But we don't know much about this man today. He has not published his essays and is still "writing for himself.” His name is Anton Sokolov. We advise you to remember this name. Our readers will be the first who will learn about the "rising star" of trophy hunting - today we publish an interview that Anton gave to a representative of the magazine "Magic of real SAFARI”
The Magazine: Perhaps, the first question will sound very banal, but ... how, when and why did you become a hunter?
A.S.: It turned out that I came to the hunt completely on my own. No one in my family hunted, and I didn't have any hunter friends. I spent my childhood in one of the satellite cities near Moscow, where had many different hobbies - from boxing to ship modeling. But... none of them lasted more than a month. I was thirty, when heard about sporting for the first time in the company of friends. I wanted to learn how to shoot. It was the first time when I really wanted it so much. After completing a number of formal actions, I became the owner of "Benelli Raffaello", and got into sports shooting. My results were not brilliant, but I began to communicate with shooters, many of whom turned out to be avid hunters. After talking with them, I wanted to go hunting. I wanted to know what was it? And I felt in love with it. I went to collective hunts twice, and almost gave up on that idea. It reminded me the famous movie.
The Magazine: Do you mean the comedy about Russian hunting?
A.S.: Exactly. I even became an opponent of hunting, at least collective hunting. But everything changed when one day in the middle of winter I found myself on Lake Baikal and met there a wonderful man and an experienced hunter Yuri Nikolaevich Milvit. He understood the "spirit of the hunt.” He knew a lot, he showed me how to approach, how to hide maral and roe deer. And I cheered up again.
But I had to embellish myself "a little" in order to get to the real hunt . I told my first teacher of hunting about my non-existent hunting experience. When we were going to the very serious hunt. There was a very serious matter ahead – to get an animal at the den – at that time it was allowed. I won't go into the details how that hunt took place; I can say that my first trophy is a bear. The second trophy became a wild boar, obtained in the Tver region. Several collective hunts followed, It made me sure that I was better off hunting alone.
The Magazine: Now you can be called a trophy hunter with good reason. When did you realize this happen? Had it happened after the extraction of the first trophy or after the boar?
A.S.: I've learned much later that trophy hunting exists. My first trip to Africa was the turning point. The hunt took place near the South African city of Port Elizabeth. I was just shocked by the abundance of wild animals there – we drove along a modern highway and saw them, it seemed, everywhere. Then on the third day of the safari, I took the Cape buffalo and in just 10 days I got 10 animals. Only after that African trip, I realized that I would like to have a "collection" of hunts and trophies. And I realized that I was a trophy hunter.
I want to emphasize once again that I collect not only trophies, but also hunting itself. I had many hunts, and they all were all different – in different natural zones, at different times of the year, with different PH. And different results. I am full of expectations before each hunt. I’m thinking about it each moment. I am in another reality, live a different life when I am busy searching for an animal, approaching it, aiming an rejoice in the prey finally. It’s a real magic. That's probably why I like the name of your magazine so much - "The Magic of a real SAFARI"…
But I’ll continue. In a year after my first trip to Africa, I got my lion from the same outfitter. It's a certain stage to get a lion. Now my trophy divides 2-3 places in the SCI ranking.
And soon after that a trip to Burkina Faso took place. I remembered it not so much for the trophy of another buffalo, but for a shot that I have not been able to forgive myself for several years. I did not hit the phenomenal trophy of a water goat from 30 meters shooting distance. It was a world record! Sometimes I still dream about it…
I know that many trophy hunters have stopped chasing maximum trophy scores, and try to get the maximum number of different species, but I have not yet had the "disease" "trophy size". I think the reason was the very failure in West Africa.
The Magazine: What trophies can you consider outstanding?
A.S.: My trophy of the Eurasian boar from Croatia has the third place in the world. The top lines of the ratings of American animals are occupied by the noble and white-tailed deer, extracted in Pennsylvania. They both were taken from a pistol. I'm very interested in so-called alternative methods of hunting, including hunting with a pistol. You can safely hunt with a rifle, pistol, bow, crossbow in America. Americans promote actively such a variety of hunts.
I am interested in hunting elephants. Today I have the best trophy of an African elephant in the Moscow Safari Hunting Club.
The Magazine: Do you have non-hunting trips now?
A.S.: Not many. In recent years, I have had the only non-hunting, but extreme trip - to Bolivia. I pay tribute to my children, and rest next to them in the summer where there is a warm sea and white sand.
The Magazine: How do children and family relate to your hobby of hunting?
A.S.: The wife perceives hunting as a hobby worthy of a man, and the children (they are from different marriages) treat differently. The elders strongly disapprove. And the younger ones like my hobby. Sometimes I discuss with my six-year-old daughter some details of the upcoming trip, and she encourages me in every possible way, and clarify whether I will bring meat home and what can be cooked from it.
The Magazine: What hunting agency or outfitter do you trust the most?
A.S.: I can remember companies, or call the names of people when the conversation turns to outfitters. Names that I will never forget, I prefer the last one. I know how much, if not everything, depends on the personality of the person behind the company in trophy hunting. Today I have two main organizers of my hunts – two people I trust very much and am proud of their friendship. These are Antonio Reguera and Sergey Dmitrievich.
