For those of you who are interested, the final list is out for Tajikistan. There were about 130 applicants (to USFWS) for 60 import permits. To say it was a mess this year would be a huge understatement....the Tajik government submitted 6 different lists to USFWS...back in July they announced a "final" list, only to pull that back 24 hours later, as the Tajiks had indicated more changes were coming. So finally, last Wed. (Aug.29) the last info was submitted and all appears to be on track now for this season.

There were actually only 59 permits issued, as the 60th name was being questioned...

As for Kyrgyzstan, it sounds as if USFWS will issue a limited number of permits this year (about 20 is what I am hearing). The Kyrg. government did not abide by USFWS regs. by submitting scientific info (sheep counts, managment plan, habitat studies, etc.) last year and therefore no import permits were issued for '06. It looks like they got info in (just in time) this year for a limited number to be issued. Nothing has been finalized yet on Kyrg.

You can go to: ISHA
For details on who the lucky ones are.

After all the dust settled, we (Safari Outfitters) were in the thick of it with all (13) of our hunters getting permits. Our first hunters depart for Tajikistan on Oct. 15.

Some of the problems this year stemmed from the corrupt officials who are in charge of issuing the hunting permits on the Tajik side. Seems like you just can't trust politicians ANYWHERE.

Current price of a Marco Polo hunt in Tajikistan is $33,500 (from arrival in Osh). With the demand as it is, our partners there are indicating a strong chance for price increases in the future. We were told earlier this year that anyone booking a hunt in Tajikistan for less than $33,000 would not get a permit...seems to be true, as I talked to some guys yesterday who are now wishing they would have booked with a well established company...they booked with "brand x" for a lower price and will not be hunting this year + to add insult to injury, "brand x" is keeping $10K of their deposit and will only allow them to use it on another hunt and will not refund any of it.

Buyer beware...you get what you pay for.

Safari Outfitters has been dealing with this part of the world longer than any other. We know it well. We opened many parts of Asia to hunting.

Yours for good hunting,

Clark Jeffs
SAFARI OUTFITTERS, INC. "Serving Sportsmen Since 1952"

I don't need to check the list to know that I'm not on it.

Keeping 10k of the deposit for not drawing a permit is kind of rough. Sounds like someone you probably don't want to hunt with anyway.