accident which had happened near the border post Arkhan- Kergen in 2012 became the beginning of great problems in our hunting industry. The young soldier Chelakh killed 15 other soldiers and burned the border post. The opposition papers wrote about different versions such as drugs, Arabic terrorism, the provocation of syzayn - uigur separatists and several fantastic version too. I’ve heard that Hollywood is going to make movie about it. But the main victim of that chaos in the Army became the hunting industry. The authorities signed the law, prohibited to hunt in the border area. But there were some positive changes too. The young hunting company Prohunt was established in that year. It was oriented to hunt in the national park using the special permits. Today we have about 12 national parks and hunting is allowed in the most of them. The new opportunities and the aggressive energy of the young company gave the strong push to the development of the hunting industry. The excellent trophies of maral were taken in the Kolsar Kolgery Park. The records excited the trophy hunting world as it was many years ago: 12, 12,5, 13, 14 и 16 кг. All hunts for the ibexes in the Altyn- Emel had 100% success but the trophy sizes were not extraordinary. The situation had changed with the opening of the new territories. In 2013 the famous Kazakhstan blogger and the hunter Ali Aliev took the Ibex with the horns 137cm. It happened in the national park “Sayram Ugam”. His reports are known for the specialists but I’ll repeat them in short. Ali, with the help of the Prohunt company, took part in seven hunting trips to different regions and wrote the detail report about the each expedition. You can read it on the site http://prohunt.kz/forum/. It’s a hunting serial. I recommend to read it because it’s very interesting. The next famous hunter Maxim Knyazev was hunted in the remote rocky massive on the Western Tianshan and detected the huge Ibex. Unfortunately, they hadn’t chance to chase it because they had to leave the area because of the health problems with one of the expedition members. Ali read his report in the Internet and decided to find that Ibex. He managed to do in two months. It was a tough expedition to mountains. The ascend there was so difficult that needed some climbing skills. His guide Nurzhan said that nobody rose those gorges before. Ali was sure that had got the record trophy but he didn’t know that one more ambitious hunter Timur Rakhmetov put the same goal and moved to it too. Timur was the experienced hunter and the excellent sniper. He hunted several ibexes before but didn't get big ones. Suddenly his dream about the super Ibex began to become true. When Ali was storming the walls of the Western Tan-Shane, Maksat - the local outfitter called Timur and said that his guides spotted the group of six males and each of them had record size. Timur was exited and booked the trip. Next morning after the call he drove to Ketmen Altay. The local guides with six horses waited for him. They packed all necessary equipment such as tents, stove, sublimates, sleeping bags and rags and moved. It took them 6 hours of riding by horses from the place, they left the car, to the mountains where the guides detected the males. The team was going to camp when Ermek (guide) noticed the ibexes, grazed on the opposite slope. It was getting dark and hunters had to decided what to do, to hunt right now or to wait for the next day. They decided to hunt. They rode as close as it was possible by horses and began to approach by foot. The huge bodies of animals were clearly visible through the binoculars. All six males had horns more than 130cm. It was the meeting of the Ibex NBA monsters. The definite feature of the Ketmen Ibexes is that their horns have not sable but circle form, like sheep have. The Ibexes pastured on the open slope and it was impossible to come closer than 500 meters. Timur had to decide to shoot or not. Nobody knew how long they’d wait for the second chance to shoot if he missed. But he didn’t think for a long. - Let's do it! He put the pods under the backpack, stop the breath and pushed the trigger. The echo of the shot sounded in the gorge. But the sound mixed with the Erkebulan shout. - You got it! You did it! - shouted the other guides.  The hunter saw through the binocular how the male jumped, ran about 30 meters, fell and rolled down the slope. -135. - No, 140- supposed another member of the expedition when they rose to the trophy. One of its horns was 147cm and the another was 148! No one got such huge Ibexes in Kazakhstan for the last 12 years and people doubted that they still existed anymore. Timur prepares his trophy for the Hunting Show in Dortmund. I hope that hunting community will highly appreciate his trophy. Our hunting industry in the crisis now but I see some positive changes and it's a good sign. I hope that Kazakhstan hunting companies will overcome all difficulties and create the industry with the stable animals’ population and worthy trophies.

Dedicated to the memory of Sergei Koshelev Perasperaadastra– in Latin in means “Hitch your wagon to the star. The sacred “ star” in our case was the Ibex trophy but we had to work hard while hitching our wagon to that dream. Somebody asked me what of my hunts was the hardest one. I've thought about it a lot and still do it but still can't reply this question. I’m sure that all hunts, where you have to work hard, are the most difficult. It depends on what feelings the hunter wants to experience on such hunts. And what are his personal ideas about difficult hunting. Most of mountain hunts can be difficult. It's due to the rarefaction of the air. This leads to problems with walking by the mountain’s gorges and rocks. Our inseparable assistants- horses help to solve partly this problem. Telling the truths, if there was not the possibility to use horses in the mountains hunts, lots of the hunters couldn't take part in them. But I took part in such mountain hunts which were so hard that I couldn't compare them with anything. I want to tell you about one of them. That hunt was organized not on the sky-high heights of the Pamir, Tien Shan, or Caucasus but in the Sayan mountains.   By Lenin’s paths. I met at the airport my old fellow and client Witold. He arrived to Sheremetyevo from Poland. We spent few hours at the airport, had lunch and flew to Abakan. I felt tired after the night flight. It was 7 am when we landed in Abakan and immediately drove to the hunting area. We both tried to sleep while driving to Shushenskoe. My old partner Valery drove calmly by the known way. We passed the the majestic Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP and drove down to the pier. The boat waitef for us. It didn’t take much time to reload the luggage and soon we sailed in the water area of the reservoir. It was October. The time when nature painted by the variety of fall colors. The bright yellow-orange tones of the local fir trees looked unforgeable on the on the background of the blue sky. It wasn't not my first time there but I was always amazed by the beauty of nature there. A fly in the ointment in the palette was the flooded logs and boughs when we saw in different places in the water. The most of them were near the Hydro station. The far we went the more the water area was clear. It couldn’t but make us pleased. The rocks covered by larches and spruces rose from both sides and pressured the huge water mass. There was no wind and water as a mirror reflected everything that was on the shores. The mirror landscape added extra charm to the amazing view. We should boat about 5 hours. It was enough time. Moreover, we didn’t sleep well and not stop for having lunch. But we used to move in such way in the hunting trips. It was normal. It was the second part of the day when we arrived to Bazaga. Bazaga was a village where people once lived and grew their kids. At the end of the Soviet period the locals moved to the cities. There are several wooden houses now where the meteorologists and the Sayano-Shushenskoye reserve staff live. We had to make one stop, while sailing to the Base, to deliver some food and necessary equipment for the guides who worked there. The friendly and hospitable occupants of the village Bazaga met us and helped to carry the luggage. We all accommodated in one of the wooden houses. The day was finished by the light dinner and the desirable sleep.   Up and forward! Next day we went very early. The first thing, we did, was to separate and to pack the equipment, we needed for a few days stay in the mountains. Soon we were in the boat. We couldn’t take a lot because had to carry heavy backpacks by ourselves. You feel each extra gram when rising and walking in the mountains. Two guides accompanied us. The PH was Sergey - the owner of that hunting area. He was a moderately tall man, strong constitution and with a large receding hairline. He always looked through you or even not to you and I felt as if he talked with somebody else not me. Sergey was a very endurance guy and always helped Witold with his cargo. But at the same time, he was not ready for any compromises when we discussed our hunting plans. He thought that he was always right, and it had negative influence to all his human relations. He didn’t admit his mistake even he wasn’t right. But on the other side he knew the territory and the animal’s habits that’s why we should have to rely on hunting luck in addition to this knowledge. The second guide was Ruslan. That guy was fond of talking. His speech was filled with metaphors and exaggerations that's why the locals called him “Russia- TV”. He was open minded and kind man who did everything from the heart. Being a very strong guy, he suggested to deliver our provisions to the top. The plan was to leave us and Sergey and continue to boat up to the next place where he would moor and bring up the part of provision. There were three wooden cabins on our way. Ruslan had to bring products to one of them. The boat was cutting the mirror of the reservoir. The light and fresh wind blew. But everybody realized that the idyll would be over soon and we had to ascend to the mountains. It happened in forty minutes. We moored, put rifles and heavy backpacks on our backs and moved to the mountains. I had not only things which were needed in the mountains but the camera with several lenses and batteries. I knew how the Siberians measured time and the distance but asked Sergey, how long should we go. He replied, there were 4-5 hours to the first cabin. In reality it took more than 6 hours. The beginning of the day promised it’d be hot. Each hour it became hotter and hotter. It was tough to rise with the heavy backpack especially when the temperature was about 25 C degrees. It was unbearable. But we should have to go. The additional complexity to the mountain ascend is the absence of the visible finish. The range looms before the eyes and it looks very close just to reach out your hand. Then you another one again and again. It looks endless. This is hard to bear psychologically. It is hard to calculate the strength when you don't see the visible motivation. But you should go on... In two hours we reached the plateau and could look around. There we made a stop. The backpacks almost fell from our shoulders. I had a desert in my mouth. Telling ahead, water was a critical deficit during all that trip. Witold drank almost all water we had. He has made it worse for himself because it is better not to drink water when you hike a lot in the mountains. Water influences your feet and makes it weak; each step will be even more difficult. Sergey and I knew about it and realized the large water consumption danger. We made small sips and began to think that we wouldn't have enough water if Witold continued to drink so much. Those fears were not in vain. We detected the group of Ibexes while having rest. There were several trophy size males. But there was no sense to chase them. They smelled us, crossed the ridge and disappeared. We had dried while seating on the slope. The sun heated hotter but we continued to rise. We were climbing the slope and there was not any tree or a bush which gave the shadow to protect us from the sun. That beginning of October in the Sayans was extremely hot. We moved along the small gorges with no wind which could fresh us. But it was the shortest way and we followed it. Our caravan was going on. A barely noticeable path ran through the various grasses, small bushes and thickets of barberry. Once I lost the balance and kept of one of those shrubs. Everybody, who saw that shrubbery covered by prickly thorns, could imagine what I felt at that moment. I jumped and jerked my hand away. But several thorns bit into my palm and it began to itch. I was pulling them off till my departure. The palm was swollen, and did not subside until the end of the hunt. But there were not all surprises, prepared by the Sayan.   The first cabin. In six hours we crawled to the first cabin. Everybody was tired and exhausted by that ascend. It was located at the very edge of the ridge surrounded by old larches, dressed in the fairy yellow and orange decor. The cabin was built from the wood boards and covered by polyethylene outside and Ruberoid inside. It should protect us from wind and rain. Polyethylene was teared in some places and didn’t protect us from the wind, we felt in the mornings. There were two beds, a stove and a table inside. But the cabin could hide us from the sun and we were happy. We should spend a night there. We removed the backpacks, boiled tea and began to cook dinner. Our team had to compensate energy we lost that day. As about me, I can't eat much when experience such hard physical activity. The best variant in such situation is to drink tea and to have rest. You can eat later. I've experienced this more than once and know the first the hunter has to have rest and then to eat. We need to allow our body to relax and to bounce back. Better to eat in one or two hours. I’ll tell you the story from my experience. Once we went back to the base after a long and hard trekking on the Altai mountains. We tried to sleep and none of us could even close eyes during 1,5 hours until the organism was rested. We didn't eat at all. We just drank some tea and had food just next day before going to the hunt. I remember this condition from that time and don't eat much. Listen to your body and trust it. Witold and I drank some tea and laid on the beds. It was the sunset - the time when animals were more active. Sergey took to binocular to examine the surroundings. He hoped to detect the trophy Ibexes. Later he came back and said that saw several males but small ones. We ate and were ready to sleep. But I couldn’t sleep without looking to Nature before going to bed. I went out under the shade of ancient larches and a huge blanket of sky, studded with myriads of stars. You could hardly see such view from any of the skyscrapers. The day was hot and warm air rose along the ridge. I breathed, admired the pristine beauty of Nature and went back to the cabin where my companions had already slept, that's why I laid into the sleeping bag and fell into a deep sleep. Next morning, we woke up early and went to examine surroundings. It meant to study the nearest slopes looking for the animals.   The Ulars shouted somewhere, when move from one place to another. I had never seen that birds so close in the wild nature. Then we heard a black grouse not far from us. In October they had so called false rut. We spotted several groups of females ibexes. Then Sergey went down and waved us. Witold and I came him trying not make any noise. Two nice males were at odds on the right. They stood on the back legs from time to time and pushed by horns. The horn's tips were polished not in the one clash and shone under the sun. The clash sounds together with the bird's noise pleased the ear and filled the air by the amazing mountain symphony. Those males didn’t have record size but our hunter didn’t want to haver the record one. We solved to get one of them. The shooting distance was about 400 meters but at large angle and against the sun. Sergey suggested to go around and to approach them from the opposite side and a little bit lower. We should to rise then to cross the ridge and to go down through the think bushes of Ledum. We did what he suggested but didn't find the animals on the same place. Thus, we went back by the same way to the cabin to pack our things and to go our long and tough journey by the Sayan ridges.   The second cabin. In an hour we moved to the second cabin direction but made stops from time to time to inspect ridges and gorges on our way. The animals didn't stay long on the places where they grazed at night, it was too hot, and moved to the nearest shadow places. We were lucky that the path led us along the wooded crest of the ridge. The trees hided us from the sun which was not at the zenith yet and we could hike not sweltering in the heat. We didn’t have enough water and that thought disturbed me. We drank just a cup of tea in the morning and it was all. Sergey hoped to find some in the natural water intakes. But we could drink it only after boiling. We all were thirsty due to a large loss of moisture while going. But we couldn’t find any of such places. The all intakes were dry. In one place we managed to pour a little muddy water together with small leaves and needles of larch. We decided to boil it later after coming to the cabin. After 1,5 hour hiking we took off the backpacks and went down the small ridge. The group of Ibexes, we saw in the beginning of climbing in the first day, hided there. We stopped on the small plateau, covered by the brushes of acacia and rhododendrons, and tried to detect them. But all in vain. I used that stop to dry boots and socks. Dry socks prevent from abrasions. I lifted up the pans to untie the laces of high mountain boots and Witold whistled. I looked at him and then to my shins and whistled too. They were a mass of sores, in scratches, abrasions, and dried blood. I didn’t see them until that moment because it was dark when we dressed and undressed moreover, I used to feel pain from scratches and didn’t pay attention to it. I had very light hunting cloths and it didn’t protect me from barberry and acacia thorns. There were not chances to avoid them because they were everywhere and often you should to go through them. My skin (not only my legs) looked as if I visited tattoo salon. The outside observer could be shocked when saw it. I had a choice to use the same clothes as Witold used but didn’t want to sweat when walking. I always prefer to wear light clothes and to dry it when it's necessary. We didn't find the ibexes and went further. Thus, we overcame several ridges and gorges and arrived to the second hunting cabin, build from the real wooden logs. It was more spacious and even had the small terrace with a table and benches. There also were two beds, a table and a stove inside. One more difference from the previous one was that there were ropes for drying clothes. It was built in the larches and cedars shadow on the edge of the northern slope. Ruslan waited for us there. He rose from the bank of the water reservoir and brought some products. He also delivered some water and we boiled not only tea but cooked soup too. There was no water near the cabin. The austerity mode of water was going on. We ate dinner and even drank some cognac, Witold saved for the lucky end of the hunt and discussed our plans.   