Отчеты

On 7 May 2024 we harvested the New Zealand Chamois on the same day as the New Zealand Tahr. It happened in the mountains of the South Island, near the town of Wanaka. Our guide and escort was experienced hunter Sean Roach. The chamois was taken at a distance of about 120 metres, with a 15 degree uphill angle. The trophy was an old male New Zealand Chamois. I would like to thank the team at Venator New Zealand for the excellent organisation of this hunt. Special thanks to the company head, Duncan Fraser, and also to Sean Roach. They are true professionals in their field.

The hunt took place on the 9th of September in the Primorsky Krai in the hunting reserve "Sinegorye". A trophy male was taken during the first outing in the evening on the feeding grounds.

This was an interesting and exciting hunt during the rut.

On the 11th of May I hunted the Siberian brown bear in the Irkutsk region. The hunt was organised by Artem Veselov and the company Profi Hunt. Everything took place on the land of LLC "Lena-Tur". The local organisation was done by Gennady Kiselev, who, as always, did an excellent job. We reached the hunting spot by boat along the Ilga River, then travelled by ATV for 1.5 hours and finally walked for the last 40 minutes. On arrival we surveyed the area, prepared ourselves and waited for "our" bear for five hours. During this time we dealt with the ticks that are abundant in the area. At 22:15, almost in total darkness, the bear appeared. I didn't hesitate and took the shot, bringing the animal down from a distance of 90 metres with a shot to the neck. The whole hunt went wonderfully and I thank everyone involved.

I was hunting chamois in Alania in the Karmadon Gorge area. I was shooting from a distance of 700 metres, almost without an angle, I hit with the first shot, but the animal did not fall on the spot, I had to shoot a second time! After the second shot, the chamois fell into the abyss from a height of about 150 metres, broke one of its horns in flight and by luck the other horn caught on a tree and kept it from falling into the gorge!

From the 13th to the 15th of April, 2024, I went hunting on the island of Veli Lošinj in Croatia and successfully took a Kri-Kri ibex on the second day. The challenge of the hunt was the search due to the unusual heat for this time of year, almost 25 °C, and the fact that the mountains were completely covered with tall, dense trees.

We started climbing at 4:00. The search took a long time. We covered 15 km during this hunt. The Markhor group was resting on the sunny side. We approached at a distance of 535 metres. There were 3 trophy males in the group. I waited for them to get up. After 10 minutes one of them stood up and it turned out to be the most outstanding trophy, with horns completing 3 full turns. The animal was taken down with a single shot - a precise hit to the heart. The markhor was 13 years old.

My wife Alyona and I travelled to New Zealand on 1 May 2024. As well as holidaying, the purpose of our trip was to hunt two trophy species: New Zealand Tahr and New Zealand Chamois. The hunt was organised by Duncan Fraser, owner of Venator New Zealand. The hunt took place on the 7th of May 2024. We hunted for both Tahr and Chamois in the mountains of the South Island near the town of Wanaka. Our guide and escort was the highly experienced hunter Sean Roach. The tahr was taken at a distance of 100 metres, with a 20-degree uphill angle. The first shot was a little high, but the second hit the target. According to Sean, the trophy was "exceptional". Without wasting a second, we moved on to find the chamois.

