Recently a young man wrote to me that he is fond of my hunting reports and read all of them, then he asked me to tell him how to become the mountain hunter. I was pleased and started to write him when understood that he knew nothing about hunting. It confounded me. I had so much to tell him and other guys like he was. So I decided to write about this topic in details.
My reader was interested in the reports which were devoted to the backpacking mountain hunts. I agree that most of them are filled by the harsh romance which attracts young hearts. These kinds of hunts are the most difficult ones and demand all your strength , the hunter gains experience all of his life taking part in such adventures. I guess that the number of mountain hunters is just about 5 percentage from the total number of hunters, and only 5 percentage from mountain hunters used to hunt in such way. It’s not the official statistic but commutating with other guys in the social nets and on the specialized forums I can do such assumption. But nothing is impossible.
The “hunting gene” activates our passion to adventures, expeditions and other adventurous inclinations. Most of us don’t understand why they can’t stay at home in the fall but it’s just their instinct. The latent hunter can be determined by the passion for gathering mushrooms and berries, fishing and other behavioral symptoms that characterize him as a getter!
This passion manifest with different force and lots of depend on the circumstances and heredity. My Dad being the scientist zoologist was absolutely indifferent to the hunting and was lifelong pacifist. But my Grandfather from Siberia was the bear hunter and I grew up on his hunting stories , he taught me to understand the Nature . I saw his trophies from my childhood. The first gun 32cal. was presented to me by my Dad’s colleague when I was 12 years old and that guy become my Teacher.
The next example is the former adviser to the President of Russia Mr. Yastrzhembsky. He took part in his first hunt when he was more than 40 years old and fell in love with it. He is one of the famous trophy hunters now. I just want to say that if you feel that this passion took possession of you in adulthood, don’t be afraid the Nature takes its toll!
The climbing to the hunting Olympus, mountain hunts are the top among all of them, require lots of investments and force, that’s why you have to be sure that it’s the right choice. One thing is to read interesting, full of adventures and extreme romance, hunting report, lying on the soft sofa and the other thing to hike when you are cold, frozen, wet and had not strength to move. I advise you to find real hunters, get on friendly terms with them and asked to takes part in one of their expedition like a helper or a cook. If you really like it and the predator in your heart will wake up, it means that you are on the right way.
The next step- you have to become the Hunter! You need to study the hunting rules (hunting minimum), pass exams, read lots of articles about hunting ethics and culture and look through hundreds of hunting pictures.
The second stage.
The second stage is to buy the smooth –bore gun, which you can use for birds hunting in the mountains. You can get the permit for buying rifled-bored gun, which used for trophy hunts, just in three years.
It’s very individual what kind of mark, model or type of the gun you’ll choose but if you are going to become the mountain hunter I advise you to take the double-barreled gun. It has to be light not more then 3 kg, 12 cal with the replaceable chokes.The producer isn't important but the gun has to be applied. Such rifle suits to all mountain's birds hunts, disciplines the hunter, teaches to shoot "seldom, but accurately". In my opinion that you can use semi auto gun only for goose hunting but it’s difficult to find them in the mountains.
The next question to choose clothes, boots and other equipment. First of all you need to check and read lots of articles published on the specialized forums or editions. You can start from reading this information on our site in the section “Recommendations how to choose the equipment for mountain hunting, what, why and why”. I’ll write just some words. The minimum kit includes
thermal underwear, the main jackets and pants warm suit with the top membrane, caps, hats, gloves, mittens, all goods have to have the protective coloration. This kit isn’t enough for the serious backpacking hunts but you have time , three years before it, while you don’t have the carbine.
The Boots. I offer to get mountain boots and rubber-plastic boots ( for rain and the first snow). Later on you ‘d better buy three pairs of boots for different situations and seasons. Don’t save on the purchase of good sporty socks and protective gaiters for the boots.
You need to have a backpack from 30 to 40 liters,better to use the goods from the well- known manufacture. It has to have single contoured aluminum frame bar. It can be adjusted to fit the shape of your back. Unlikely that you will hunt for several days at this period.