Our routine Next morning we appreciated the beauty of the surroundings. The view, to the ridges below us and to the water reservoir, was mesmerizing. We could hardly took a look of the immensity of prospect which started on the opposite bank and went over the horizon, admired the variety of colors and tones from blue-black on the shadow slopes to golden- orange on the rocky tops. The morning smog was still somewhere in the gorges and it made that landscape more mythical. We went to the small rocks on the southern slope and got the binoculars. There were several groups of ibexes but without big males. After a shot discussion we solved to go down a little bit hoping to meet “the desirable star”. No result. We noticed females and young males only. Then our team descended a little more. We examined each hole and the slot in the rock but without any result. One more discussion and we moved to the next ridge and the next one. One place we spotted the group of males but had to descend a little more to consider them better. It was possible. They could notice us that's why we needed to go down along the mega steep rocky slope. We looked as Ibexes ourselves or spider when clinging each ledge on the rocks and tried to keep balance. Nobody wanted to fall down with the heavy backpack and the weapon. Trekking pools helped us a lot. The Austrian and the German call them alpenstock or the Alpine sticks and don't go the mountains without them. The trekking poles secure the walker when he needs to jump over the small holes or to push off from soft ground or even to clean the way in the think bushes. We went down with the great difficulty to one of the small rocks. We saw the opposite slope from there. We got out the binoculars once again and inspected each brush or the cleavage. There was a small forest from young aspen trees and other deciduous ones. The ground there was overgrew with the bushes of acacias and rhododendrons. We detected the group of males there. They very definitely males but we couldn’t define their size because they laid having rest under the tree's shadow. We couldn’t say so about us. We stood in the sun and it burned us as pancakes. Then we observed the animals attentively and came to the conclusion that there weren't trophy size ones. The time passed and had to ascend back by the same the steep route. Again, we sweated and cut arms and legs while crawling through the brushes. The salted sweat got into wounds and corroded them. But there was not another way and we clung the rocks and scrambled through the bushes losing moisture. We were rising to the top.   The third cabin We spent two more days hiking up and down in the mountains. We regularly saw ibexes but they all were in groups or didn’t suit us because of their sizes I made several good shots of females and even made video for the future adventure movie. There was one more cabin, located below the main ridge. Sergey suggested to try luck there. It took us three hours to get there. I experience the feeling as we happened on the edge of the universe when saw it. It was fitted into the landscape as if it was the natural end of the ridge where we came from. There were steep rocks and canyons around it. The huge canyon started just from the cabin and led to the water reservoir. We watched the Urbun river and the endless prospect of the reservoir, surrounded by the mountain’s ridges. Everyone went about their business to settle the house. It wasn’t so spacious as the previous one but there was enough room to spend night and to dry clothes. A table with benches was outside that was good in our situation. We ate and enjoy the amazing view of the Sayan mountains -where else could you find that! Ruslan left in the second cabin to wait us. We agreed to hunt there for a couple days and to come back to him. After it we were going to descend to the boat even if didn’t get the trophy. The trip was going to the end and we didn’t have time to stay more. But there still were chances. But we all were exhausted by everyday rising up and down in the rocky ridges and thick bushes. The most difficult problem was heat and the lack of water. I didn’t know how I looked like but Witold was thin and lost some several kg. We had a strange feeling which was difficult to describe, it reminded the situation when the stranger saw the lake which seemed to be near but couldn't reach it. We all were always thirsty. I felt the same during the hunting in Altai. The accumulated fatigue during those days left the mark on Witold physical conditions. He was a solid man about 100kg weight with a height 176 sm. It was heavy to carry such weight, especially in the mountains and especially in such weather conditions. Sooner or later It should influence him. The first signs of fatigue appeared soon... It was much easier for me. I was in 30 kg lighter than Witold and was in a good physical form and trained all year around. Sergey used to hike in the mountains. It was his job. Thus, we made our routes taking into account could Witold go there or not. It made our hunting more difficult. The mountain hunters have to be ready to go a lot if they want to meet their luck.   The shot. We ate light lunch and went down. Our trio moved along the rocky ridge jumping from the one stone to another. The area was clearly visible for many kilometers. There were gorges from both sides of us, which transferred to the ridge. We stayed on the plateau and monitored the surroundings. The evening was approaching and animals would go for feeding soon. But we didn’t see any sign of Ibexes. Probably it was too early. But then someone of us noticed the movement. Four males came to the open place just near the ridge foot near Urbun. They grazed on the meadow. They were NOT OURS! Those Ibexes were too far to approach. If we chose them, we should have to descend almost to the water and then to rise once again. We solved just to observe them and hoped to detect the one which would be our trophy. It appeared in a half of an hour. Sergey spotted it in 500 meters from us to the right. It was a big male which came from nowhere. A worthy trophy had horns not less than a meter or even more with a wide base. It was just to take it. The hunter had to approach it the shooting distance- about 300 meters, that's why we needed to go down by the steep rocks. Sergey and I easily did it. But not our hunter! It was the steep descend, so Witold went a few meters and stopped. Probably he thought about the next climbing and how he was extreme exhausted. We asked him to go down 100 meters more but he refused and decided to shot from the place, he stood. It was not the most comfortable position. The distance to the trophy was 400-450 meters and there was no any opportunity to lay down or to seat and to shoot from a knee. We found a small ledge and put my backpack. Witold put his old BlaserR93, 300 WSM on it and began to aim. I sat behind him and prepared the camera. He didn’t shoot for a long. Then he changed the position. The Ibex was still feeding. At last, the sound of a gunshot broke the evening silence of the mountains and echoed along the nearby ridges. I saw the Ibex shook its head and disappeared in the bushes. We watch video later and concluded. he hit to its horn. That was the explanation why the male shook the head. Sergey went down to check if it was wounded or not. We had to chase the wounded animal in such case. He came back in thirty minutes and told that there were not any sign of the ibex or blood. He missed it. But it was better than to follow the wounded one. The way back was poured by our sweat which became even thicker because of the lack of water. It was twilight when we came back to the cabin. Fire- tea- bed. We were too tired to make plans for tomorrow. Night brings wisdom. We got up at first light. I made fire and Sergey observed the ridges. And found the group of males! But there was one more surprise. Four wolves were moving to their direction from below them. It was a very interesting situation. On the one side we saw Ibexes, on the other nobody guaranteed that the wolves wouldn't frighten the herd while we were approaching.   We made a very passable meal and went to the long way through the deep gorge to the opposite ridge. The slope was all covered by the dry grass and our mountain boots slid as on ice. It was hard to go down. One more unpleasant surprise waited for us at the bottom of the gorge. It was overgrew by the think bushed of young aspen trees and we could hardly go running in those scrubs. But we couldn’t but be glad hearing the sound of running water. There was a mountain spring. Suddenly we saw water! It was purely clear mountain spring with fresh and cold water! We all were ready to give up half of Kingdom for a sip of water. We were more than happy. The only one who was indifferent was Sergey. Witold and I took off clothes on the go and rushed into water. It was real happiness to drink as much as we wanted and to wash ourselves. Last few day we drank just stagnant water and it was also limited. Occasionally I looked to Sergey. He stood on the ground and looked to us with a certain grin. I asked him why didn't he wash and he answered: “Why?” I froze looking at him. A thought flashed through my mind: “One of us was overheated”. He stood in a warm jacked with dirty hands and a face, smeared with soot. He stood and looked to us as to silly little chaps. How could he not take advantage of such a wonderful opportunity to wash all dirty accumulated for the last days. It is still beyond my comprehension. After the refreshment ( I want to repeat it once again- by cold mountains spring water) we went to our future trophies. The long and steep climb started just at the gorge exit. We went one third of the way and sweat once again. We were rising along the sunny side and the sun was at the zenith and burned us in full force. I need to remind you that all action took place on the heights from 1500 to 2000 masl. Sun radiation level there was higher than in the valley. We were moving up on a tack. But it wasn’t fast. Sergey walked slowly, made small steps but didn’t stop to have rest. He looked like the caravan camel or a mule and gazed just only under his feet. That was a good tactics which meant the high endurance. I always go fast when being in the mountains and make large steps. I think that it allows me to cover more distance. But I have to make lots of stops to recover breathe. Witold followed my tactics. We were close to the top of the ridge when I noticed the movement. I rose the head and saw the herd of Ibexes which ran from the right to the left in relation to our position. Someone scared them and it was not our group. Witold was below me and Sergey was above us. I whistled to Sergey to attract his attention to the goats. He looked at them but said nothing. I run to him and said that they were the goats we saw from the cabin and probably wolves frightened them. I thought that there were no sense to rise where we were going. He ignored my words and went on to climb. It had no sense from my point of view. Even if it wasn't our goats but another herd. Our ibexes would follow it. It was how the herd mentality worked. But we followed Sergey. There was not any sign of the animals when we reached the place. There was a long way to the second cabin. We didn’t need to rise down and up but just to go along the slope. But people who walked along the slopes, knew that it could be tired and even dangerous for the ankles. The same muscles and tendons stretch all time while you move in such position. If you have not good boots and don't tie them well your feet will hurt you. Taking into account how tired we were, it was the exhausted way. Witold puffed like a locomotive and was ready to give up visibly. I had to wait him from time to time. In two hours we did a huge circle and entered the think undergrowth not far from the cabin. It was twilight and it seemed as if there was an ibex in front of us. I could be the young male about 3-4 years old. I doubted if it was possible to approach the Ibex in 50 meters because we were in the forest, not mountains. But it was so. Soon I detected few more young males. Sergey and I decided to shoot one for meat. The guys had the license and the season was almost over. I commanded Witold to shoot. He didn’t aim for a long. He shot and suddenly the ibexes startled by a jack-in-the-box. They ran toward us and around us so close that we could touch them. It was a bullfighting! There were about 30 males. They almost trampled us. But our goat stood on the place and we ate it later. We boiled fresh soup that renewed our strength. The goats, before the rut season, had sufficient fat supply. But that shot was cold comfort for our hunter. He wanted to get the trophy. We had one more hunting day. I know that no one should fall in despair and have to work till the end, especially in hunting. The God likes hard-working people. Next morning, we went to try our hunting luck for the last time. Ruslan should go down and wait us on the boat. Everything was in place- the mountains, the reservoir, the black grouses and the heat. We just needed one more component to make the picture perfect - the Trophy. We saw several males but had no chance to approach them because of the landscape. After that we made a stop and decided to examine the rest part of the way to the reservoir. We monitored the surroundings for about the 30 minutes when Sergey detected two, as he called them retirees. Two old males grazed on a small plateau and merged their strength from time to time, by pushing the horns. We had to wait when they would lay down and to decide how to approach them. Suddenly they hide behind the small ridge. We didn't waste time and ran headlong down. It took us a half of an hour to reach that ridge. Sergey offered to take off the backpacks and wait while he would make the research. The goats were somewhere close. I prepared the camera and was ready to make video of hunting. Witold felt himself full of strength and I saw the fighting spirit in his eyes. Sergey waved us. We ducked and moved to him along the ridge. He said that two males laid on the plateau through the gorge and he knew the place from where we could fire. The most comfortable shooting distance was about 150-170 meters. We slowly wriggles through our “favorite” acacia bushes and went to the small cliff from where Witold had to shoot. It wasn’t the very comfortable position. We could hardly find the place where he sat and leaned on the stone. Sergey stood on the left side of him to point the destination where Witold had to spot the goat. There was no place for me but I couldn’t stay aside and didn't make that epic video. I tried to seat on the ledge of the cliff not to disturb the hunter. It was hard to do but I tried to do my best and even found the stone which used as the right foot base. The left foot was in the air but then I found the base for it too. I had not time to look around because was ready to make video. Small bushes and grass got in the lens and make the video to be soft. Witold was aiming. We stood opposite to the sun and it was difficult to aim through the sight. I heard he kept the breath. It meant he’d fire soon. I gathered all my strength because was shivering from the tension. The Shot! One of the males jumped up and watched to the opposite side from us. It happened because of echo. Sergey monitored the situation through the binoculars and insisted on the second shot because the Ibex was still alive. I couldn’t even see the wounded ibex and saw the only one which stood. I thought that Witold missed or it was the wounded one which jumped up. Later I watched the video and found another goat. It was slowly sliding to the ledge of the gorge. The second one was on its foot. Witold made one more shot to his male and it has somersaulted and fell into the gorge. The second goat came to itself and disappeared behind the rock. The shooting was over and I could stand up. My right foot muscles were stiff. But it was not the worst thing that could have happened. I looked down under my feet and was frozen. There was a deep abyss studded by sharp stones and I would definitely die if I fell there down. We took breath and began to congratulate Witold with the successful hunt. He was so stunned and didn’t feel anything. Witold was so confused and devastated because of the last day tension that didn’t look happy. It often happens on the hard hunts when hunters come to themselves and realize what they have done later. We went down to the trophy. It was not an easy matter to find it. It rolled down into the gorge that covered by the brushes of acacia and rhododendrons. We could hardly pull it out from there and immediately carried it down to make pictures. It was a hard process because we should walk the stone sea, spread around us. Each time we put your foot on the flat stone and carried our weight on it, the stone stream caught us and swept down away. We could hardly keep balance. At last we found a small island. Witold put the trophy on the ground and sat near it but the whole composition, he built, began to slide down. It ended as abruptly as it had begun and the happy hunter could seat without moving for few minutes while we made pictures. It was the first time when Witold's face lit up with a radiant smile. It was seen, he realized what way he had done and what challenges he had overtaken. We all were happy like people united by one love and goal. The horns of the ibex were 99cm and it was a really good result for that subspecies. Most of hunters could be proud to have such trophy. We were surprised that there were just 200 meters to the boat from the place, we sat. The fate favored us because we could hardly imagine how to carry the trophy by those steep slopes especially in such weather. Then we made pictures and dragged the goat to the reservoir bank. There we skinned it and cut the meat. At last we took on Board and cast off. We sailed ahead by the mirror surface of water. The wind blew our faces burned and dried by the sun. I wanted to think about something pleasant not about difficulties which were already over.   Instead of an afterword Many years passed from that time but I still remember each step we did there. still feel dry mouth and the tongue is like the dry leaf when I tell about that trip. My feet and hands twitched in the places where they were wounded by the endless bushes. Fortunately, I’m healing like a dog and almost not have scars. But I’d never forget that thirsty which I didn’t feel anymore from that time. I kept the memory about that barberry which gifted me so many of its thorns. There are two moments from that hunt which I’d hardly forget. The first one was, when we found the mountain spring where we could drink fill and took a bath. The second, when the hunter did an excellent shot and got the nice trophy. Somebody can ask: “Why do you need it?” But people who ask this question, don't know the feelings that arise when communicating with the wild nature, observing animals and birds in their natural environment. They will never know the real beauty of sunsets and sunrises in the mountains. And they will never agree to experience that difficulties as our team overcame in the Sayan mountains. But how you can know what you are capable do if never try it. I wish all hunters to experience their own challenges, to feel like a man-getter and a real, not a salon hunter.   P.S. I write this story to the memory of Sergei Koshelev who died prematurely (he was only 46 years old!), I will always remember his love for the nature of Sayan.

