At the end of November the director of the hunting company “Professional Russian hunters” Maxim Vorobiev and I met in the Sheremetyevo airport. We followed all doctor’s recommendations to prevent the infection of COVID -19. The hunt for a Mid Caucasian Tur in Kabardino-Balkaria was booked at the end of summer. I have already had the Dagestan and Kuban Turs in my collection. I needed to take that hybrid of the Caucasian tur to get the Great Caucasian Prize. The main requirement when I booked that hunt was the open borders and none of us would be sick. Maxim told me, when I met him in the airport, that he was among the volunteers who made a trial vaccination Sputnik-V. I was glad for him though none of us knew what kind of vaccine, he got, the volunteers were not informed if they got the real medicine or a placebo. I didn’t feel myself well.
I chalked it up to the jet-lag because I had just flown from Vladivostok. It was 3 am when we arrived to the hunting base and I asked Maxim no to go to the mountains in the morning but spent one day in the camp to come back and treat myself. Maxim and our guide Daniel told me that the plan was to choose the easiest variant. Not far from our base. They also didn’t want to go to the mountains with the tents. If we didn’t find anything near the camp, we should move to another gorge and climb to the mountains with the tents. In such case I’d have to be ready to spent few days in the mobile camp. We had plenty of time. The return tickets were on November 20. Next morning, I didn't feel well yet. Moreover, I was even worse. We were lucky with weather. It was sunny all days while we were there though it was rainy in Mineral Voda. In the first hunting day Aslan put a scope and showed us a group of animals, consisted of several females and males, which grazed on the Alpine meadow under the rocks. One of them was a good size 10 years old male, Aslan said. We resolved to hunt next day if I felt well. But I was not. I realized that it was a damn shame to cancel everything when I did such a great job and even arrived there. We all still hoped that it was a cold not COVID. I took all pills, I had, and decided to go: today or never! Aslan harnessed four horses and we rode. We rode as far as we could and then began to climb by foot. Our group passed the 500 meters drop and ascended 3000 masl. We reached the meadow where had seen the animals before. We detected the group of males. But there was not a big one. The group was divided into two and one of the guides with the radio went to monitor the surroundings from another side. It was getting dark - the time when turs go for feeding. We hoped that the huge males would appear soon. So it happened. Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to approach them. We should have to take the position on the place where we were at that moment. It was an open glade, covered by grass. We laid down and I began to aim. Maxim was making video. How he always did it it not bothering others and taking control under the situation? I didn’t know the answer. Maxim said that the grass could prevent the shot. But it was impossible to clean about 20 m before me and not to be seen by the males in 450 m from us. I decided to fire. (300Wm, bullet berger 190 grain, gunpowder vihta 560). One from the males, which slowly moved up the slope, distinguished from others. It was the biggest one. I took the decision. I waited for a while when it turned sideways aimed to its shoulder blade, made all corrections and shot. Maxim, who watched everything through the camera, shouted that I hit it In spite of it, the male hit the ground sprinting, changed the direction, stopped for a moment of the top and disappeared behind the rock. We hand nothing to do but went to the place where it was. Maxim was insisting that I hit to the male and said that he saw how its leg was lifting up when it was running over the horizon. We could hardly see it on the camera screen. Moreover, the same grass hindered to make good video too. It was tough to focus camera. The sunset was rapidly approaching. We didn’t find any sign of blood on the place where I hit the male and behind the rock too. It was totally dark when we came back to the base. There we watched video on the slow speed. I really hit it. The tur stood with the left side to us. The bullet came in lower the shoulder blade and could damage its lungs, then it broke its right leg which was at the back position at that moment. I thought that grass changed the bullet’s destination. The guides said that I wounded it. Next day we all watched the birds and mountains. It was cold and the scavengers needed much time to find the prey. I didn’t feel well. Next day I lost taste and smell and decided to go home while it was not too late. I worried about Maxim who lived in the same room with me. Last hunting days we moved to the small hotel in the Chegem gorge. And had separate rooms there. But I still worried. So, I took a very hard decision to go home not waiting when the guides would find the trophy. We put on masks and taking the distance from all people I flew back home to Vladivostok. I got the positive result and had to stay at home for two weeks. In a week Maxim called me to say that Alsan found the trophy and brought it down. They delivered it to Moscow in a week. It left a very mixed feeling. I've got the trophy but not satisfied because haven't touched it and haven't done pictures. There was not CMH flag on the background. That's why I decided to come there back next year. P.S. In two weeks Maxim told me that the vaccine had worked well. He got tested and it showed that he received a charge of the virus, but did not get sick. The protective antibodies worked to protect him. I'm really glad for him. Thank you very much for professional hunting and interesting stories. I want to meet you once again in a new place.