The same reason why you don’t need to waste lots of time choosing the tent. You can get any double tent which suits for camping or hiking. The recommended weight is about 3 kg. But take attention for the sleeping bag. It can be heavy but must be warm, with the comfort temperature not less then -10C. Also you’ll need to buy sleeping mat which mustn’t be heavy and has a suitable size.
Cooking kit: You’ll need to have outdoor cooking kit and gas stove. It’ll be enough.
Other equipment: knife – to your choice. My favorite knife is the Swedish mark “ Mora”.
Headlamp flashlight- I advise to buy the proven Amerina one by the Princeton tec.
Don’t buy the binocular if it’s cheaper then 200$, The price for optics depends on its quality, you can’t see anything if buy a bad one.
You’ll get to the hunting area by horses or car.
You can rent the horse on the place but another question is with the car. There aren’t not lots of hunting area where you can drive by car. Be ready to invest lots of money. There are not good righthand suves anymore and the you don’t have wide choice now. The most budget one is the new UAZ “Patriot”. It’s not the ideal car but a good one. The used car with good tuning will cost you $ 12000-14000. The next variants are various jeeps from Toyota and Nissan. The best on is Toyota LandCruiser 200 GX. But it’ll cost from $ 40 000 to 45 000, if you buy the used one.
You’ll use the car in your usual life for different reasons that’s why I can’t say that this purchase is a pure hunting investment, but you need to know about it.
All of the above gives you the potential opportunity to hunt in the mountains and beyond. Primarily you can hunt for birds such as pheasant, chukar, snowcock then for ungulates: coral hunting which is practiced in some farms or for wolves. You can try to hunt for ungulates from approaching but there aren’t many places where you can approach 50-100m, I mean in Kazakhstan.
While hunting in this period you’ll estimate your physical conditions. The most important skill in the mountains is your endurance. You can make some easy tests, for the hunter who is in good physical condition the climb from the hotel Shimbylak to the Talgar pass (800 vertical meters) will take about an hour and a half, if it takes you more then 2 hours, go to the gym. Make cardio trainings on the treadmill, an exercise bike or on the ellipse. Load your legs. Read more about physical training in the topic "Physiology of sports, or how to prepare physically for hunting and traveling in the mountains if you are a city dweller."
In three year you need to collect all papers and medical certificates and send them , using Gosuslygi site, to get the permit for the purchase of the rifled gun.
The third stage.
For the mountain hunt you better have the bolt-action gun with the mountain caliber: 7 Rem Mag, 300 Win Mag. Choosing the carbine you need to know that about 90% of all guns, produced by well –known companies, have good grouping of shots for mountain hunts, about 1MOA (about 3 sm for 100m), so take into account just your budget and personal preferences. My preferences are so, the first thing is the weight, all of my guns are less then 3 kg without the extra kits, then I pay attention to the modularity and the possibility to change the barrel and caliber ( it’s a very important option for Kazakhstan, where we can’t have more then 2 rifle-bored guns, but the additional barrels are not considered to be the separate one).
All other things are not so principal. Such things like muzzle brake, mount for optics, the type of the bolt, the presence of detachable magazine and mechanical sighting devices, the number of cartridges in the store, the presence of antabokes, the type of shutter, the material of the stock influence on the price and help the hunter.
You have to choose the rifle scope too. It has to be with high optical clarity and objective diameter which allows for quick acquisition of close quarter and fast moving targets. The objective lens diameter has to be from 40 to 50mm, plus tactical turrent shound for the vertical corrections. You'll need to make the corrections fast because you can shoot for 500 meters or more.
Better to choose the gun made be well-known companies form USA, Japan or Europe. The Chinese rifles are not good quality yet and don’t suit for the serious hunts. Also you need to buy the binocular with the rangefinder or just Range Finder. These things like the scopes better to buy from the proven companies, though it’s not critical for the Range Finder, they are protected from the recoil of the gun and measure the distance well but the goods from the Flagman companies make it better.
You have to make hundreds of shots to the paper to test run to yourself , to test all distances to 700 meters, study how to use the ballistic calculator and understand the ballistic base. You will gain the skills of shooting with an tactical scope. “The blind aiming” trainings help much. Lying down you have to choose the aim by eye ( bush or stone), then close the eyes and point the gun to it, then open your eyes and make the corrections. At last the hand’s mechanics will follow the direction you’ve chosen.