The Annual Hunting Show under the aegis of the Wild Sheep Foundation took p;ace on January 10th, 2015 in Rino (Nevada, USA). The Fund’s activity is aimed to protect and to increase the snow sheep population. It cooperates with the environmental institutions and take part in the activities which form the hunting culture among the youth. The Fund are the members of the actions to save and to protect the animals of the world and promote the interests of hunters and all who are interested in it.   The hunting outfitters from Russia, USA, Canada, Argentina, Spain, Austria, Germany, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan and other countries took part in the Show. There were two Russian companies: Profi Hunt Company and the Professional Russian Hunters (PRH) company. An award ceremony of the hunters, who got record trophies in US and other countries, was held within the framework of the exhibition. I would like to note separately the achievement of the Profi Hunt company. Its client got the world record trophy of the Kamchatka Snow sheep. That great result was awarded by the Special Prize.

The Okhotsk Snow Sheep inhabit in all vegetation zones from 300 to 1200 masl. When at the beginning of September mosquitoes disappear the animals form mixed large herds- about 40 individuals and graze on the on forage-rich tundra. It is the most calm and comfortable period in the show sheep life. In October snow covers their pastures and sheep have to go down to the forest area where they separate into small groups. The animals moved in the forest while looking for feed but don't come far from the rescure rocks. Later in winter they ascend to the naked rocks where stay till spring. There are places not covered by snow where they pasture. They wait out in the rocky shelters and caves when the weather rages. There you can often find the bed from the dry manure and wool formed over years. The rut season starts from the second decade of November/December and lasts for a month. The high season is the end of November. There are about 6 females per 3 males at that time. The adults, starting from 5 years old, expel the 3 years old males. That youth will join the herd later when the season is over and leave it once again in January. The most active breeding age for males is 7 years. The males demonstrate their force when pushing horns, then they left to different sides and the winner don't follow the opponent. The Snow Sheep easily rise and run on the unapproachable rocks, they use barely noticeable cracks and protrusions. They jump from 3 meters heights. They run up the slope when feel danger but usually they prefer to walk with stops. When there is no danger to the sheep life, it’s the phlegmatic and slow animal. In winter they graze during day hours and in mornings and evenings in summer. It's easy to define the hunting time if you know this info. My old fellow Vitaly Pokormyak - the honored hunter of the Okhotsk ROOR and a resident of the Okhotsk village, says that the best time for hunting is from 12th to 15th of August. This is the peak of mosquitoes season and sheep, trying to escape from them, move fast and prefer to stay on the rocks blew in the wind. I have to notice that thanks to sheep color, it's really difficult to find them there. The only possibility to spot them is to notice how they move. The hunt I’m going to tell you about, have been organized in such days but there are exceptions to all rules. We detected the sheep but they didn’t run, they slept. Let me tell you everything in more details. We meet our clients Marty Rubio and Dale McKinnon on the Safari Show and Reno and agreed the hunting terms. The plan was to arrive by plane from Khabarovsk to Okhotsk on August 13 and then we flew to the mountains in the same day. Dale McKinnon is a really strong guy and it was his second hunting with us. The first time he hunted in August 2008 and got the trophy with the horns 95cm. But he wanted to take the record one. Very opportunely one of the Moscow agents asked us to organize sheep hunt for their Spanish hunter. We agreed but set a condition to arrive to Khabarovsk not less than August 12. They contacted us in a few days and said that found the third client. It became Antonio Nogueira. The hunter who was awarded by The Safari Club International in 2014 as the Best Outfitter. Antonio arrived to Khabarovsk from Moscow. The well known guy who specialized in communicating with Russian customs helped us to regulate all weapon questions concerning its transportation. We calculated the hunt cost, taking into account that there would be three hunters. The major part of the cost was the helicopter expenses. It was our mistake. Antonio arrived in a day later than Dale. I was meeting him at the airport in Khabarovsk when Marti called. The plane, Ruben had to fly to Los Angeles and then to Seoul, received damage from a lightning strike. They couldn’t change it by the extra one and Marty wasn’t in time. He had to canceled that trip. It broke our plans and we had nothing but take those extra expenses to us. We discussed and solved to make the hunt from the one tent camp and send just one interpreter instead of two as planned before. The weather was fine and we reloaded the clients form the plane to the helicopter and flew. The aim was to reach the upper river Gusinka. It took us 40 minutes and soon we landed as where it was planned and reloaded the cargo. The chopper disappeared in the sky and there was an abrupt silence.  We quickly set up the tents for the accommodation and the canteen- tent. We were ready to sit longer but the clients went to bed. Our cook Galina woke up in the morning. The breakfast was ready. We all washed by spring water, it help to wake up finally. Everybody was full of energy. After the breakfast we went to examine surroundings because it was very important to understand were there animals or not. The plan for the first day was simple. Vitaly and Dale should have to move to the east and to go around the dominant hill ( 980 masl) from the left side. Sergey and Antonio would move to the southeast to go around the same hill from the right. Vitaly and Dale ascended the hill and began to look through the binoculars the nearest slopes and detected the group of snow sheep. Dale had very good binoculars and he defined seven trophy size males. The part of males laid on the stone scree. Probably they slept. The other part was awake and guarded the sleepers. They all located in 3-4 from each other. That was very significant. The hunters moved to the opposite side of the slope and began to approach. The hollow, where they had rest, was at the end of the hill where Sergey and Antonio were. They also noticed the animals and decided to approach. Two groups o hunters were approaching the same sheep group for two hours but from different sides. The piquancy of the situation was that, they reached the shooting distance (about 180 meters) at the same time but didn’t know about the other group plans. Antonio aimed the biggest male and pushed the trigger of his Benelli 300 WinMag. But there was no shot! A misfire? He reloaded the rifle and shot! Dale fired at the same time but from another side. Dale's rifle .300 WeathMag was more powerful and the shooting distance was in 50 meters longer. Sergey saw how one of the sheep fell after Antonio’s shot and noticed a strange movement on the slope. Vitaly saw two sheep stayed down after Dales’s shot. In a few minutes all hunters were on the place. They found three nice males and even the preliminary inspection proved the idea about their high trophy quality. The horns were more than 95 cm and were fully curled. Sergey remembered about the strange movement after Antonio’s shot and went down to the canioun. And he found one more sheep there! It looked as those bullets were too powerful for shooting for 150-200 meters though it's hard to approach such distance. The bullets hadn't opened in the soft tissue of the first animals and went through them and finally opened in the males which stood behind the first. Although they were the first to inflict fatal injuries. The hunt was finished in three hours after it had been started. They did two shots and got four males! I could but guess how Marti Rubeo was upset when knew about it.

It was my dream to hunt in Europe ( Bulgaria is the member of Euro Union) and to add the trophies of Balkan Chamois and European Mouflon to my collection. Artem Chernushevich - the most trustworthy hunting agent in our Belorussian Club, selected us a suitable variant and I and my clubmate Sergey Volochkovich arrived to the Black Sea. That spring weather wasn't typical. The depth of snow cover in the mountains was about 10 cm, the day temperature was near +5C though the outfitter said that usually it was +15-25C. We went to the hunt just after landing. Telling the truth I was disappointed when we went to the mountains at the first time. The snow fell in large flakes, and there was no any possibility to find the tracks. Next day we divided into two groups and solved not to come to Base for a lunch that's why we took some food and left the camp for the whole day. Somebody on the sky waited for it and soon we revealed the bear tracks. When Bulgaria entered the EU the bear hunt was prohibited that’s why we were interested in its tracks as theorists. But there were tracks! The weather changed each thirty minutes. It was the bright sun, then it was snow or rain. The hunt was organized in the foothills area. The average altitude there was 1500-1800 masl. We hiked about twenty km at that days and thanked to God the the ascents and descents were not steep. Once we even detected the Chamois tracks and its excrements. There was a game! My mood rose. We went down a little bit and detected the group of chamois, consisted of three females and a young male. Unfortunately, it didn’t have the trophy size. But that meeting added some positive tone - the life became better! We made few more radial hikes when the guide from next area contacted us by radio and told that found the group of trophy size males. We all immediately went to that direction. The herd pastured on our slop while the guide monitored it from the opposite one. We were slowly descending from the top when met the lonely young male, it blocked the road and we stopped. The herd would run away in the unknown direction if we frightened that male. We could nothing but wait. The thirty minutes passed. Then thirty minutes more. The guides advised to come back and to try to approach the herd next day from the opposite slope if hunting luck was on our side. We ascended once again. We trained hard before that trip and it gave the result. We could easily walk and breathe there. The radio came to life. Sergey got his chamois! The friend's luck gave me new motivation and I felt that I would take me trophy too. We went and I enjoined the nature about us, admired the beauty of soft outlines of tree crowns on the slopes of the Balkan Mountains and breathe deeply. I had enough strength to walk and fresh tracks beckoned me. Suddenly the guide suggested to move to the region where Sergey had hunted already. The mountains there were lower and there was not so much snow. The chance to get the trophy there was higher. It was rather towards evening. We reached the rocks. The guide was always in tension checking each ledge. We went to the ridge and hiked along it to the side where we had not been yesterday. In few minutes the PH stopped and began to study the split on the right side from us. The result was nothing. I decided to check the next one but I couldn’t see it well from the place where I stood and had to go down a little bit. I almost stepped on the slowly moved black and yellow lizard. Later I found in the Internet, it was a Salamander that belonged to amphibians, not reptiles. I sagged away the leg because it looked scary. Later I knew it was absolutely harmless. I looked through the binoculars but didn’t see anything. I always look from the left to the rights and back. Unexpectedly I noticed a movement. I turned the binoculars back and spotted chamois. The masking worked on all 100! If it didn’t move the head, I wouldn't noticed it. It had big horns. Probably it was a male. I brought the gun to the shoulder and thought: “What would be the best way to shoot from hands or standing up?” It was clearly seen the male turned to my side and whistled alarming the other animals. I had no time to think. I removed the safety lock and pushed the trigger. The shot ranged out and the chamois fell to the side. I got it! But a seed of doubt spoiled my mood. It could be female. I went down as fast as it was possible. I ran at the angler about 60-70 degrees and all grass under me feet were wet. The soles of good mountain boots kept the foot firmly on the slope and didn’t slip. The Male! It was the male! It had good horns! I couldn't describe how happy I was. My guide Elijah congratulated me but reproached. He didn't understand what happened when heard the shot. Who shot and where? It was a secret for him until he saw the trophy. The preliminary measurements proved our thought that it’d be awarded by medal and it was. It was awarded by the Bronze medal. At the same day Sergey could move to another hunting area and took the mouflon there. I got my mouflon on the third day. We found the animals when they warmed on the on opposite slope. We argued long time to what of the animals I’d shoot - the left or the right one. The shooting distance was 160 meters. I decided to fire using the bipods. It was a nice shot! Thus, I got the trophy of the European mouflon. One more sheep to my collection. It wasn't big but it was the male sheep! In conclusion I'd say that it was the easiest mountain hunt in my life. But I overreacted because the next Russian hunters who arrived after us didn’t see any sign of chamois during four hunting days and couldn't get it. Thank you very much to the local outfitter Stoyan Trifonov for the excellent hunt.

