Greetings to all,

This is Kathi's husband Rick, posting from the Marriott in Islamabad.

Will be returning to Chicago in a few days from my most adventurous hunt ever.

The people of Pakistan are fantastic. Very friendly and English is widely spoken.

I was hunting blue sheep in the Karakorams of Northern Pakistan in the KVO.

There is absolutely no security issues and I never felt any safety concerns in any way.

If you are considering Pakistan, do it you will not be sorry.

Cannot wait to return in this beatiful country with it's friendly people.

Will post report and photos after Thanksgiving.

Look forward to your report. Great to hear you had a safe and rewarding hunt, and that the Pakistanis were such friendly folks.

Who did you book with and what outfitter where you hunting with?

Brett

Locking forward to your report!

Rick & Kathi;

I'm looking forward to your report. Travel home safely!!

Best regards, D. Nelson

Brett,

Booked with Karakurum Treks and Tours out of Islamabad, Hunting Consortium was the booking agent.

Anchan Mirza of Karakurum Treks and Tours comes to SCI every year. He attended the AR get together at the Leopard Lounge when it was in Reno.

Anchan does a lot of Markhor hunts, along with the blue sheep, ibex, and various urials.

Location: Karakoram Mountains, Khunjerab Villages Organization (KVO), Northern Pakistan

Species hunted: Himalayan Blue Sheep

Game seen: Blue sheep, ibex, carcass of snow leopard

Booking Agent: Hunting Consortium

Outfitter: Karakurum Treks & Tours, Islamabad, Anchan Mirza




Cast of characters: (some names may be misspelled)


Main guide: Wazir Naeema

Porters: We started with 6,but due to a rule that porters can only carry 18 kgs of "company equipment" plus their own sleeping bag, clothes, etc, it was increased to 9 porters

Local guide: Ferman, it was an honor to hunt with this 60 year old man. He would climb up and down the mountains like an ibex, constantly looking for game. I have never hunted with someone who was so focused and hunted so hard as Mr. Ferman

Pakistan Wildlife Officers: One was Mr. Kalai, the other videotaped the hunt for the KVO

Local Game Warden: Ali

Owner of guest house Mr. Haji Han had been a wildlife officer for 35 years, he spent 3 years as a prisoner of war while serving in the Pakistan Military. The man is 62 years old and in incredible shape. He came along to assist.

Cooks: Braheem and another gentleman




Airlines: Turkish-they were fantastic

Optics: Zeiss

Rifle: Ruger 338 win mag

Ammo: Remington 225 swift-a-frame

Sleeping bag: Wiggy's (thanks to everyone on AR who recommended this bag)

Boots: Russell




In order to enter Pakistan you have to obtain your Visa in advance. Where you apply for your Visa depends on where you live in America. I have the Chicago Consolute as my application location. In August I sent in my packet for a Visa, a few days later the Consulate's office called and wanted more documents. Those were sent in and in a few days they called again requesting my employment background. When I told them (which was on my application) that I retired as a Detective Sergeant from the Illinois State Police, they requested proof. After sending in this information I recived my Visa. The Consulate General does a very thorough background check, if you go apply as early as possible. The staff at the Consulate's office were very nice, but very conscientious.





I left on the night flight Thursday,Nov 8th, via Istanbul arriving in Islamabad Saturday morning. I was met by Wazir and Nadi, and clearing the firearms and ammo went smoothly. Due to clear skies Nazir and I were able to catch the 8 a.m. flight to Gilgit. If you ever get the opportunity, this flight is amazing as you fly near Nanga Parat. After arriving in Gilgit, I was deposited at the Serena Hotel where I would spend the night.



Sunday began by loading the vehicle for the drive to Sost. As we reached the town of Karimibad, Wazir told me we would have to take a boat ride across the lake. Apparently two years ago a huge chunk of mountain crashed down on a village, blocked a river and now formed a large lake. As we neared the lake, people were everywhere getting into these large boats. We emptied our vehicle placing everything in a boat and began the one hour boat ride.

Once on the other side of the lake, we met Haji Han. We unloaded our supplies into his vehicle and headed to his guest house near Sost. After settling in for the night, several representatives of the KVO (Khunjerab Villages Organization) visited. I was told I was the first hunter in 4 years to be hunting this area. There were many blue sheep in the area, but reaching them was the problem as it would be a 2 day trek over very difficult terrain. They estimated 500 sheep were in this area alone.



The following morning everyone was outside sorting gear for the porters. After weighing the company equipment it was necessary to hire 3 more porters. We loaded all the equipment and personnel into two vehicles for the 45 minute ride up the Karakoram Highway. After reaching the turn off point we left the vehicles and began day one of the trek into the hunting area. The scenery was incredible, ice falls, narrow ledges over steep drop offs, frozen rivers, exactly as I pictured the Karakorams would be. The late afternoon was spent glassing ibex on the side of the mountains and preparing for the day 2 trek.