Arriving in Kathmandu in mid-April, I joined a group with hunt organiser Asif Ilyasov of Global Safari Azerbaijan and cameraman Anton Astashin. We flew by helicopter into the Himalayan mountains of Nepal. Within two hours we were at our first camp in the Dhorpatan Hunting Reserve near the village of Dhule. In the morning we sighted in our weapons at 100 and 300 metres (everything was fine) and then ventured deeper into the reserve. After a five hour journey we reached our second camp. Our first target was the blue sheep. We were accompanied by a local group of 23 people (gamekeepers, a manager, a cook, camp staff and, of course, 13 Sherpa porters). The next morning we got up at 4:00am and began our ascent into the gorge an hour later. Shortly after we spotted some females and, unexpectedly, I spotted a small group of rams that even the head gamekeeper had missed. I signalled to them and we all started watching them through binoculars. The gamekeepers began to whisper excitedly, which was a good sign. We crouched down behind a small rise in the mountain. At that moment we clearly saw a worthy sheep, but the group was either lying down or grazing, unaware of our presence. Our sheep lay with his back to us for a long time. We waited for it to get up and turn towards us. Soon he stood up and began to move slightly to the right, exposing his side to us. The rangefinder showed 446 metres. I waited for it to stop and took the shot. It was a perfect hit; the sheep stumbled to the left, stopped, stretched and then fell over, rolling down the hill. Cheers and congratulations from the gamekeepers followed immediately! The Blue Sheep trophy in Nepal was taken on the first morning of the hunt after an hour's climb! It was a truly impressive trophy - an 11-year-old sheep with 24-inch horns! Despite hunting at an altitude of 4500 metres, we all breathed easy. As the hunt was successfully completed early in the morning, we decided to move on to the Himalayan Tahr area. We spent the whole day travelling, which took 12 hours with a break for lunch. We could have stayed and rested, but we felt quite well. The next morning we got up at 4:00 and headed for the mountains. That day we saw several Himalayan tahrs and even some gorals, but we couldn't track any tahrs; they kept disappearing into the forest. We returned to camp in the evening. The second morning of the tahr hunt started even earlier. We got up at 3:00 and left camp at 4:00. This time we went to the right of the gorge and within an hour we spotted a group of three tahrs, one of which was excellent. They were grazing at a distance of 346 metres. I took up a comfortable sitting position as the shot required aiming across the gorge. I placed my right elbow on my right knee for stability. I fired and the tahrs scattered in all directions. A cloud of dust and debris rose behind my target and I thought, "Did I miss? But when we checked the video, we confirmed a clean hit. Gamekeepers descended and found my 12-year-old (13-inch) tahr within 20 minutes. The trophy was shot at an altitude of 3400 metres. The Himalayan Tahr became the 30th trophy on my CAPRA list. I was extremely pleased with the organisation, the hunt itself and the service. My sincere thanks go to Asif Ilyasov of Global Safari Azerbaijan for his outstanding work - he really knows how to organise a serious mountain hunt. My 100% recommendation!

My second trip to Pakistan. This hunt sounds like a true adventure! Difficulties with weapons, extreme conditions, exhaustion—all of this makes the story even more thrilling. The expedition turned out to be extremely challenging. In February, I harvested two urials and an ibex, and in March, I had to return for the Himalayan ibex and blue sheep. I aimed to get all the trophies in one trip, but we couldn't meet the deadlines, so in March, I went back again to hunt the Himalayan ibex and blue sheep The blue sheep hunt turned out to be the most challenging hunt of my entire hunting life. The quest began at the airport - I arrived, but my rifle didn't. They said I would have to wait three days for it to be delivered. But I couldn't wait, I had another hunt booked in Nepal and I had to hurry. My outfitters, Nimrod Company, quickly arranged for us to rent a weapon. We sighted in the rented gun, but any hunter will understand how difficult it is to hunt with a gun that isn't your own, especially in places as challenging as Pakistan. The mountains were extremely tough, with strenuous climbs and descents, and we had to change locations three times. We saw lots of animals but no trophy males. We camped at 4,200 metres and endured the cold day and night. By the sixth day, my face was swollen from the altitude and I was exhausted, especially as I had hunted the ibex and then the sheep. By the seventh day I was already negotiating to postpone the hunt until next year, but at four o'clock in the afternoon I finally took my coveted trophy. I was overjoyed to have my long-awaited prize. As the sun set, it became so cold that no amount of clothing could keep me warm, and a piercing wind blew. I was in a state of despair, but at the very last moment of the hunt, fortune smiled on me with a successful shot. That day we climbed the mountain and spotted the sheep at a distance of 800 metres. From 10am to 4pm we lay on the rocks and watched them until they began to descend to the pasture within shooting range. I was shivering with cold and exhaustion, but when I took my trophy, my joy knew no bounds. In the mountains I met Kevin Klumber, a mountain hunter. He was descending while I was still climbing. We stayed together at an intermediate camp and enjoyed a hearty breakfast and engaging conversation. He also mentioned that hunting the blue sheep was incredibly hard. It was a pleasure to meet such an outstanding hunter. The hunt was organised for me by Nimrod Hunting Tours.

An unforgettable hunt took place in the Altai Mountains in 2015, where we successfully harvested a maral and an ibex.

The chamois was taken with a shot at 550 meters at an altitude of 2300 meters.

From the 13th to the 15th of April, 2024, I went hunting on the island of Veli Lošinj in Croatia and successfully took a Kri-Kri ibex on the second day. The challenge of the hunt was the search due to the unusual heat for this time of year, almost 25 °C, and the fact that the mountains were completely covered with tall, dense trees.