The first time I hunted in Europe was in 2008. It happened at the beginning of August. It was time when the whole world watched the Olympic Games in Beijing and the local war in Tskhinvali but my wife and I arrived to the Czech Republic. Our goal was to get the European Mouflon and the wild boar. We also wanted to see the country and to walk around Prague which considered to be on of the most beautiful cities in the Central Europe and where we had never been before. It was so called hunting touristic trip. Telling the truth I was so disappointed by that hunt that didn’t want to experience it once again for a long period of time, especially in the Czech Republic. We reduced the number of days in the country, changed tickets and flew away right after the trophies had been taken. I have already encountered deception in my country when the local outfitters tried to deceive me but I treated it like the necessary evil of the domestic industry and I always knew how to behave in such situations. But the behavior of Joseph Barros was nothing compared to all situations met before. The Doctor Barros was the professional! I didn't take offense for him for long. We decided to think it as to our fault. But none of us wanted to visit Europe for a long time. That incident made me to look attentively how the Russian agent, who suggested us that hunt and that guy, worked with us and we part him later. It was the right decision and I didn’t regret about it at all. Just in four years I tried a new hunt in Europe. It was in Pyrenees. That time I got the absolutely different experience and feelings. The local outfitter Senior Velez earned our sympathy and trust by the attention to all details of our stay in his camp and the hunt organization. Next time when I met him on the hunting show in the Gostiny Dvor in Moscow, we embraces as old friends. I was thankful to Valeriano Velez, the owner of the Ibex Hunt Spain company, who organized our first Spanish hunt in December 2012. That time we got the Beceite Ibex and the Aoudad and spent few days in Barcelona. We settled to arrange one more trip to his area. I really liked how Valeriano and his team worked and wanted to feel that positive emotions once again. We discussed all variants of future trip and decided to try to get the Golden medal Gredos Ibex and the same quality Iberia Red Deer. I was going to hunt four days and then to spend the rest of the vacation in Barcelona. I was fond of that city. Spain once again On December 18th we arrived to Madrid, Spain. A year before we started our trip from Valencia. Valeriano and his unchanged green car Pathfinder waited for us at the airport. We started to move to the west of the country not visiting the capital of the Kingdom. We were on our way to Jarandilla De La Vera - a small town, nestled at the foot of the Greek mountains, in the province of Caceres. The bright landscape of the middle mountains and the adjacent river valleys pleased my eye. We drove by the part of the country which was know by its agricultural traditions, the each part of the land on both sides of the road was cultivated. Senor Velez told me that that area was very popular among the retirees from the Northern Europe who prefer to buy or to rent property and to spend winter there. The hotel, where we stayed for a couple of nights, was empty. Our group consisted of me, my wife, Valeriano and the cameraman Khavi, who was invited to make movie for the marketing purpose of the company. We were the only guests there. Next morning I would have to test Remington, cal. 270, which used the last year and then to go for a hunt. But rain confused all our plans. It started in the evening and became even stronger at the morning. We waited for an hour and noticed just few clearings in the sky but decided to go. One of the local guides, who worked in the National Park, had already waited for us on the place where we had to test guns. The number and quality of the trophies inhabited in the National Parks was much higher in comparison with the private hunting lands because of the less human influence. The obligatory requirement to the hunting area was not to be fenced. We discussed it with Valeriano when were planning that Spanish trip. That was the reason why we hunted in that area. The gun's test were carried out under the strong rain. We had to use the huge umbrella not to be soaked to the bone. The guide offered it for us. The rain became stronger and we waited out the rain siting in the car. The guide or so called PH constantly contacted by radio with another guide who monitored the golden medal ibexes last two days. In twenty minutes we left the car and followed Valeriano up to the mountains. Irina and I carried that huge umbrella which saved us from the water flows chucked by gusts of winds from different sides. We didn’t walk long. The way took about 10 minutes. The path meandered through cattle pastures fenced by stone walls. The Ibex we met on one of those pastures. The imposing, white-haired and slender Carles - the guides who monitored the male, waited for us. It looked as he pastured the ibex, which ate grass in 120 meters from us. Carles also use the huge umbrella. We could clearly see the male but soon the clouds of fog, rolled along the slope started to hide it. Irina took the comfortable position, put the rifle on Valeriano's backpack and shot. We saw how she hit it. But the bullet went through. The Ibex ran slowly up to the slope. The wife noticed the wounded animal but not at the same time. The male was in 160 meters from her when she shot the second time. Later when making pictures with the trophy we'd watched video, made by Khavi. It was clearly seen that the first bullet hit to the back part of its lungs while the second one went through the neck. I was discouraged how easy my wife got the good size trophy. But didn't show it. After a long photo session (Valeriano is fond of marketing and showing pictures of trophies, him and hunters on Facebook) we solved to walk and looked at the second record size Ibex and group of females with baby goats on the mountains slopes. That time we went much longer. We were not in a hurry and slowly moved and enjoyed by watching colorful Gredos slopes and river’s valleys. The muted colors landscape consisted of limestone-Dolomites and granite intrusions. We walked by the road made of Rome soldiers of big and flat granite blocks. The weather, as it always happened in the mountains, changes very often. Fog and rain had been changed by bright and warm sun, which dried our clothes but then the rain started once again. The guides, Valeriano and I took our binoculars and began to examine the slopes looking for the ibexes. Soon Carles detected a record size male and showed it to me and Irina. But it was not the same Ibex he monitored for us before. Later we spotted the group of females with babies. Valeriano explained me that Gredos goat is the definite hunting trophy, which is registered separately. I could try to take it because we have the license. I refused. Next fifteen minutes we observed the male, laid under the top of the stone ridge hidden in the ruins of dolomite blocks. Then we had lunch of cheese, bread and olives and drank young homemade wine, suggested by our guides and was going to go back. Going back we met one more group of animals including that golden medal Ibex which was planned as our trophy. It was really nice. But not worst that the taken one. The male laid almost near the top and its hunting needed much more efforts from our side. We hiked back gone by the water flows and wind gusts which turned the umbrella out. In the evening we celebrated our successful hunt. The horns of the taken Ibex earned 267 points which was in 17 points more than the golden record. The price of such trophy was like hunting in Zanzibar. So it was. Spain is Spain. Europe. Hunting there isn’t so difficult as in other places but good size trophies cost more expensive.   Next morning we were going to drive to the south of the country to the Estremadura province, the town Hohen. I was going to get the Iberia Red Deer there. The hunt was organized on the private lands of Valeriano’s friend and hereditary stud breeder Juan La Puerta. That hunting area wasn't fenced too and bordered with the territory of the National Park. Our Spanish leader told us that there was plenty of game such as wild boars, deer and the Iberian kind of red deer inhabiting there were bigger than in other areas. We knew lots of new things. Spain is a very interesting country. We saw lots of signs the stormy youth of the country when the Spaniards fought with Arabs during the reconquista and forming the single Kingdom. Our way went us through Toledo - an ancient Middle Ages town, founded by Romans at the beginning of second century BC. It was also the capital of Castilian Kingdom long time ago. Today it's known as the center of metal processing center. But most people know it as the touristic center. Castilie is famous from the iron age because of its deposits of black ores of various properties. It's a surprise if you know about the variety of geological forms and morphologies which form the relief of the province. Iberians had been changed by Romans then by German tribes. Then the Moors and Jewish came. They all forged knives, swords, daggers, and armor there. Today when the swords have long been turned into a plowshare, the local craftsmen produce different knives and machetes. Most of their goods are for hunters and tourists. We had lunch in Toledo and walked around its historical center but then continued our way to Hohen which was the last point of our travel. Hohen turned out to be the southern town. The Estremadura's citizens, as Valeriano said, worked just a couple of month in a year. The rest of the time they had rest and enjoyed their life between hills and limestone peaks of the La Sierra mountains. I noticed that all valleys and foothills were planted by olives, cultivated in Spain from the Romans time. Each patch of ground is planted by olives except top of the mountains. There were millions of olive trees. I liked that view. Next morning our group, lead by Alvaro - the son of the landlord, drove to the mountains. In twenty minutes we reached the final point- the excellent horse breeding complex. It had huge territory with the pound, rocky slopes and horses of course. All the estate buildings had been built under the influence by the Moors architecture. Everything was well maintained, filled with calm and trust in future. The absence of olive trees contrasted with what we saw before. All vegetation there was natural and was presented by wild BlackBerry bushes, southern and cork oaks, pines and junipers. We observed deers and boars which crossed the road before our car and were not afraid of us. The animals’ density was close to the natural level and It became possible thanks to the smart management, animal's feeding and controlled number of hunts. We entered the small office decorated by the pictured of hunters with trophies, filled all necessary papers and went to the hunt. We spent lots of time in the forest and walked long distance but didn’t find the required size trophy. Alvatoro blamed the wind which blew to our backs. The wild animal fears humans much more than the car even in such paradise place. We had to stop for a lunch in one of the small restaurants, located in the valley, which was empty because of the season. But the absence of clients didn’t correlate with the meal quality. After the lunch we went on hunting. Alvaro assured us that we easily met the desired animal in the second part of the day and offered to drive by car. So we did it. He was right there was much more game that in the morning and I couldn’t believe it. We observed many of male and females with babies. The animals turned to the feeding places. We drove about thirty minutes from one place to another when detected four bulls which had real crowns from the horns and could be estimated as the golden rank trophies. They had red color bodies but not huge. I thought their weight was about a centner or a little heavier. Almaro pointed the bull and I shot. It didn’t fell down as I expected but broke into trot with three others. We came to the place where it stood and found some blood there, then waited about ten minutes and followed the wounded one. It was about an hour till the sunset. I liked that animation. It started to look like a real hunt, as I understood that word. In two hundred meters we frightened the wounded deer from the place where it laid. It disappeared in the bush and we could hardly notice its nice horns between young oaks. The situation repeated once again in five minutes. The thick bushes didn’t allow to make one more shot and to get the trophy. We changed the tactics. I rose to the small rock hung above the bush while Alvaro continued to go through the forest following it. It immediately gave the result. I detected the male’s head, which I knew by the specific horns, aimed to its shoulder blade, hidden by bushes, and fired. Later in the evening we decided to celebrate the trophy and went to the town center to find the suitable bar. It was hard to do because all bars and restaurants were full of people after 9 pm. So as streets in the center. The marijuana smell was in the air and the respectable-looking head of families rolled joints and gave it to their partners or friends and all other people were very indifferent to what was going on. At last we could take seats in one of the restaurants. In a quarter of hour it was so full that waiters couldn't walk and people had to pass plated with the help of neighbors. The waiter couldn't have any chance to go through the crowd. However, this did not bother anyone. We all were tired but enjoyed that evening. I liked tasty wine, fresh seafood and the price which was obscenely low in comparison with Moscow ones. Next morning Valeriano delivered us to the airport of Granada. And with a warm and kindly shake of the hand, we left him but promised to fly back in a year for a Rondo Ibex and chamois. In an hour we landed in Barcelona where spent three lovely days walking by its streets, breathing Mediterranean air and admiring Christmas decorated streets and squares. We couldn't repeat the previous year experience when visited the Camp Nou stadium because the team played in the guests. But we visited the local Rambla market , famous by its assortment. Each customer or tourist could buy there all that the Spanish land was rich in. The market cooks fried fish, opened oysters, as well as shells and limbs of marine arthropods of various types and properties. There we met lots of Russians. Telling the truth we didn’t want to fly back to dank Moscow but had to. The new 2014 was coming and new hunting trips was waited us already. But we didn't forget about the old ones. Good by Spain. See you again. We’ll fly back as old friends.