Now it’s time to become the member of the Hunting and Anglers Society. It’ll help you to feel yourself the part of the huge hunting society and you can have the opportunity to hunt on the preferential terms in the lands of societies that make up most of the hunting areas in the CIS. I’m the patriot of the “Tabigat” society, they have about 12 hunting farms in Kazakhstan, and suggest to enter in it. We have few of hunting licenses for ungulates and one hunter has the chance to use it just once in thirty years. But your chances to get it from “Tabigat” is much higher.
Before the season.
Repeat the hunting minimum before the season. You need to make to remember the hunting rules,biology, ethics and hunting culture and hunting photography base.
Check and test your hunting clothes and equipment in two month before the season. The more I hunt in the mountain, the more I understand that there is not the universal hunting outfit. Mountain hunting season starts at summer and ends in winter, that’s why you need to have outfit for all seasons. Shortly about it.
• synthetic underwear (we talk about shorts to the knee and t-shirts; cotton is not suitable because it gets wet quickly and dries slowly)
• thermal underwear- two kits ( one – very thin synthetics for summer camouflage or protective colors, the second one -warm Merino wool or high-quality synthetics same colors
• pants- made from softshell fabrics or stretch synthetic ( for summer)
• pant for winter- softshell windproof fabric with fleece liner suitable for winter
• special winter pants- insulated with synthetics or down, required in severe frosts)
• waterproof rain pant with membrane fabrics, with oversized leg openings with hook-and-loop adjustments allow the wearer to easily fit the pant over their favorite pair of rain boots/shoes
• jacket- softshell or stretch-synthetic for summer
• jacket – double softshell fabric or fleece ( summer-fall)
• jacket- insulated by synthetic or down with membrane ( needed in the severe frost)
• rain- jacket- made from membrane (you’ll always need it and I advise to take it to the each trip. Better to buy one or two sizes up)
• socks- pairs (two pairs from wool and two coolmax pars for summer)
• summer mountain boots- non insulated with ankle boots 8’, with lug-andmini-bob tread for secure footing across a wide range of terrain
• ankle boots 14’ , insulated , the weight not less than 1000 gr. Forged boot hardware offers corrosion resistance and swivels instead of breaking
• Softshell gloves - demi-season and for the cold)
• Cap for summer
• Warm winter hat baseball cap with ear cover neck warmer
• Fleece cap (thin)
• Fleece cap warm
• White hunting ghillie
I agree that it’s a long list but I’m sure that you’ve bought lots of thing in three years before you’ve got the rifle bored gun.
You’ll need to check all your equipment which you’ve bought during last three years. The Big Three has to be light and high technology.
• Hunting backpack for 1-2 days hunting. (30-40 Liters, with detachable waist belt and molle webbing
• Backpack for expeditions , it’d be good if you can change its size from 70 to 120 Liters)
• Light single layer double set tent , not heavier than 2 kg for summer and two layers tents for the fall. I recommend the Naturehike tents- the best ratio of weight, price and quality
• Sleeping bag ( you have one but better to buy one more warmer)
• Sleeping mat ( I offer to buy inflatable lightweight mat, insulated with some filler, it will make your nights more comfortable)
• Accessories- trekking poles, sunglasses, multitool, knife, medical kit, flack
I have to say that lots of articles devoted to this topic are published in “Magic of the Real Safari” on our site ProHunt.rz
This list isn’t full but all other things are not so important and you can hunt without them.
So, you are ready for the Mountain Hunt. First years try to hunt with the experienced guides, follow them, watch them, look through the binoculars, look for the game through the optics though you can thing that it has no sense.
Believe me, all hunters have been there, sooner or later the eye will learn to find the game. You are just semi hunter without the skill to find the game by your own. Remember about the main rules: The best approach is above from the leeward. Wild animals hear, see and have the smell much better then you have, that’s why must not make noise, shine and smell.
It’s not all what you have to have and know to become the mountain hunter. This passion will require you to develop skills such as accurate shooting, reading animal tracks, the art of using decoys, you have to have horse endurance and much more. The main thing is to believe in yourself and in your strength, listen to the advice of experienced hunters and guides, and you will succeed! Not a feather!
