The hunt for the Arak and Armenian mouflons was organized in the Markazi province, in the mountain chain “Seven Peaks”, near the town Arak. That was the central plateau with several mountains chain which crossed each other and went from south to north-west. That place was know becuse the migration ways of two subspecies of mouflons: Armenian and Esfahan. The state hunting area are about 98 K acres and are well guarded. Since the beginning of time that land was inhabited by wild sheep. For the dozens years the local scientists made there the researches, monitored the population of those animals. Video- monitoring and the collection of the genetic material are one of the most popular ways of studying. The result of those long-term research is that the Iran scientists have discovered several hybrid specimen which has genetic and morphological differences from the Esfahan and Armenian mouflons. They named that new subspecies after the capital of region – the Arak mouflon. Not all hunting clubs admit it as the separated species but the CMH has decided to add the separate line in our rating tables, devoted to that subspecies of mouflon.The mountain massif there isn't high, just about 2600 mals. The mountains are cut by the thick layer of rock formations. It looks like the huge staircase where the wild sheep and ibexes inhabit. The plateau on the top is flat and covered by grass. We drove through there and observed lots of animals in different places.We watched the great number of females with lambs. It was the sign of high density population. I noticed several Bezoar Ibexes which grazed in the same area. The main external differences of Armenian mouflon from the Arak one is the bright black line on the breast. The Arak mouflon doesn’t have such or it’s barely noticeable. There are some differences in the horn’s forms and their growth direction. The hornsof the Arak sheep growth down while the Armenian mouflon's horns which growth back. The local guides identify them visually . The two kinds of males can be in the same group. It’s a common fact that these two sub species live nearby.I took the male of the Arak mouflon in the first hunting day. It was 11 years old male with 80 sm horns . The locals told me that I was the first hunters who got that kind of animal there but better to check it. Hunting for the Armenian mouflon wasn’t so easy. The first time I fired from the distance 730 m and hit above the aim. Later we detected one more group leaded with one-horn male. There were two more males and one of them had the distinct black line on its neck. I took it from the distance 430m. Suddenly the fog covered the valley and we lost the trophy. It took twenty minutes to change from the sunny day to the fog and snow storm. We inspected each part of the slope but couldn’t find it. Later in the camp I check video which we made, identified the landmarks and estimated where it should fall.Next morning the weather became even worse. It was snow and cold. We went to the mountains because needed to find the sheep. We were afraid that the predators could find it first and eat it. We climbed to the big rock and then we divided into two groups. The first one went up to the place where I had been before and I began to descend looking for the sheep’s tracks. I couldn’t hardy express my emotion when I found it. The predators found it before us and ate the back part of the sheep. It could be the fox, which I had seen before. Fortunately the front part wasn’t damaged and I could make pictures and took it. It was wind and cold. The clothe became wet and my hands ached from the cold. But I did it! We carried the trophy to the car, it was 12-13 years old male. Its horns were smaller than the Arak sheep had but the horns’ base was thicker. They were different in the comparison with the horns of the previous trophy.