Hunting in the Caucasus mountains at the end of XIX century. “The empire on which the sun never sets” was establish because the English were cramped on their small but proud island. That is the only reason which could explain the geography of their moving all around the world. They were the colonizers, the researches and world famous hunters. It is not an exaggeration to say that at the end of XIX nine from ten hunters, who visited the foreign countries, were of Anglo-Saxon origin. They also reached the Caucasus. The Caucasus attracted them by its cheapness and availability. It was close and almost free in comparison with the African Safari, which cost thousands pounds ( one thousand that days was as one million now) and took few month or with huntings in India when you need to have contacts to organize the hunt. It took one week to get to Vladikavkaz or Batumi and the cost of two month hunting was about one hundred pounds per person. The hunters could find the variety of game there from Mongolian gazelles in the Mugan steppes to bears in the broad-leaved forests and vineyards of the black sea coast. Even the hunts for the European bison were not prohibited, the only problem was that those animals inhabitated in the private lands of the Grand Dukes. The population of the Caucasus leopard was even high at that time and the lucky hunter could even meet the tiger, wandered to the surroundings of Lenkari. But the mountains beckoned the travelers much more. The wild Caucasian mountains were known by their beautiful but severe nature, where people who lived on the unavailable tops of Svaneti and Ossetia could hardly find or grow any livelihood. There was not other occupation for a man that a hunting or a war. All valley dwellers, no matter Russian or Caucasian, considered an mountain inhabitants to be the gangster at heart. But Englishmen treated them in another way. They looked to the Svans and Ossetians and saw the passionate hunters who could take a few pieces of bread and to wander in the mountains for several days. They went on the tops where other people felt sick just looking at them. They never complained if they were not lucky and never brag if they get the trophy. They just gave meat to everybody in the village who need it then hang the horns under the entrance of their house or the church to thank the God and then to disappear in the mountains once again. They hunted for wild goats which looked similar as the domestic ones and it was difficult to define if the domestic goats were so close to their wild ancestors or there were just feral ones. Chamois was also one hunting species but not the popular one. The most desirable goal was a Tur. They divided it into two kinds with smooth horns and with the ringed horns. The zoologists didn’t know how many species of ungulates dwelled in the Caucasus at that time. That situation peaked the interest of that time British hunters to realize the main dream of each hunter to get the trophy, belonged to the undescribed species and to call it by his name. The ways of huntings, practiced by the locals at that time, suited for the hunters interested in getting meat first of all. Moreover none of them had long-range weapons. Once a year the Grand Dukes gathered their subjects and organized the corral hunting. They killed the great number of game during such hunts and then celebrated it. The ordinary highlanders hunted at nights near the salt licks. They waited the goats and sheep would come to drink mineral water and shot at the hearing to the herd. In nine from ten cases they killed young sheep or females but there was no difference for them. But such hunts didn’t suit for the European hunters. It was difficult to define the size of the horns when hunted at night moreover the European hunters didn’t kill females and babies. It was a taboo for them. Also it wasn’t easy to take part in the corral hunting and nobody knew what game would come to you. It was as a kind of lottery. Fortunately the Highlanders knew how to hunt for the good size males. The horns size differed the best hunters from the unskilled ones. That why the British hunters, refused to take part in the corral hunts or hunting near the salt licks, took the local guides and ascended to the tops and tried to chase and to get the trophy size males. The value of the trophy, taken by the hard work, was much higher. They experienced the ordinary hunting difficulties such as hard walking, changeable weather, cold and snow and also practiced one of the most difficult ways of hunting, invented by the locals, because I had never read about such way it in other open sources. The lancer fitting was the main hunting weapon at that time. It allowed to shoot for 400 meters but to be absolutely sure the hunter should have to approach 150 meters. The best way to come close is to approach the animals from above because they don't expect any danger from that side. But the hunter who spend each night in the valley, because there they enough firewoods to cook, don’t have time to rise higher the animals. The hunter should rise the mountains, to find the animal then ascend once again to be higher than the trophy. Moreover the hunter should approach it not being visible for the male it means to go around, but the day would be over at that time or the male moves to another slope. That's why the hunters rose the top of the most perspective mountain, spent a night there and started to hunt from the early morning. It was not like traditional British safari. There were not any elephants, the caravans of porters, two rooms tents, the staff including cooks and waiters. The hunter had to carry his luggage by himself and there was not sense to employ more than one or two locals. One was to keep the camp and the second one was the guide. It was a waste of time and money to employ the interpreter because there was no people who knew all Caucasian languages and dialects. Most of interpreters at that time were small-time crooks and just wanted to travel at someone else's expense. The experts advised hunters to study few words in Russian or Georgian and to use the sign language. The policy didn’t allow the British hunters to organize the hunts as they used to do it in other countries. The letter of recommendation from the British foreign Office which helped them in all other countries around the world, just interfered with business there. The Russian bureaucracy remembered about the position of England in the "pacification of the highlanders» case and treated to all official travelers as to the potential spies. Will you imagine the paper flows from St.Pete to the local administration which had to ask the higher authorities almost about everything. The best way was not to inform anybody about the trip. Nobody was interested in the hunter who arrived to that area just for hunting. A large-scale expedition and "do not attract attention" - things were incompatible. The hunters took into account the mentality of the locals who were not used to work as a team and couldn’t maintain the necessary discipline. The proud Highlanders treated the foreign hunters like the partners and refused to consider him to be a master or to work as if they were employee. The foreigner who would try to treat the locals in such way didn’t be understood. The others who referred to them without any prejudices, worked in the same way as they worked and shared the last piece of bread or the tobacco pipe, would get the sincere friendship, best hunting places and the last cloak if necessary. The local guides didn’t even carry the foreign hunter rifle as how it was accepted in India or Africa. It was often happened that the guide shot first when saw the trophy not thinking about the hunter who paid him. The best variant to prevent it was to ask the guide to leave his gun in the camp because he thought that the hunter was too slow and shot first just to help him. It was even better to trace the animal alone not allowing somebody to hurry you and to listen the commands to shoot. Shoot! That format of hunting didn’t allow Caucasus to become the priority hunting destination for the British hunters. The hunters who were interested in the number of trophies didn’t want to renounce their comfort. The Caucasus of that time was contraindicated to such people. One of the travelers described hunting in the Caucasian mountains as mountaineering on an empty stomach, but not hunting. But the others who knew the value of the trophy, taken in the wild and remote country without somebody's help and when he worked hard to find and to chase it, remembered the Caucasus as one of the best hunting places in the world.     Quotes: “Let me to discover you the main secret of the successful trip. Don’t allow you any excesses which are not available for you companions. If you have tobacco just for one pipe, transfer the pipe from one to another and you won’t be left without a reward, especially on the Caucasus. So many years have left but I still remember one cold and wet morning. I woke up at 3 o’clock and found that covered by two coats. It made me to feel warm and dry. The owners of the coats were seating near the fire, very close, talked quietly and waited for the sunrise. They gave them to me to make me warm. I chastise them for their folly, made them to lay and to cover by the coats then turned to another side and slept away. Next time I woke up at 7 am (too late for the camp life) those guys we squatted around the fire and cook the breakfast. I was covered by their coats once again. The reason was that I proved my friendship in two days before it happened. Next morning we parted forever and they gave me a heartfelt farewell with the words: "God be with you!” They didn’t consider that care to be something special but felt that I couldn’ t sleep when being cold or I could be sick if not to eat one day. K. Philips-Wally.   It took three days for the famous English hunter and traveler St. George Littledale to detect and to chase the herd of Turs. There were several good size males in it. It looked as if the mountains bothered him to approach the animals and to shoot. None of the chosen tactics worked. At last the hunting luck smiled to him and he managed to spot the group of animals which grazed in a half of the mile from him. Even the wind blew in the necessary destination. It is so easy,- Littledale thought. The experience told him that there was a catch somewhere. And it was so. He almost approached the group when met the piece of clear snow 100 yards width, which was impossible to cross not being notice by the animals . He examined the terrain again and again trying to find the way out how to cross snow being invisible for the animals but couldn’t find anything. The hunter felt Tantalum torment, being so close to the trophy after three days of looking for it but couldn’t do a step. It was getting dark and colder. The wind started to change the destination. The fog rose from the valley and crawled up the gorge and hide the snow part. It took the hunter just one moment to cross it. He moved like a ghost and could hardly hide behind the rock when the fog lifted. Then he looked out from behind the shelter and saw the old male stood sideways on the rock. The distance allowed to shoot. Littledale aimed and shot. The bull dropped dead and the next male stood on its place and also dropped after the second shot.   Littledale had the lancer outfitting as is was required by the era and his status, It had black powder, the muzzle velocity was about 600 m/s, lead bullets (empty in the front part) and all-metal. The first rifles had a reliable stop effect but not always pierced the skin of big animals. The second edition had good breakdown capacity but could go through the animals and to wound them. It was hard to chase such animals. Littledale shot lots of game but wounded several and couldn’t find them. His guides - the lezgin and three Russian guys advised him to clean the lancer outfitting. The Englishman replied that he never went to bed not cleaning the gun and suggested to look through the barrels at the light. They all looked and agreed that the barrels were clean but insisted on flushing them. They insisted on flushing it but not by simple water but water from three different springs which they would get on the sunrise while none of animals drank it or until not a single person was bathed. When Littledale wounded the next deer, the lezgin mutinied and threw his papakha to the ground. He refused to hunt until the gun wouldn’t be flushed and said that the hunter didn’t get any game even they animals went in formation before him. Littledale surrendered and agreed to make that magic rite. The guides had done everything following the Mountians law in a very solemny atmosphere. They gathered water from three different springs, boilded it and cleaned the barrels. The hunter didn't wound any animals from that time and all game dropped dead. The primitive magic of the wild Caucasus worked well. Or the reason was that Littledale refused to use the all metal bullets and began to us the express one.   One of the best guides in my life was the lezgin who spent almost all time hunting in the mountains and it would be better for him not to descend at all. First thing he did when coming back to the village was to drink vodka and couldn’t stop while had money. Once we should have to leave the village where stayed for three days because needed to buy sheep, to bake bread and reforge horses. Everybody was ready but we couldn't find the lezgin. At last we found him but he was very drank. Each time when me or my wife asked him , he took off his hat and bowed to the ground. We had to cross the ford near the village. Our group just came into the water when he turned and went back to the village. I turned and caught him. I asked him to keep and eye on the packhorse, just not to let him go back. He refused and said that he was more then forty years old and the youth had to work bu not he had. I replied that couldn’t delegate such serious matter to the youth and because I also was more than forty we could lead the horse in turn. He seriously asked to carry my alpenstock when I would lead the horse and I agreed. If he told that he was tired and sat down I replied that I was tired too and dreamed about rest. Each time when he wanted to bear my binoculars I agreed only if he allowed me to carry his rifle. We dropped that act almost all road and my wife nearly burst out laughing as she watched us. But it was worth it because he knew about those mountains and undiluted animals behavior much more than all other guides taken together. St. George Littledale

Not all hunting trips are going on as you plan. New circumstances can change everything. I was going to Turkey to hunt for the Konya Mouflon and Bezoar Ibex and was sure those trophies would be in Top 5 of the SCI record book. But fate punished me for my pride. On the other hand, it gave me unforgettable impressions and allowed to discover Turkey as the country with outstanding traditions and varaity of hunting species. There you can hunt for a deer, a mouflon, a chamois, an ibex, a wild boar, feathered game and others. Everything was organized ( we hunted with the Safari company) on the very high and professional level. But first things first. It didn’t take much time to plan that trip. My friend and the manager from “Safari Expedition” Dmitry Yastrebov knew the Turkish outfitter and they prepared everything in a short time. I was going to hunt for two trophies. The Konya Mouflon is threatened with extinction but Turks could have risen its population. They’d established the National Reserve and then added two more to protect those animals. The number of those animals have risen enough and each year they give four hunting licenses for the local hunters. All other license are available for the foreign hunters. As for a Ibex, it’s widely spread all over the country. The trip started pretty well. We could manage to leave Moscow although there was a snowstorm and the flight had been delayed in two hours and were in time for the transfer flight in Istanbul. I was surprised that the weapon had been overloaded to the next plane though the transfer between two flights lasted just forty minutes. But customs officers were really surprised when saw we had only guns cases and no luggage. Nobody told them that our luggage left in the Istanbul. The local outfitters waited for us and all procedures took just fifteen minutes. Konya had happened to be a big city with one million population. Its total square was about 39 000 square meters. The Turks consider is to be one of the main Muslim towns and very religious. Most of women wear headscarves. You can’t find alcohol in the city restaurants. There is a famous museum of Jalaleddin Rumi - one of the followers of the prophet Muhammad. The Rixos hotel didn’t impress me but all food was excellent and I could even drink beer there. We discussed future plans and went to bed. We got up at 7 am and left the hotel. It didn't take much time to drive by good asphalted road, about 50 km, then some stone parts and at last we arrived to the territory where were going to hunt. It was about 5000 ha and all fenced. It was big enough. The guides researched of the surroundings while waited for us. We got acquittance with each other and moved to the hunt.        