We started out in the dark because there was an area of concern where once the day warms massive landslides occur. While walking we found the remnants of a snow leopard. The bones and fur were all that remained. The Pakistan Wildlife officer said snow leopards are often killed in the landslides. A few years before he found a cub whose mother had been crushed. He raised the cub and it was subsequently sent to the Bronx zoo in New York. He said he named the cub "Leo" and showed me several pictures of the cat. The area was covered in huge snow leopard tracks. Their paws must be naturally larger than an African leopard because these tracks in the dust were bigger than any I had ever seen in Africa.



After setting up camp 2, we glassed for sheep with no luck.



The next morning, we hiked to an area known for wild onions. Once we arrived, blue sheep were everywhere eating the grasses. I probably saw in excess of 150 sheep on this day. After working into position for a shot it was decided to pass on the rams. I have never seen a blue sheep before and they looked good to me. All day we saw sheep on various ridges and hillsides. Late in the afternoon, Mr. Ferman spotted a very good ram and the stalk began. After closing to 200 yards I shot and the ram ended up in an area where we could not recover him.



After much discussion, it was decided we would return to Sost and Mr. Ferman would come back to the area with two young men from the town and attempt to retrieve the sheep.



All the "elders" from the village were concerned over the sheep not being recovered and Mr. Ferman told me he would do everything he could to get the sheep out. I am hopeful he will be recovered.



The people of Pakistan were so friendly and made me feel very welcome as a guest in their country. I look forward to my return.





If someone can post pictures for me, please send me a PM and I will e-mail you the photos.

WOW! Send the photos to me and I will put em up

anton810922@hotmail.com

Hi Kathi, Rick,
I have some pics of your hunt, im posting some that are my favorite, i hope you dont mind:

Thanks for posting, Anton sent you 12 photos, thank you.

Pir Danish thanks for posting.

Rick, Thanks for sharing your adventure, it looks like a good one.

I hunted that same area for blue sheep in march right after bush beat kerry, whatever year that was. Recognize several of the faces in the pics. Anchan runs a fantastic outfit and i agree with Rick, one of my best adventures to date.

Magnificent country. I love the sign with the altitude. 7166 meters! WOW!!!

Awesome hunt - thanks for sharing! Congratulations

Orvar

So Rick, when are you going to do a "tough" hunt? Can't wait to hear what you're up to next!

What an amazing accomplishment!!!! Thanks for sharing.

Best regards, D. Nelson

Some great news, sheep has been recovered.



Dear Rick,

kamal call me this morning from sust,they recovered your trophy,

regards

wazir



Dear rick,


im in gilgit i met safiullah baig today he told me ,due to bad weather farman went yesterday in search of sheep as soon as i get any news from him i will let you know thanks ,

regards

wazir,

quote:

Originally posted by Kathi:
Some great news, sheep has been recovered.



Dear Rick,

kamal call me this morning from sust,they recovered your trophy,

regards

wazir



Dear rick,


im in gilgit i met safiullah baig today he told me ,due to bad weather farman went yesterday in search of sheep as soon as i get any news from him i will let you know thanks ,

regards

wazir,

Great! I bet he's happy! Looked like a great hunt, congrats Rick!

Greg,

He is really glad they found him, just received this e-mail cape is bad so it looks like a European mount.



Dear Rick,



I heard from our representative yesterday that they found your sheep. However as i understand the cape is not in good order.

Will get back to you with more details in future once we have in possession.



Best wishes,



Anchan Mirza

Dang! Maybe he can get a new cape? I know Blue Sheep aren't exactly an easy cape to replace but maybe it could be arranged?

Rick - Thanks for a nice report! Sorry to hear your sheep was not originally recovered, hopefully the trophy gets back to you - and perhaps a cape can be located somewhere?

Having just returned from Pakistan myself, and before leaving - I booked a blue sheep/ibex hunt for 2014. So it was with great anticipation I read your report, and scoured through the pics.

Received photos of sheep, can someone please post.

Thank you.

Sure Kathi, email them to me. mjines@kingwoodcable.com

Posting for Kathi. Well done, glad they were able to recover them.

Glad it was recovered! Really nice.

Hello Rick,
I would like to congratulate you after such an excellent hunt, and congratulkate you again after they could retrieve your trophy!

If I may ask, I see that you hunted with Karakorum Treks and Tours, and that Pir Danish, whom I believe to be a different outfitter, posted the photos of your hunt, are they both partners? Pir?

Alvaro, from Spain.

I believe Pir Danish and my guide Wazir Naeem are friends and Wazir sent photos to Pir Danish.


On a side note, Wazir speaks VERY HIGHLY of Pir Danish.

Thank you, Kathi. I, too, have extremely good references about Pir`s outfit, but I just could not see the connection with Anchan.
Regards from Spain,
Alvaro

Rick and Kathi....Thank you for sharing and Rick you're one TOUGH guy...

Very nice report and great pictures, I am glad having decent comments on Pakistan and friendly attitude from my beloved country men, really feel proud, specially when misleading news are around the world for Pakistan. Pakistan, I think is the only country where some very exotic trophies are found, specially BLUE SHEEP, HIMALAYAN MARKHOR, SINDH IBEX, URIAL AND ABOVE ALL SULEIMAN MARKHOR.