We just got out of the mountains in Azerbaijan from one of the most dangerous and physically demanding hunts I've ever done. What an incredible adventure. I took this great 9 year old tur with the 270WSM at 279 yards after a terrifying stalk in the steepest terrain I've ever set foot in. I can't say enough about the quality of the hunting and people over here. It's definitely one for the bucket list!

FANTASTIC!! Congrats on a damn fine goat!

That hunt is on my SHORT SHORT list (ie next few yrs).

Can't wait to hear the details of it.

Congrats on a great tur! I thought I knew the definition of steep; I actually learned the true definition of the term in Azerbaijan.

Best of Hunting,
Mark Hampton

Congratulations on a fabulous animal! Also on my short list! I'm looking forward to a detailed report.

Brett

Congratulations. That is a great picture, the look on your face tells the whole story.

Congratulations!

quote:

Originally posted by Alaska Hunter:
...the look on your face tells the whole story.

+1

Can you show the size of body? How many turs did you see? Was it difficult to find this one?

Congrats on getting your tur! Those mountains are something else.

quote:

Originally posted by roman BGH:
Can you show the size of body?

Either he is using his proper pics for an article or something along those lines or most likely it was too steep for him to get to the animal for field pics where it went down...it's pretty common with tur. I know I started towards where mine went down and the guides sent me back up (wasn't going to argue as it was some scary shit). Although you won't always be able to communicate well with them they are focused on your safety all the time.

We saw hundreds of tur and lots of nice mature rams and a couple very exceptional ones.

outstanding mate well done, I'm thinking of doing it again I had such a good time and your right one hell of an amazing hunt!!! I'm on my way to Kazakhstan as I wirte this chasing MAral, ibex and roe deer.cheers

Very nice! Looking forward to the report

Remarkable trophy... well done!

quote:

Originally posted by sheephunterab:
We saw hundreds of tur and lots of nice mature rams and a couple very exceptional ones.

Which distance they usually keep if they see you? Was it difficult to get them at 279 yards?

We got lucky and the clouds and fog kept coming in and out so we were able to use that to our advantage on the stalk...otherwise they are pretty spooky. We basically slipped down about 1500 feet on an open ridge using the fog cover to get that close. Otherwise there was no was we could have done it.

Who was your outfitter? Would love some more info for those who are always trying to follow in your footsteps.

Just In airport in Baku for first leg of journey home but will post details soon. We booked the hunt through Bryan Martin of Asian Mountain Outfitters.

Congrats bud what an adventure...sure looks like you have this mountain hunting down to a science! When will this air on Wild TV?

Congrats.

I saw a tur hunt on TV last year ( I think). While I just handled a dall hunt with no problem, I am not at all sure I could handle a tur hunt. You have my admiration. Well done!

Hunt: Tur in Azerbaijan
Dates: Sept 5-11, 2013
Outfitter: Bryan Martin, Asian Mountain Outfitters
Gear: RMR 270WSM, 130 grain GMX, Zeiss 4.5-14x44 with Rapid Z 800

We flew to Baku via Frankfurt and all flights were good other than when we arrived in Baku, our guns didn't. We spent one night in Baku and then drove 5 hours to Sheki the following morning where we stayed at a small guest house. Mirbala made arrangements to have our guns delivered the following day. They arrived around 10:00am and we made plans to head to the mountains. I was hunting with my buddy Pat in one camp and the other two hunters would be heading for another camp.

Our journey began in the back of an old Russian truck that took us two hours up a rough creek bed where our guides were waiting with four horses. We loaded the horses and made the four hour trek up to base camp at 8,000 feet. It was comprised of several small nylon tents and a permanent rock structure which served as both kitchen and dining area. We got settled in that afternoon and prepared for our hunt the following day.

We all left camp together at around 7:30am and climbed to around 12,000 feet, where we ridge walked about five or six miles in search of tur. Around noon we found a band of good looking rams but they were in some very nasty terrain. We played cat and mouse with them for most of the afternoon but were unable to get close enough for a shot. Late in the afternoon, the rams moved into a canyon and our guides figured we could get above them and hopefully get a shot. After some very scary traversing of a ridge, we got above the tur but they were over 500 yards and the shot was about 60 degrees downhill. Our guides were confident that even if we missed the shot that the tur would run uphill. Pat graciously offered me the shot at the huge ram that was likely in the 38" range. I ended up holding for 350 yards and hit just slightly low, sending the tur fleeing, not uphill but for the opposite side of the valley. Our day was over. We arrived back in camp long after dark and after a quick supper fell fast to sleep.

The following morning the wind had shifted and our guides seemed very concerned that the weather was about to change so we elected to split up, with me heading back where we had been the previous day and Pat heading to another mountain range the opposite direction.

It was around noon when we spotted a group of tur on a distant mountain and my guides figured they were worth checking out. There were about a dozen and all were quite young save for one very old broomed ram. They were is some nasty cliffs and approaching them was going to be impossible, until the fog rolled in that is. We took advantage of the cover and dropped about 1,500 feet elevation at a very rapid pace, stopping to hide only when the fog disappeared. Amazingly, we got within range of the rams without being detected and I was offered an easy broadside shot at the biggest ram. I put him down almost instantly with the 130 grain bullet.