I used Surgeon Rifles Scalpen with the caliber 300 WinMag. Its shooting limits is 1000 meters and it was first time when I took it. I had no experience of shooting from that gun that's why I did several ballistic tables, for the bullets I had, and took them with me. In a half an hour we detected first sheep, the group consisted of three dozen males but none of them had trophy size. Later we met one more herd, about 150 animals but nothing extraordinary. Then another and another, but there were not worthy trophies. We decided to hike a little bit. It was a sunny day but wind was so strong that each time when I make a step the wind tried to knock me down. I couldn't imagine what the correction had to be done for such wind. We had walked about an hour and met two more sheep groups but there were not record size males. It looked like the sheep were afraid of people as if they were constantly hunted. They ran away as soon as they saw our car. At noon we had lunch which consisted of olives, bread and tea. Then the group went on driving. In the second part of the day we met two more sheep groups but nothing interesting. Later on the sunset we noticed two trophy size males but they didn’t give us any chance to approach and disappeared in the rocks. We were sad but had no choice but drive back to the hotel. Next morning, we decided to start the hunt earlier and from that place. One of us suggested to taste the local food and we all went to the center to the national restaurant. There we knew that city restaurants had no alcohol. I had to drink ayran. I tasted local dishes, one of them looked like pizza but has thinner bread with different ingredients and spices. I really like the local dessert with the fried cheese. Next day we woke up earlier and went for the hunt at 8 am. Our adventures had started at that time. The cartridges 300 WinMag were done by the specialist who did them specially for that kind of shooting distance. Probably that series was not good quality and one of the cartridges broke right in the barrel. I had bad feeling and was right. In thirty minutes, I spotted a good size male. It began to run up to the top but stopped from time to time and glanced to us. I jumped from the car, set the rifle and measured the distance, 400 meters, then i put in the bullet into the chamber... Oh no I couldn’t do it. The bolt didn’t open. While I tried to do it and even changed the cartridge, the male disappeared. The reason was in gunpowder remained in the barrel when the first cartridge ruined. I cleaned the barrel and tried to put in the new one but it ruined right in the magazine. I thought: “Oh, that is so going in”. I had twenty cartridges and a half of them was bad quality. The spirit dropped but I chose three good ones and we followed the male. It was gone while i was busy with the rifle. In a few minutes we detected one more herd about 280 individuals. The animals didn’t plan to wait for us and also ran away. I said the guides that we all would have lunch just after the trophy was taken. They agreed. The weather was fine. It was warm with light wind, +12- 15 degrees. One of guides noticed two huge herd which grazed in one of the hollows. They also ran away but we had time to review them through the binoculars and detected a good size male. I took the comfortable position and measured the distance, 425 meters. Dmitry switched on camera. The sheep were going up the slope, when the chosen one stopped for a minute, I shot. The herd was out of sight, and so was ours. They said, I missed but it wouldn’t be so. We watched video and I saw the bullet flew up to the left.        We resolved to move back to the base and to check the rifle. Unfortunately, we didn’t have many good quality cartridges. The test showed that I shot down the scope while we were driving. There was no wind and I didn't guess to check the corrections. That's how confidence of the fighters fails. When I shot at 100 meters the error was 20 cm. We ascertained it after wasting several cartridges. I repaired the gun and we moved to the mountains once again. The local inspector, who accompanied us, always moved behind our cars but that time he decided to drive the first. He wasn’t good in hunting and missed the group of sheep, grazed on the slope. The animals noticed him and started to move away slowly. My guide said that there was a good male and I took the shooting position. He pointed to the sheep and asked to wait for a while that male would separate from the others. I did as he asked. The distance, the shot - the male ran about 70 meters and fell down. Everything looked well but soon we found that it was not big. Thus, my dream, to get the mouflon from the, Top 5 had crushed. We all were sad but there’s nothing to do. The photo session was done in the silence. We did few pictures and drove back to the town not even drinking tea.             I needed to change the activity that's why we visited several local museums, ancient mosques ( some of them were 900 years old or even elder), the mosque and the tomb of Mevlana and other local saints. There was a relic - the part of the prophet Muhammad, smelled by incense. The relic was in the box with few holes which allowed to feel the smell. There I knew that the first school for monks were opened in that place. Lots of Muslim tradition started from that area including namaz. Some of the rituals look very strange. For example, the monks, talking to Allah, should spin into one side during long time (about 7 or even 8 hours) and don't stop for a minute. We saw how they did it and I was impressed. I still don’t understand how they do it. The daily program finished on the local bazaar where we tasted and bought fresh Turkish delight, nuts and dried fruits for home. We had dinner accompanied by the local band, watched dance show and moved to Antalya. The next hunting territory was in 150 km from Konya. At midnight we arrived to the place. There we changed the guides. It wasn’t planned but mum of our chief guide was sick and he had to leave us. At 6 am we met the new ones. They were very professional and provided by the local company. The accommodation was in the nice wooden boutique hotel. It was cozy but not warm. It was not the touristic season and they didn’t heat it well yet. They gave us a heater, one per each room and we also made fire each time when sitting in the canteen. The staff consisted off two persons, the man who spoke German, cooked and kept the house and a women, I didn’t know what she was doing. We woke up at 5 am and in an hour stood near the foot of the beautiful mountains not far from the one of the small villages. The group of eight locals waited for us, they monitored the Ibex for a week before our arrival. The outfitter even gave them phones. They informed us about the ibex location and said we had to go. Then one of them pointed the direction. I looked to the direction, they showed and was afraid, there was no any sign of the road but we took our backpacks and started to rise. We noticed new paths while rising to the top, the guides knew all of them. The ascend wasn’t really tough and took three hours. We were lucky with weather, it was sunny, about 7 degrees. We liked everything. I enjoyed the spruce smell of the forest, we crossed. I liked the rocks, we were crawling over, listened to the murmur of springs and breathed the wind, it wasn’t strong yet. We found ibexes where expected. Dmitry and I laid and began to wait for our trophy. It came but not soon. I had the chance to shoot but Dmitry didn't find it by camera in time. “Not a problem”- we thought. But it was. It was a very wiser and experienced male and soon we found it out. We waited it till 2 pm. We glimpsed it twice in 500 and 700 meters and then it crossed the ridge. It had the talent to find trees, which used like the covers, and moved invisible for us. After a lunch we solved to follow it because the guides who stayed down said the male was on the next slope already. The next march took us an hour and a half and was tough. I sweat a lot when marching and always take extra underwear to keep myself dry and warm. And there we were. The situation repeated. It didn’t us any chance to aim. We saw it twice in 700 and 1000 meters and then the male went back to the slope where we had been before. In the evening the guides said that next morning the program would be the same. We should get up and start the hunt earlier. It took us two hours to come back but it was easily. We crossed the amazing canyon when we going back. We also found the ruins of the ancient house and the well which the locals use when pasturing the herds in the summer time. There was a picturesque mountain road which could be used just for men and horses. At last we arrived to the hotel. I was tired and dreamed about the rest but the hotel was full of smoke. They didn’t do it on purpose, the hotel manager just couldn’t fire the fireplace. One more advice. You should check the clothes after coming back from the forest. We found several ticks. One of them was on my jacket, another one on Dmitry’s. We took hot shower and it helped to feel better. The hotel cook made good dinner. We tasted the lamb roast and went to bed. I fell asleep as touched the pillow. The village rooster woke us at 5 am better than any alarm clock and crowed about an hour till 6 am. We had short breakfast and was on the yesterday place in thirty minutes. The guides gleefully told us that the Ibex is still on the place. We started to ascend; the feet pained after the yesterday exercises but I could go. We just started when one of the guides felt sick and left us, we shared his luggage between us and went on. The hunters know what each extra 100 gr means in the mountains. Later in an hour we changed the way because met the group of females. We went to the right and hit to the rocky rise. Dmitry called our trip as mountaineering’s hunting. Telling the truth, it was the most difficult ascend in my hunting career. We should crawl on all four on the cliff and then went by the narrow path near the abyss. Moreover, we all had heavy backpacks and various thoughts came to mind at that moment. The next part of the way was easy after we had overcome the rocks. The guides told us later that they were mistaken with the path but there was no way back and we were good fellows that could do it. They didn’t know how we could come back by that way. We met ibexes on the same place. My male still hidden among trees. We had waited about two hours when it appeared in 400 meters. Everybody was ready and I shot. In a second the herd disappeared from our view. I realized that I missed. I didn’t do the wind correction though it was 20 meters per second at that time. I was terribly upset but all guides together took the binoculars and scopes and ran to the next slope to monitor the opposite mountains. They expected ibexes would come there. It was true. The animals showed there in 40 minutes but they were too far. I watched to them through the scope and they looked as small as bugs. The guides made fire and sat to have lunch while the one of them stayed to oversee the herd. I asked about our plan. They replied that there were two ways what we would do. We should go back to the camp if goats cross the ridge. In the other way if animals stood on that height we'd solve what to do. We had lunch (olives, cheese and canned tuna) and continued to observe ibexes. In 40 minutes, we realized, they were not going to move from that place. They were grazing what meant that were calmed after the shot. The guides had a plan. We should run up and down about 5 km (two and a half hours) and to approach them from ahead. Dmitry and I exchanged glances but there was nothing to do. It was my mistake and I had to correct it. I won’t describe our torments though they had been. We crossed debris, fell into springs and snow but did it. It was common for the mountains. At the end the wind was going to blow into our side what could ruin all plans. We were close to failure, but found the way out. The decision was to rise higher where the wind would blow above the herd and we could do it. We came to them through the gorge, the shooting distance was 400 meters. My male had rest under the tree while the herd was pasturing. I knew that it was not fair to shoot to the laying animal but I was so tired by its behavior and couldn’t resist. The bullet had been blown off to the right and I hit to its belly. The Ibex ran into 10 meters and stopped. I shot once again ( with the strong wind) and broke its back legs. It laid down. All guides started to jump and were happy like kids. They hugged me and Dmitry. I also exulted in the soul. I did it! Then they set their cameras and asked me to shot once again. The guides had to make video reports for the boss. I had just two cartridges left and had no right for the mistake. I got my act together, aimed and fired. The goat fell down. The mountains once again resounded with joyous shouts. We all were full of feelings. Dmitry told that was one of the most difficult but interesting hunt in his life. I agreed that felt the same. We went down while three guides stayed to get the trophy. Dmitry, Dzhegar - our chief guide and I made fire and ate some snack. Soon we heady happy cries and went to meet them halfway. The Ibex, I got, was 134 cm, though they promised me 142 cm, but it was a labor trophy. Such trips and trophies you won’t never forget. Guides made much more pictures with the trophy than we had. They use cameras and phones. It became dark, snow with rain started. The guides cut meat and was going to take it all to the camp but fortunately we didn’t have hands enough and they left a part of it on the place. They hung it on the tree till the next day. At last we went home and the way back was awful. It was dark and stones under our feet were wet and we should use flashlight or phones to light the road. Everybody who has been in the mountains knows how dangerous is the night descend. It was tough but I was in a high spirit. That was the only reason why I didn't feel tired. In two hours, we came to the abandoned hut where had found fire and two more guides. They waited for us to help. We drank some tea, had short rest and moved to the Base. It took us two more hours. We knew the road because went there yesterday and it was flat enough. At last we arrived to the camp where the rest of the group waited for us. They congratulated us. We had a bottle of vodka and celebrated the successful hunt with our new friends. Then gave tips to the team. They don’t work without them and if you don’t give tips they will remind you about it. But the team worked them out 100 percent.     After coming back to the hotel i took hot shower. It was real happiness after such long and cold hike. The weather became worse lightnings began to flash more frequently, and one struck very close. The light went out and we had candlelight dinner. It was so romantic. We thanked our hospitable hosts, left the hotel at 11 pm and drove back to Antalya. We drove 140 km, the flight to Moscow would leave early morning. We all slept till the town but our driver worked hard. The weather was awful. Next morning, we woke up and didn’t believe. There was no any sign of clouds on the sky. I saw turquoise sea, complete calm, ships on the sea. It was a stark contrast in comparison with yesterday's weather. Hunting - such a thing!

It happened in Kyrgyzstan when I occasionally became the member of the scientific expedition. I had the shooting license which allowed me to get an argali for collection of the genetic material. I was accompanied by the very passionate scientists from the Kyrgyzstant Academy of Science. They monitor and keep the record of animal numbers which habitat on the territory of the country during the long period of time. II've been surprised that they send all genetic material to USA to analyze and to compare because the biggest genetic bank of the wild ungulates is located there. For many year the biggest hunting Associations of the New World such as Safari Club International and Grand Slam Club OVIS initiated different scientific expeditions and programs to study the wild ungulates all around the world.   The results of that work is the reliable data of populations and the DNA Bank (the main genome molecule) of mountain ungulates of the entire planet. Such competent and scientific approach causes respect and makes us to think how the things are going on in Russia. We know about Nikolay Vavilov - the Russian Academic who created the Bank of agricultural plants collected all around the world. Other scientists followed this way and formed the Banks of single-celled organisms and viruses. Today we can compare and analyze the composition of mitochondrial or nuclear DNA and it’s very important to have the Data Bank which allows to define the belonging similar multicellular animals to the same genus. The initiative group of the CMH pointed the support of the scientific programs as one of the priority activity of the Club. It’s a part of our mission. The process of   registration of the Club Articles is not completed yet but we've send our proposals to the A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution. We suggested them to develop a joint program to study the wild ungulates. Our pilot project is the research program which study the molecular and genetic variability of mountain goats (Tur) on Caucasus (Capra caucasica, C. cylindricornis, C. aegagrus). Turs are the endemic animals, habitat in that definite mountains massif and they form the stable population from t the north- west of Kuban to the south- east of Azerbaijan. That area has been a war zone during the long period of time, that's why we don't have enough information based on the genetic data research. The north American Club of Mountain Hunters Ovis defined the Mid Caucasus subspecies as the separate hunting species. They did it by two reasons. The first one is to activate the hunting tourism. It’s a known fact that adding a new species or populations create good conditions to develop the hunting industry. The trophy hunters has the passion to collect as many trophies as it's possible that’s why he will go to the new area to get the new animal. The next reason is so that hunters who hunted on Caucasus or in Karachay-Cherkessia know or even have met the animals, which look different in comparison with Dagestan or Kuban turs. They inhabitat on the border of those two populations. The Russian Club of Mountain Hunters launched the scientific program. Its aim is to estimate the genetic variety of mountain goats populations on Caucasus (Capra caucasica, C. cylindricornis, C. aegagrus). It’ll help to systematize mountain ungulates. But we are not going to confine with that research. The number of Russian mountain hunters who travel all around the world increased in several times. All together we could support Russian science to create the molecular genetic data Bank which would analyze, study and systematize the received data. It’s also important for future generations. It's clear that none of the scientific organizations can make such research independently but if it connect with well known outfitters companies or famous hunters, all together we could cope with this task. Most of hunters who hunt around the world and several big outfitters companies such as Profi Hunt and Safari Expeditions supported that idea. I urge you too to join the initiative of our Club and to contribute to the study of wild ungulate hunting animals. Below is the instruction how to collect the material for the further study. 1. Clean the knife blade by water and wipe with alcohol or vodka 2. Don’t touch the blade by hands or other things after cleanin. 3. You have to make an incision of the outer layers of muscles of the animal’s body, its neck, a head or a tongue and cut a piece of muscle with the size of a pea ( 1-3 grams). 4. Put it into a test tube with alcohol not touching it by hands. 5. Close the tube and glue the peice of paper with the following data: -  Species -  Date of hunt -  The district or the federation entity, if the trophy was taken in Russia or detailed description of other countries. - Gender, age (trophy) - Name of the hunter - GPS/Glonass coordinates of the place where the trophy has been hunted if it’s possible. 6. To make the picture of the trophy from different sides. 7. Мeasure of the trophy Alexander Gomonov tel. +79151357635. Is the contact person who provide you with test tubes and all delivery instructions. Safari magazine will published names of all hunters who contributed the foundation of the molecular genetic Bank of the wild hunting animals.