These two people are always ready to help me in everything, and they are passionate hunters themselves. They both have collected wonderful collections of hunts and trophies. The days spent next to them; I would attribute to the happiest days of my life. They are my teachers! I’m always ready listen to them.
In September I traveled to our Far East, and I am very pleased with the results of that trip. Everything was organized not by a Russian company, but by a Serbian Sergey Dmitrievich. I was accompanied by Russian guides both in Kamchatka and in Chukotka, but Sergey took full responsibility for the result.
The Magazine: It seems that we need to talk about our Russian hunts. Do you often hunt in your homeland? Do you know about the existence of the Russian hunting awards "Magnificent Seven" and "Mountain Five"?
A.S.: Yes, I know. I came close to the "Seven" in the 2017 season, when got a moose in Chukotka. And I took a step towards the "Mountain Five" after the extraction of a snow sheep in Kamchatka.
I would like to tell you about one nuance of this hunt, I think it will be interesting to the readers of your magazine. We had to live in a tent camp in Kamchatka, where I was accompanied by a hunter from Canada, who also came for a sheep trophy. It's a usual thing, when two or more people who try to get similar trophies, start a competition. Who will be lucky more? Whose trophy will be better? But trophy hunting is in many ways a lottery. On one of the first days, a Canadian refused to shoot a very good ram because hoped to meet a male with horns over 1 meter. No, matter. But that beast with horns 95 cm was the best specimen among local males as it turned out later. So, It became my trophy. I was lucky, but the average size horns flew to Canada.
After returning from the Far East, I managed to hunt red deer in the Rostov region. I am still under the impression of being in the south of Russia – deer are roaring there from all sides!
What else can I say about my hunts in Russia? We, Russian hunters have to communicate. At last, I found people with whom I am very pleased to be in a hunting company. We travel twice a year to well-known lands with this company. One time we did it in the winter before the New Year, the second time in the spring. I am not lucky in the bird, unlike animal hunts. I chased after the only capercaillie for several years. But now I have it. It was a labor hunting.
Yes, I would like to hunt more at home, otherwise I am traveling abroad more and more (laughs!). I hope that to get to Yakutia and the Caucasus.
The Magazine: Is it possible to assume that you will have mountain hunts in the Caucasus and Yakutia?
A.S.: I would like to get all the subspecies of the snow sheep that live in our country. And to get the "THE GREAT CAUCASIAN PRIZE". I don't know if such a hunting award is currently established, but it must exist.
The Magazine: I hope you’ll like it. Currently, the Club of Mountain Hunters has developed regulations on two Caucasian prizes. One of them will be awarded for getting of five species of mountain ungulates, which inhabit on the territory of the Russian Caucasus. Another one is the Great Caucasian Prize that will be awarded for the extraction of eight varieties of wild goats living in Russia and in the states that were formerly part of the USSR.
A.S.: Thank you very much, now I will know. I’ll try...
The Magazine: Since we start to talk about mountain hunting, can you tell us exactly how interesting they are to you, and what they mean for you? What mountain trophies have you obtained?
A.S.: I had already told you about one of my last successes of this year, when I got a Kamchatka snow sheep. I have hunted in Europe several times in previous years. I can boast that the hunting of ibex and chamois in the Alps took place in a completely natural, wild environment. I extracted a rare Tatra chamois, which is considered to be a valuable mountain trophy in Europe. I collected the "Slam" of Spanish ibex, I got all four subspecies.
All my mountain hunts were really hard. I had to walk a lot. It is easier to meet animals in the mountains of Europe than in Russia. But they were still not an easy hunt. If you ask me what mountain hunting means to me, I can answer– it's always some kind of getting over myself.
If a mountain hunt ends with a trophy, it gives me an excessive feeling of hunting happiness. The fact is that as a child I was not afraid, but feared of heights. Apparently, some childhood experiences are always realized by me and come out. I am very happy about my victory over the mountains every time.
The Magazine: Your collection includes almost all the trophies from the Big Five of Africa. There is only one species missing in it – the rhino. Licenses for this species are the most expensive. Therefore, some hunters try to get this animal with a dart with sleeping pills – it's ten times cheaper. Have you thought about closing the Big Five in this way?
A.S,: I am an opponent of "green" hunting. I think that the outfitters can abuse the proclaimed "humanism", by informing society about the nobility of their goals. I speak on this subject as correctly as possible, but I could have done it in other words, much tougher. I don't have a rhino in my plans yet, but things may change.
The Magazine: What about your hunting plans? What are your goals for the next year?
A.S.: I have already said about the Caucasus and Yakutia. I also have a trip to Zambia, where I'm up to get a leopard from a sitting. I already have a leopard, but it was obtained in a different way. I plan to start that hunt with a buffalo - its meat will be very useful. We'll need to do a lot of baits for a leopard in different places and determine where the best cat goes. I also want to add to the list of captured antelopes.