I was determined to get to my downed trophy so for the next hour we cut out foot holds in the shale, scaled waterfalls and moved across cliffs. One slip meant a nasty fall of about 2,000 feet and certain death. We got within about 50 yards of the downed ram and it seemed there was no way to get closer. My guides told me to stay put while the checked out a route. For the next hour they tried several different approaches. It was the most careful and nervous I'd seen them on the entire trip. Finally they told me that it was just too dangerous and that I should stay put. It was definitely a bitter sweet moment. I had my trophy of my dreams but I could not get to it and they were right, the chance of me slipping and falling to my death was real. I wedged myself behind a rock on the cliff and waited for them to return with my tur.

We took some photos with the head after climbing out of the canyon and then started the long journey back to camp. We arrived about 11:00pm and were shocked to see Pat had not returned. I waited until about midnight and then went to bed, figuring they'd be spending the night on the mountain but around 3:00am, I could hear Pat yelling outside. He too had been successful on a great ram.

The weather came in the next day so we just hung around camp and admired our trophies. The following day we descended to the river valley in the rain where the old Russian truck took us back to the guest house. We headed back to Baku the following day and spent a couple days touring before heading home.

This trip is definitely not for the faint of heart although drives can be organized for those not able to traverse some of the steeper country. One of the other hunters with us was 66 and he took a nice ram on a driven hunt but is was no walk in the park either. This is without a doubt one of the greatest hunting adventures there is. I have to give credit to Bryan as this hunt is one of the most organized I've ever been on and there wasn't a single time where things didn't go as promised. The people were absolutely wonderful and very knowledgeable and the food was really good. We had a cook in camp that prepared hot food both for breakfast and dinner every day. The gear was good too and we each had our own tent and the horses were incredibly tough. This hunt truly is a bargain in the world of sheep/goat hunting and I'd highly recommend it!

My tur was broomed and measured 32" and is 9.5 years old.

Base camp at 8,000 feet


Our chariot to the base of the mountain!


Riding up to base camp


Our kitchen/dining room


Known as the steepest mountains in the world for good reason!

Glassing for tur


Some of the toughest horses I've ever been around.


Lunch on top of the world


Success

Crazy cool! Congratulations.

Fabulous photos and write up.
Thanks for that. I am trying to soak up as much on this hunt as I can..

Question, are you able to bring your trophies home with you on this hunt (like Kahzak and Kyrgyz)?

Yes you can bring them home. They did a phenomenal job of boiling the skull and drying the cape. They also arranged all the appropriate paperwork.

Thanks for sharing.

Awesome!

quote:

Originally posted by AR MAN:
Congrats bud what an adventure...sure looks like you have this mountain hunting down to a science! When will this air on Wild TV?

It should be on in January or February 2014.

Hey sheephunterab
Congrats¡¡¡¡¡ Awesome Tur and spectacular place¡¡¡
Maybe some day I will be back¡¡¡¡
Regards

Sheephunterab. Glad you had a great trip. I know exactly what you mean about not getting down to the animal. It happened to us. When mine rolled off the mountain he went into a "creek" and got washed over a waterfall. First reaction was now what do we do? They told me the same thing, that there was no way I would be allowed to go down there. Was not happy about it but after watching from above I realized that was the right decision. I had a lump in my throat just watching them. Scared the hell out of me but they smiled the whole time. A tur should be on every mountain hunters bucket list.

Ok, thanks for the info. Should be a great show to watch. I'm sure this is the same place I watched Mr. Shockey shoot his Tuhr. Fantastic area!

Cheers

Yes, Jim was in the same camp we were in.

Congratulations, it looks like you had a great trip! Is that the guide, Asimon (spelling may not be quite right), in the picture of you eating lunch? It sure looks like the guide my dad and I hunted with a month ago. He speaks English quite well.

Yes, he was our interpreter in camp.

Hey sheephunterab
Your thoughts about food, backpack, boots, clothing and optics.
If you go back in the future, what changes would you do on your equipment?
Regards

For food, all you need is some energy snacks. The food in camp was awesome.

I wore Lowa Tibets and they were perfect. Gaiters were also a good thing to bring.

I took a 70L backpack and it was perfect.

Lots of layers for clothing and some good rain gear

I'd take binos/rangefinder and spotting scope and I'd take a spare pair of binos for guide.

sheephunterab,

Congratulations on your hunt and adventure of a lifetime!

Incredible report and photos...Awesome!
Thank you for sharing

nice photos :-)

WOW
Thank you for sharing.
Very nice photos.
Congratulations on a great adventure, hunt, in a very hard terrain.

First you bait me into hunting in New Zealand with the Telford's, then bait me into hunting sheep in Alberta, now you post this about Tur hunting. My wife is going to hate you!!!

Great hunt!

LOL...it's a pretty cool adventure for a very underrated trophy!