I was watching the picture and shook the head from time to time. I was shocked by what I’d seen and could hardly pronounce a phase: I couldn’t believe it! There was a sheep Marco Polo on the photo. It's horns were more than 182 sm. I can't judge what other people, who are not fond of mountain hunts, feel when hearing such figures. Probably they are not surprised. Another thing is hunters who know that the actual world record, which belongs to the famous American hunter of Iranian origin Hussein Golabchi is just 178 sm. He got it after many hunts in that remote area in the mountains of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. He visited those countries several times before could get the record trophy. I took my eyes off the picture and looked to its author Yuri Matisson , then shook my head one again and smiled. Everything was clear without any words. Yuri is known among mountain hunters as Dr. Poli. He sat in front of me in the Base camp, located on the shore of the Karakul lake and kindly smiled. He is very interesting and exceptional man. I traveled a lot around the world and had met lots of people in different countries and continents. Most of them were nice, some were talented hunters but some were not but Yuri made a lasting impression on me. There was the article about him in the Safari magazine ( #3/2000) but it was so long time ago and I want to write about him once again. He works as outfitter on Pamir from the end of 80’s and have succeeded to build the company which meets all requirements of hunters from different part of the world. It was a tough task in the conditions of chaos which was there at that time and locals were not always ready to change their habits and work style.. Some people consider him to be a poacher the other ones admit his organizing skills but they all agree that Yuri Matisson is a brand in Tajikistan. All outfitters and agents who send their clients to Tajikistan know him. His name is passed around by hundred or thousand hunters who have visited that harsh place. Yuri and his parents lived in Tashkent where he was keen by mountain huntings. After the graduating the Leningradsky Medical Institute he asked to assigned him to Tajikistan. His specialization was neurosurgery but there was not enough doctors in the area where he started to work and he was forced to master all other medical skills and specializations. But he never betrayed his Great love - Pamir and mountain hunting there. The years has left and USSR doesn't exist anymore but Yuri is still there. His heart and body belong to Pamir. He spend from six to seven month in the mountains organizing hunting trips. He’s managed to create the net of hunting camps located in the different part of the country and has collected the group of professional guides and most of them work with him more than twenty years. Yuri , by his nature, is a very modest and calm person. He solves endless problems which happen on the regular base because of the local unstable situation and treats them like new challenges. I’m sure that his balanced character helps to find the right decisions in the tough conditions. Being a 53 years old he is in a great physical form and hikes for long distances looking for the best samples of Marco Polo. The trophy with 182 sm horns was taken by him. I asked why he didn’t rank it but he replied that didn’t need it. He isn’t ambitious at all. But I think, this is different. Six of the world top ten Marco Polo trophies, including the world record, belong to Hussein Golabchi . The article about him you can find in the "Safari" magazine (#4-2000). Hussein ( the friends call him Sudi) hunts in that area during many years. There were periods when he visited Pamir two or three times in a year and these two became real friends. He is 74 now and I’m sure that Yuri doesn’t want to upset his friend pushing him out of first place. It's very noble of him. But the sheep, taken by Yuri, is unique. Thus Yuri became the outfitter who organized our trip to Tajikistan. It was my dream to visits that place. First of all I wanted to get the trophy of the most famous sheep in the world. Secondly, I’m fond of mountains hunting and had never been there. Thirdly, I’d booked it a year ago and felt excitation when the date came. Forthly I’ve alsmost reached the goal to get 12 sheep whihc allows me to get the prestige award of Ovis Assosiation “Grand Slam”. The turn of Marco Polo had come...   So, on the roof of the world. The plane of the Siberia airlines delivered my and Sergey Uspensky to the Kyrgyzian town Osh. Then we flew by hellicopter to Tajikistan to the lake Karakul area. The Base camp was located on the shore of the salted mountains lake. The alltitude there was 4200 masl. We were accommodated in the comfortable cabins with hot batteries and toilet what looked unsual for the highlands camps. The main purpose of such camps is to give hunters time for adaptation for the lack of oxygen and low pressure. It’s an obligatory requirement to avoid problems in future. It took us one day and then Sergey and I moved to the opposite sides hoping for the hunting luck. The guides drove us to two different gorges where big males had been detected. Yori joined me. Our UAZ driver was his longtime associate and my namesake Edward. Four hours while we were driving I enjoyed the majestic mountain landscapes. Then we had to go two hours more before arrived to the end of the gorge where set the mobile camp. I set my proven single person tent and took out the sleeping bag, with the comfort temperature - 20C. It was November and the average night temperature dropped to -18C. Fortunately the sleeping bag passed the test and I slept well. Next morning we two, accompanied by three more guides went to the mountains and started from the climbing the gorge covered by snowfields. Soon one of us noticed the group of mountain goats, about two dozen of animals. There were several trophy size males and I decided to get one of them. We approached the group one hundred meters from the leeward and I made the only but accurate shot. In any case I could hardly to fire for the second time. The inflated cartridge left in the chamber and it took me some time to correct it. Yuri left us and went ahead looking for the sheep. Soon he connected with us by radio and told that spotted the group of males and there were several good ones. The guides found and monitored that herd from the June checking from time to time if was it still grazed together because wolves could dispersed it. We noticed one wolf when crossing the river. Yuri gave us coordinates and we began to ascend. It was the long and tough climbing. Few times we met mountains goats but fortunately the wind was on our side and they didn’t prevent us from approaching of sheep. We went and went taking rest for few minutes several times. It was 4800 masl when we saw the group of males which had rest after feeding. There were not less than 20 males in it. They laid in one km from us. There was no any possibility to come closer. The herd of females pastured between us. The ladies would warn their “husbands” if noticed humans. We should have to wait. Later we detected two more groups of sheep, peacefully grazed on the snowy slopes. An hour passed and females left the place, that's why we could try to come closer. We set off together but mountains surprised us as usual, the air gradually warmed up and changed its destination to the adverse for us. We could creep just to 550 meters. How we shoot in the mountains. Some hunters think that they have to approach the potential trophy not less than a hundred meters. The others are ready to shoot for much longer distances, but keep in mind the critical limit. They are sure if you exceed it, the possibility to wound the animal is much higher. I can fire for the long distance and a half a mile is not the limit. I was embarrassed by the fact that should have to use the rented rifle but I tested it before and it worked well. I took the comfortable position using the folds of the terrain and stones which put under the elbows. But I have some rules or so called taboo. I never shoot to the lying sheep. There are several reasons for it and later I’ll write about them. So, I should have to wait when males stood up for the evening feeding. I didn’t move for about an hour and a half and got frozen. It was more than 5 pm but sheep didn’t stand up yet. But I had enough time to examine my future trophy. It differed from the others though I saw only its back. Yuri was somewhere down in the valley and monitored the group through the scope. He also marked that male. At last they began to stand up one by one. But my male still laid and was not in a hurry at all. Soon all group were on feet and waited for my one. It was the leader who continued to rest not paing attention to the others who were ready to move. It waited for a pause and then stood up. It took him a few seconds while it stood in the position which I needed and the roar of a shot broke the silence of the valley. Aksakal fell and rolled down by the stones. Sheep were very strong and endurance animals and that one was not the exception. It leapt to its feet and run up losing its strength by each step. I didn't have time to blink as it disappeared behind the rock.... Yuri saw that the animal wouldn't gonna be breathing long but it reached the top of the ridge and got lost among kins. Day hours came to the end and we should have to go down. The searching expedition would go on next morning. It took us two hours to go down and the last forty minutes we walked in the deep darkness. Later in the camp Yuri took that decision that two guides would stay in the camp and begin searching in the gorge next morning. The rest of the group would move to the opposite gorge in case the wounded male passed the ridge. I’ was sure that the wounded sheep would pass away soon. I had no doubt that it did not pass the ridge and we would find it not far from the place it was shot. All wounded sheep behave in the same way. They try to climb as high as possible and to rest. It had no sense to pass the ridge and to go down. It’d rest on the top. into account how much blood it lost and how cold was there, the male would die soon. But I didn’t insist on my opinion. Everything happened as I predicted. It was 7.30 am when guides called us and said that found the trophy. It died and rolled down to the bottom of the gorge. It was a worth male with horns 156 cm. Of courst it was not 182cm but I remember Yuri's words when he described me nice trophy, taken by Gollobchi with 168 sm horns. There was a snowstorm and the friends could die in the mountains that's why they should have to leave the trophy to safe their life. And Yuri said: I’ not sure that somebody can get such size arkhar soon. My trophy had not have record horns but it was good in any case and more important it allowed me to come closer to the award. It was a lucky hunt because it got two trophies in one day. By the way my fellow Sergy was lucky too. He got the male with 153 cm horns. We knew in the camp that Hussein Gollabchi arrived to Pamir. He was in another camp located not far from the Chinese border. It was a pity because I wanted to see and talked to him. First time I met that guy was in 2007 when we both flew from Moscow to Petropavlovsk - Kamchatky. I didn’t heard about him yet but when he told me about his passion to hunts we talked all the way to the place. World hunters have to separate nationality. They always have common themes for conversation most of them heard about each other though never met and we all are ready to help each other in the difficult situations. A lot has changed since we met each other at the first time. I was lucky to found new friends and contacted with many famous hunters. I’m proud of it. It’s not easy to enter the elite club of mountain hunters. When we arrived to the Base camp one of the French hunters recognized me. He was the member of the French delegation of CIC and personaly knew my friend Bernard Lohse. The hunting world is small. I want to say warm words to Yuri Matisson and his team. Thank you for your hospitality. I’m ready to visit Tajikistan once again and hunt one more wonderful trophy inhabits there. Hopefully I’ll write about it on these pages.

The source of the sun energy can be dangerous for hunters not only because of the sunstroke. The sunlight or better to say the sun radiation (don’t confuse it with the ionizing radiation) - is the electromagnetic and corpuscular radiation from the Sun. Let's talk about the corpuscular radiation first. This part of radiation is formed by protons and electrons and released due to the solar flares. These high energy particles form space rays which cooperate with the Earth magnetosphere and create magnetic storms. Their influence on people is not fully understood yet. But we know that hypertensives feel headache and tiredness when atmospheric pressure rises. Nowadays the scientists can make accurate forecasts concerning magnetic storms and weather-dependent people can know ahead about the solar flares. As for the electromagnetic radiation, it influences on all without exception by three ways. – by sun rays; – by scattered solar radiation ( when it goes through the Earth atmosphere and reflects from the clouds); – by the sun radiation, reflected from the Earth surface. There are three main components, determined in the sunlight spectrum - infrared radiation, visible white light, and ultraviolet light. We all know that ultraviolet kills most of the living organisms. It depends on their sizes and the dozes. It represents danger for human living and its influence has the most harmful effect. The abuse of the sun bathes can be the reason of malignant melanoma – skin cancer. The ultraviolet radiation power is different and depends on the geography. It’s higher on the equator because the distance to the Earth is lower when rays go through the atmosphere, our natural light filter. It differs in the different season. The reason is the changes in the earth's orbit around the Sun and the presence of snow cover (they reflect about 70% UF). The third reason is the time of a day. The shortest way through the atmosphere to the Earth is when the sun is at the Zenith. The sun location on 30% makes their way in two times longer and in 34,5 times longer on the sunset. It also depends on the cloudiness. And the last reason is the object location on the height above the sea level. The sun rays go through the atmospheric layers and reach the lower ones (including the ozone layer too). There they get into particles of dust, smoke, and water vapor, presented in a suspended state. They all help to absorbed and dispersed the sun rays coming through them. The dirtier atmosphere and the longer the way, the sun rays have to go through, the less sun radiation. The highlands is the territory where the level of sun radiation is very high and ultraviolet is more active. You can get first and second degree burns there. Ultraviolet is responsible for the skin irritation. It makes it red and bubbles appear. It makes us to feel discomfort and pain. We have to be very careful when treating the wounds, to avoid the blood poisoning and other unpleasant consequences. The hunters are usually dressed when trekking on the height from 3000 masl but forget about uncovered hands and faces. The best prevention is the usage of the sunscreen cream. If it has high sunscreen factor (SPF), the better. It hasn’t been lower than 30.   One more problem is the ophthalmia or burn of the conjunctiva and cornea of the eye by ultraviolet rays, reflected from snow, ice or the water surface. We all are at risk when stay in the mountains during the whole hunting season. The high quantity of UF in the highland’s spectrum can cause a corneal burn in a few minutes, or even damage to the retina if you stay there for a long time. The eyeball allows to reduce the quantity of light thanks to the pupil contraction. But there is the risk in any case. The risk is higher in the cloudy weather. The ultraviolet rays have one feature, they can pass through the clouds almost unimpeded. The cloudy weather makes the contrast become softer and the undulation of the surface lubricate, these features make us to strain eyes and the pupils dilates to see better. This is the time when ultraviolet hits us. The main symptoms of the snow blindness are; tearfulness of the eyes, conjunctival swelling, reddening of the eyes whites, “sand” feeling in the eyes, blurring the image until it is completely lost. There are lots of proved cases of full vision loss in the mountains, especially among climbers. This problem is known from the moment of the emergence of humanity. The ancient ways of preventions were the wooden planks with slits for eyes, leather bandages with holes, and so on. Today we use sunglasses which also differ by the UV protection levels. If you have glasses without UV protection it can make the situation even worse because dark glass makes to dilate the pupils and leads to the UV burn. It's not necessary to have dark glasses, the colorless glass can also have UV protection. I uses polarized glassed which help to removes glare and reflections. My favorites glasses colors are orange and brown because them make the picture more contrast. We all need sun but its excess is dangerous and can even kill us - says the Director of the WHO Department of public health and the environment Maria Neira. Fortunately, we can avoid malignant melanoma and other types of skin cancer and eye burns in 100 % if use necessary security measures. The resume. 