I also plan to repeat the trip to the African rainforest. I have already mentioned Antonio Riguera, the owner of the largest hunting concession in Cameroon, with whom I have developed friendly relations. I'm up to get a forest elephant, a forest buffalo and a sitatunga there, in the Cameroonian jungle.
I really want to go to Zimbabwe for an elephant once again. I already have three, but I want more!
The Magazine: Speaking of elephants. Is it possible to expect that you will ever tell the readers of our magazine about elephants’ hunting?
A.S.: I've almost finished the report about these hunts. Your publication seems to me the worthiest place where it can be published. The main thing is that this essay will meet the high requirements of the magazine. This hunt’s really "hooked" me, I often think about it. I would like to hunt elephants every year if I have the opportunity. The real danger situations that usually happen on such hunts only spur my desire to repeat it.
The Magazine: Can you tell us about these dangers? Where were they and what were they?
A.S.: There were lots of them. I 'll tell you about a few memorable… First of all I'll tell about the most unusual, but very serious. Hunters usually don't pay attention to such danger, which come from our "cousins" - great apes. But where gorillas live, there is always a risk of their attack. And one day I found myself in such a situation. Perhaps the monkeys were excited by unusual and frightening sounds. We were cutting through the jungle to the dogs who stopped the bongo, and the dogs were barking. Visibility in the rain forest is limited. Psychologically, it was very uncomfortable to feel their pungent smell and hear how gorillas beat their chests nearby, broke trees. Suddenly I saw they were only one and a half meters away from us…
I understood that that was how monkeys protected their females and cubs, but that understanding could not protect me in any way. Thank God, everything ended well and no shots were fired. Shooting gorillas is a criminal offense.
Any elephant hunting is a danger. Not only because you can be attacked by a huge animal that is difficult to stop. There is a panic in the group of elephants after the shot, and no one knows where they will run. It is possible that this gray mountain will rush right at you. You will be crushed, and the elephant will not even pay attention to it. The animal from the disturbed herd swept next to me several times.
But the elephant can also attack. It always acts either in the interests of protecting offspring, or it wants to revenge. One day after I got an elephant (a male), I and my entire escort group were attacked by the female elephant who wanted revenge. We were happy and relaxed. Suddenly, that giant jumped out and rushed at us out of nowhere. Both PH and I managed to make several shots, after which the dead elephant fell a few meters away from us.
One more story from the series "the most terrible". I remember the Sable antelope hunt that took place on the very border of Zimbabwe and Botswana. The male, I wanted to get, came to a watering hole every day, which was located in Zimbabwe but it came from the territory of a neighboring country. The antelope had to walk several tens of meters to the watering hole after crossing the "control and tracking lane". I had to shoot at her when it was crossing or at the watering hole itself. The place where I sat and waited was a temporary structure made of local vegetation, which was supposed to hide the silhouettes of the hunter and the guide. It couldn’t protect from anything. Suddenly, a herd of elephants came out to drink while waiting for an antelope. Probably, everyone knows from the movies how carefully and bravely the mother takes care of the baby elephant. It is capable of anything to protect the baby. None of us didn't like that situation. A small, newborn baby elephant ran merrily through the place where we were sitting to the water. The elephants were moving behind the baby… They ran three meters away and only the wind saved us. It was blowing in our direction.
Another case was also related to elephants. One night several elephants came to our camp at once. One of them began to rub against the fragile house, and then began to rock it on purpose. I was inside that cabin at that moment. I could touch the beast if I wanted and needed just to reach out my hand and done it…
The Magazine: I think that trophy hunting is not only horns, which hang in the office, but also dangers, and much more what makes people unite. Do you communicate with other trophy hunters? Are you a member of some kind of hunting club?
A.S.: A year ago, I signed up for a lifetime membership in Safari Club International. So far, I have not had to attend large community meetings– their Conventions. But I will.
I am a member of the Moscow Safari Club for several years. Many of people there can be called legendary and even great hunters. Such lifetime recognition of their merits has already happened on an international scale. I want to reach the same level to receive the same high awards from international hunting organizations. I think I can do it! I’m lucky! It would be impermissible not to use this luck - otherwise it may leave me away.
The Magazine: Where have you keep your trophies?
A.S.: It’s a serious question. I had enough walls in the house, but now they are gradually filling up and not only they. Yesterday I had a call that the table and stools made of elephant legs were ready, they needed to be taken away. Many trophies are still in the works and very soon they will have to be placed somewhere. Soon, I will have to make some kind of decision where to storage the trophies.
The Magazine: The traditional question about weapons. What do you use?
A.S.: I have already said that I have a smooth bore Benelli. Currently, I used several units of rifled weapons . I have two Blazers. One of them is in the "universal" caliber.300 Win.Mag., another one is 375 caliber for African hunts. My new acquisition for mountain hunting is a weapon in the Weatherby 300 caliber.
The Magazine: Anton, thank you for this conversation. I suggest we meet in a few years and talk again about hunting, about new trophies.
A.S.: I agree.
The Magazine: Let's hope that our meeting will be just as interesting in a few years.