1. You need to use the sunscreen cream, not lower than 30 SPF protection, especially if you have white skin. 2. I advise to wear sunglasses when you are in the highlands and in the cloudy weather too. Few words about biochemistry and biophysics The mountains hunters know that feeling of exhaustion when they make an incredible effort being on the highland. ( I know that the most difficult part of the hunt is to carry the trophy). How does our body react to the stress in the mountains? We need to deep into the world of human physiology, biochemistry and Biophysics. There are few sources of energy and we can divide them into.. – turbo-reactive, represented by adenosine triphosphate (ATP) molecules), –reactive, consisting of creatine phosphate, – fast, represented by glycogen (a polysaccharide formed by glucose residues), – slow-fat. ATP is the most powerful source of energy which give max gain energy in a few seconds. The weightlifter's jerk. The ATP stocks immediately ends and the cells begin to synthesize new molecules from creatine phosphate. The new energy is enough for a sprint for 7-8 seconds. Then, the power of the body decreases and starts an anaerobic (oxygen-free) metabolism of glycogen. Its stocks are in our liver and muscles. Glycogen energy is enough for an hour. Lactic acid is a by- product of that synthesis. It's the reason of the pain in muscles Oxygen can help to remove it. Glycogen energy - is the energy of oxygen advance. Fats are the slowest source of energy. We need a great deal of oxygen to process them into warmth. But there is not enough oxygen on the highlands. The muscles fibers are also divided into fast and slow ones, which work (contracts) according to their names. Fast muscles need oxygen- free metabolism and fast energy sources. The slow ones have more higher endurance level and use the oxygen synthesis products. The ordinary city citizens have the same portions of fast and slow muscles but the trained people such as the athletes-skiers have about 90% of slow muscles. Thus, any man if he trains regular, not less than 40 min. per one time, has the chance to increase the number of slow muscles, there is nothing to do in the mountains without them. But there are some opponents of this theory. They consider that everything depends on our genetic. The truth is somewhere in the middle. Where does the energy come from? Creatine phosphate, the source of ATP, belongs to the protein group ( if you want to be strong, you need to eat meat). Glycogen is a part of carbohydrate derivative (if you want to be endurance - eat carbohydrates!). We need plant and animal fats, it's impossible to be endurance without them. The ratio of this ingredients in weight in mountain lover's nutrition has to be so: 1 part - protein, 1 part - fat and 4 parts of carbohydrates. The classical ratio products in the diet is 1-1,5- 4,4. It’s better to eat much carbohydrates when you are in the mountains. They give anaerobic glycogen- the best fuel for the high workloads. Adrenalin is the additional activity regulator. It leaks into the bloodstream and increases the heart rate, the depth of breath, the blood flows to the muscles and we feel lightness and euphoria. You can easily see those changes on the hunt when see the Game. Being in adrenaline rush the hunter can miss the animal which is in a few meters from him. Sometimes the hunters ask the guide to shoot instead of them because can’t deal with hand tremors. I don't know how it influence on other people but as for me, adrenaline stimulates me a lot. I see the point on the horizon and have strength to run... It often has negative consequences when I can't estimate my condition correctly. It led to the loss of desire to come back, i can miss or to lose the way and so. The more experienced I’m the less it happens (usually to the end of the hunting season). I become more prudence thought it is not like me. The reason of the fatigue is the oxygen deficiency, overload of the muscles, the consumption of calcium when they are reduced, depleted glycogen stores and slow the synthesis of energy from fat. The muscles can't make repeating movements with 100% efficiency. The only way out is training. They change our endurance level, increase the volume of the heart muscle, the number of erythrocytes, enhance the strength of muscles and help to store additional glycogen. It’s sad but the trainings don’t have the long effect and your physical condition will degrade the normal in two week if you give up training. Genetic found the direct correlation between trainings and our physical conditions on the genetic level. The presence of the gene type I gives its owner more strength. The results of genetic researches showed that people with the gene type I, are in 11 times stronger and can carry much more loads then people with the gene D. This feature was displayed after the training cycle. The climbers who ascend to the mountains higher than 7000 masl have this gene too. Unfortunately, I’m not sure that I have it. The gene is responsible for the ratio of slow and fat muscles in our bodies. It’s my luck. The endurance is a key factor of the successful expedition. But it depends on the anthropometric parameters of the mountain hunter. The bigger the man is the harder for him is to hike on the highlands. It’s no matter is he fat or not. The muscle strength of the muscles is proportional to the square of the section, and the mass increases in the cube. That's why all climbers are lean and had a sinewy body. What makes us to risk and to expose our bodies to stress and sometimes superhuman loads? The physiologists can explain it. The fact is that endorphins (endogenous morphine, or " happiness hormones») leaks into our blood during physical trainings and affects the receptors as morphine: they increase our mood, make thoughts more clear and we feel much better, but the main purpose of this hormone is analgesia. If you tired from the reality, go to the yard and clean the snow. Endorphins will raise your spirit and you feel better. There is the term - the training euphoria in our case we can call it mountain euphoria. You can addict it and the forced abandonment will go to the anxiety and irritation. I know what I’m talking about. The mixture of adrenaline and endorphins on the height 3000 masl, after you have taken the desired trophy, gives unbelievable effect. It’s a state of the absolute happiness. Basic thesis: 1) We can take energy from several sources: food - fat, carbohydrates, protein, they give different components for our energetic system 2) Regular trainings help to increase the endurance level 3) Adrenaline and endorphins are not dangerous for our health and can be useful.

I want to hope that there is a certain amount of arms which we can call optimal for the battle tactics with the mountain ungulates. Carbine It's clear that mountain rifle should have to be light but suits for the precision shooting. One of the best multiply shotguns, of the serial production, belong to the American company Christensen Arms. It's main advantages is carbon fiber tension barrel. The barrel lining is made from match-grade 416R stainless steel and reinforced with carbon fiber. Such reinforced barrel serves on 25% longer than the steel one. Thanks to high density and low low coefficient of thermal expansion the barrels with the length 550-650 mm, provide the shot grouping in a half a minute of arc. The rifle consists of the best parts: the bolt group of Remington 700, the trigger mechanism by Jewel, can be regulated in wide limits. All these guns have fixed magazine for three cartridges. In addition you can equip it by a schnell. One more feature of these shotguns is the light carbon bed which doesn’t absorb moisture and has size which suits for any weather conditions.   These rifles can have different calibres but the serial production is from 270 WSM to 338 Lap Mag and 416 RemMag. The average weight is from 2,3 kg to 2,7 kg. It's has such light weight because the barrel box and the bolt are produced from titanium. If we talk about the usage of titanium alloy in the hunting weapon industry we should have to say some words about the Johann Fanzoj Company. Three years ago they showed the hunting rifles fully produced from the titanium alloy. It happend on the Arms & Hunting Show. These weapon is made with the help of the most safe and secure system Mauser 98 Mag. They’ve been specially designed for the mountain hunting and are unrealistically light. The weight of any rifle is less than 3 kg. But it’s a piece production, that’s why the COGS and the price of such carbine is very high. However, you need to keep in mind, that mechanical processing of titanium alloys needs special skills and tools. The titanium parts are not afraid of corrosion. One of the first titanium rifles had been tested on Pamir. It flawlessly worked in the conditions of winter highlands and the hunter got the mountain goat from six hundred meters distance. I don't shy to recommend the multiply gun Semrprio, produced by the German company Krieghoff for the mountain hunts. It appeared on the weapon market in 2007. Its revolutionary construction was designed by the young gunsmith Wolfgang Schmidt. I used it on the corral huntings and shot in the shooting range. I tested that gun in the Muller’s shooting center ( not far from Ulm) and shot in the so called shooting movie and three hundred meters shooting gallery too. I and other participants of the testing were surprised by its shot grouping after testing it on the distance three hundred meters. The best shooters could make five hits in 20 mm. It means 0,3 minutes of arc. It was the sniper's level! Those results seemed unbelievable because the gun's barrels were not long than 550 mm. We used RWS cartridges, with the new caliber 30-06 Spring and bullets Target Elite Plus with the weight 10,9 gr. But none of the cartridges can compensate the barrel’s disadvantages. That testing showed us the perfectness of those rifle's barrels.   It's not a surprise because they are produced by a famous company Anschuetz. It specializes in the arms barrels production. The company Anschuetz embraced the hunting weapon market in 2011. The first model, they presented, was the rifled long barrel gun 1780 which was produced in serious European calibers: .308 Win, .30-06 Spring, 8Х57 IS, 9,3Х62. They fully used their experience in the production of barrels, bolt systems and trigger’s mechanisms. Taking into account the economic situation the goal was to corner the market of budget weapon. They have succeeded in it and hunters liked their rifles. They had refined the bolt locking scheme when lugs entered the grooves of the breech of the barrel. It helped to relieved the stamped receiver and to make it from aluminium alloy. All barrels have the same size 560 mm. New guns have closed trigger systems with allow to regulate the trigger tension in the wide range. The walnut is used for the production of four model of that carbine.  Its weight suits for the mountain huntings and is 3,2 kg. The theme of this article is hunting weapon that's why I couldn't but mention the young Russian company ORSIS. It produces weapons for tactical, sporting and hunting purposes. The company has their own production of rifled long barrels and use Amerian 416R stainless steel. They have two models of multiply hunting carbines, and one of them Orsis Alpine is designed for mountain hunts. The carbine is made for the cartridges which provides the flat flight path of the bullet. The magazine capacity is three cartridges plus one more in the barrel. Free-floating barrel of the moderate length relieved by flutes which allow to increase cooling speed. The rifle has a sliding bolt which lock the chamber on two lugs when you turn it to 90 degrees. The brand trigger mechanism is in the closed box and has the trigger tension regulation. All metal part are made from steel with increased corrosion resistance. Weapons stock produced from arms laminate and you can chose from one of three discreet shades. The construction of the upper sling anabka is designed not only for the belt but for bracing of light bipods with the regulated height. The stamped receiver allow to set brackets for the optic sight. We also need to mention hunting rifles with the sliding bolt produced by the Gottfried Prechtl company from Birkenau, Germany. The main direction of that company is the production of high-precision sports weapons on the base of Mauser 98 system. Being a high class shooter Mr. Prechtl added some technological components and changes to the classical Mauser design. The designers place a bet not on simplifying of the technology and reducing the cost price but on improving the reliability and accuracy of mechanisms and providing absolute safety of the shooter. The hole diameter in the shutter for the striker had been narrowed from 2 to 1.7 mm because of the gas pressure. It increases when you shoot by modern cartridges. It means that the striker has become smaller. The bolt diameter had been enlarged to 0,2 mm what made its movement more smooth. The width of the magazine and the window of the receiver was expanded to 0,1 mm to use the new type of cartridges. They enlarged the length of the ejector on 17mm to increase the reliability of the spring. The designers renewed the trigger construction which works with the closed trigger system. There is the straight groove like the last hunting Mauser model had, in the back part of the receiver. It makes the shooting process more safety and reliable. The lug is in the back part of the stem of the bolt. The bolt and the stamped receiver are made from Swiss chrome-manganese steel with a tensile strength of more than 800 N / mm2. I think, they are the best hunting rifles in Europe. They guarantee the shot grouping better than in a half of minute of arc. Moreover the barrels of these rifles are produced by the Lothar Walter company. The lancer fitting I like the European tradition to hunt for the mountain ungulates with the signle-barrel critical fittings. Those single charges arms demand the accurate shooting. Their advantages are the lightweight, much better balance, if we compare them with the sliding bolt systems and smaller size. Russia is not the motherland of such fittings but we also produce some of them. At the end of the last century the Izhevsk mechanical plant had designed and produced the model IZH 18 MH, which was categorized as Kipplaufbuchsen - prestigious single- charge outfitting. We gotta hand to the high quality of the barrels, shooting grouping and cartridges. IMZ produces these guns in the wide range of calibers from 222Rem to 9,3*7R. The weight of our critical rifle was more than 3 kg (3,2 kg) with the barrel length 600mm. The western analogues are lighter. Big German companies produces one-barreled fittings which look attractive and work well. The Merkel company produces two kinds of such outfitting K-3 and K-4 with different range of calibers. K-1 fits for the lighter calibers while K-2 is for heavier ones. These fittings have external pressure of the combat spring which allows to provide the high safety level. They all have schnelles for the accurate shooting. One more German company Blaser produces single-barrel fittings, Model K-95. They are lighter than the Merkel ones because have shorter barrels (500 mm) and designed for the cartridges from 243 Win to 8*57 IRS. The Krieghoff company manufactured single-barrel fittings under the brand name Hubertus. These guns are made with different additional options. They have the wide range of calibers from 222 Rem to 9,3*7R. The barrel’s length from 550 mm to 600 mm. The weight depends on the caliber from 2,5 kg to 3,2 kg. To be objective I have to write that critical rifles are also produced by some small weapon companies which are specialized on making piece goods. Johann Fanzoj and Werner Sodia from Austria as well as Thomas Shpohr from Germany make good weapon. All these types of rifted weapon, I’ve mentioned above, are well known for Russian hunters. But there is one kind of Arms which was never produced in our country but is popular in the Western Europe. They are the single-barrel carbines with blocked bolts. When you recharge such carbine, the block goes down and the sleeve is extracted at the same time. The bolt length can be shorter then the cartridge. This locking system reminds us the a drop block use in the artillery system. The sleeve in the barrel is shuttered by the back part of the bolt which abuts to the back side of the receiver. Though the system doesn’t have huge size and weight, it allows us to use the most powerful cartridges. They have minimal sizes and great balance becuuse the barrel is close to the shooter’s shoulder. It makes them dynamic and well- managed. The hard fixation of the barrel provides high shots grouping. You can reload the carbine not changing the body position. The high reliability of the locking system guaranties the long term usage. The European shooters consider those kinds of carbines to be the best for the mountains hunting. Some of well known weapons companies such as LeBeau Of Corelli, Werne Carron and others has started to produce such kinds of guns in the last years. But you have to remember that good weapon doesn’t correlate with you success in the mountain hunting. You also have to have the suitable sight, binoculars, a range finder and optimal cartridges. It's also important to train yourself and to practices shooting. The thoughts that each human being with the good gun and the modern optics is the sniper is the profound misconception. It’s a highly demanding craft to shoot from the rifled gun. You can't study it by books. You can learn it through practice only.