Just got back from Russia last week on a hunt for Dagestan Tur. Shot an incredible 13yo ram in the Karmadon Valley right at 11,500 ft. Longest horn was 36in. Shot was at 163 yds. Saw lots of Tur, many from base camp. Climbed higher and got into quite a few rams. Booked the hunt thru Igor at Extrem-Tours and everything went smoothly. Stayed in a comfortable hunting lodge/inn before and after the hunt. Very gracious hosts took care of us. Guides worked hard.
The mountains are beautiful and very steep. I have to hand it to Kenetrek, they make an incredible boot.

Darn nice trophy!

Congrats! Great trophy!

COngratulations. Looks like a well earned trophy!

Excellent! Well done!
How physical was the hunt? I can imagine it's quite difficult to hunt in that steep country!

Congrats. Great ram!

Nice!!!!

Caracal,
To be honest it was a very physically demanding hunt. The altitude did not bother me but the terrain was very steep. Lots of loose rock also. The guides gave us walking sticks and told us not to lose them. To say they were a necessity is an understatement.

quote:

Originally posted by Magnum Hunter1:



Just got back from Russia last week on a hunt for Dagestan Tur. Shot an incredible 13yo ram in the Karmadon Valley right at 11,500 ft. Longest horn was 36in. Shot was at 163 yds. Saw lots of Tur, many from base camp. Climbed higher and got into quite a few rams. Booked the hunt thru Igor at Extrem-Tours and everything went smoothly. Stayed in a comfortable hunting lodge/inn before and after the hunt. Very gracious hosts took care of us. Guides worked hard.
The mountains are beautiful and very steep. I have to hand it to Kenetrek, they make an incredible boot.

Congratulation Doug!
Nice tur! Many thanks for trust!
I think you trophy is by yours taxedermist know? We are waiting for more photos.

Igor

Igor,
Yes the cape is at the taxidermist, but I like to keep the horns as long as I can to look at them while they order the form and tan the cape. I do have more photos and will try to post some more soon. Photobucket was practically down the other day and it took me a long time to post these. Thanks for a great hunt.

Beautiful tur sir.I agree the stick is a very important part.When i arrived Aslan took away my
aluminum hiking staff and gave me the wooden one.I couldnt have climbed the mountain without it but most important couldnt have gotten down without it.Hardest mountain hunt i have ever done,welcome to the club!!!!

Great tur! I did the hunt in Azerbaijan this summer and had a great time. That stick is super important!! I didn't need it much on the way up but it rained on our way down and we took a super steep chute all the way to the bottom. I slipped once and broke my stick so one of the guides gave me his.

great trophy congrate

Congratulations Doug. Awesome old ram. That may be a fun trip for next year. We leave for Bishkek on Jan 5. I will let you know how it goes. Vince

Doug

I would like to hear more about this hunt. I am seriously considering it.
You were on the Russian side of the mtns and not in Azerbaijan?

PM me, if possible, with some specifics please.

Awesome trophy!

Hi Scotty!

just PM me, if you want to shot a good Caucasian.
About Kamtschatka i will send inform to you in January ( Kamtschatka Snow Sheep +Kamtchatka Brown Bear)

Regards
Igor

Scotty,
I was on the Russian side. Accomodations before and after the hunt were great. Tented camp during hunt to get near the Tur. We saw quite a few animals while we were there. Three of us shot 4 nice rams. All you have to do is email Igor and he will set you up. Feel free to ask me here or PM me if you like. Travel in Russia was easy and Igor helped us find some real reasonable airline rates from US to Moscow. From there, there are regular connecting flights to Mineralnie Vodi or Vladikavkosk.
Get in shape

FYI, Buyer beware. I booked a hunt through Igor (Profyhunter) and hunted with his contact in Kyrgyzstan for Ibex this past September, 2012. On that hunt we were arrested by the police because the outfitter did not properly fill out all the necessary paperwork or had the proper Governmental Person along on the hunt to make sure the outfitter hunted correctly. With the arrest they also confiscated our trophies, horns and the capes of the Ibex. The outfitter assured us that he would get back the trophies and ship them at his expense in 2 weeks and that we would not have to pay him the balance of the hunt until we received the trophies. On my return I notified Igor of this as he was the booking agent/ part owner of this operation. Igor then changed the date to December. Well guys December is gone and now Igor and his outfitter want us to pay them in full for our hunt before they will ship us the promised trophies. I believe they just wanted to suck us out of our money and not ship us the hunted trophies we took. I believe the skins are bad or damaged at this point and they will be shipping to us either rotten or someone else's animals not our own. First off Kyrgyzstan is a corrupt country and everyone should not be trusted, secondly Igor made all of these promises that he runs this outfitter and he calls the shots with him. Instead of making the situation right , he as added to the shamelessness of asking for our payments before we have in our possessions the skins in hand ( Bribery !!!) Now to add to all of this I was promised and set with our Booking Agent Igor, that we would combine our Ibex hunt with a Roe Deer hunt, well guess what again. The outfitter made every excuse in the book to not take us on the Roe Deer hunt , The Deer hunt that was booked with Igor. Igor uses this web site as free advertising for his bookings and uses the cancellation hunt as a means of attracting clients. We bit on this and got screwed. I can tell you that his pricing he states in the cancellation is exactly the same deal you can get from the outfitter anytime, it is no savings, they are trying to get you to fill an open spot.. If you want more info PM me back here on this forum. There were three of us on this hunt and I will get the other as well to post theirs on here too.
Steve - USA Hunter

As an update to the goings on with us trying to get this resolved. We have agreed, just yesterday with the outfitter Adilet Ulukmanov and with Profyhunter to pay in full the amount owed to them for the hunt, if they would cover the cost of what we would have to pay the US Import Broker for their fees for us to import the trophies back into the US. The outfitter Adilet Ulukmanov, stated in an email that " We are not being serious" in our attempt to get this resolved.

In addition I have asked the outfitter to provide some pictures of the capes and hides of the Ibex so we have knowledge that they were well taken care of and that the hair is intact and not slipping. The outfitter Adilet Ulukmanov stated that " We will just have to take his word that they are in good shape" He also made comments "That shit happens on hunts and that nothing always goes as planned". This was made in reference to my inquiry of the mistakes that were made on our hunt and the fact the the police had confiscated our Ibex in relation to what the outfitter had not done with the proper paperwork or documentation.

We had everything arranged with US Fish & Wildlife in advance to clear our trophies with them in Chicago on our return flight. They actually met with us in Customs asking were our trophies were. We arranged this in advance so we wouldn't have had to use a import broker here in the US.

We have now come to the conclusion that we will never see our horns or capes from this hunt, we also realize that all along this was never going to happen and that they, the outfitter, Adilet Ulukmanov or the booking agent Profyhunter never had any plans on insuring that we would get our trophies complete and in quality shape. I can't even imagine if we had sent the funds and then still not received the trophies as promised. We have done the hunt, have the memories of the hunt and even have some fantastic pictures of the Ibex we all took. I will just have to place a picture of my Ibex in my trophy room, rather than the mount of the animal.

If there is a respectable, honest outfitter who offers Ibex hunts I would like for you to contact me as I am most interested in returning to get the mount I so desire. I will take the money I have from this last trip and apply it towards a new memorable hunt in the future.

I am posting this here in order to help fellow future hunters, help them know the ins and outs of a hunt overseas and what to expect. If anyone needs any follow up info on this hunt or details on the outfitter or booking agent. I can be reached at PHprez@gmail.com

Steve

Steve,

I am very sorry to hear of the bad trip that you had. Talk to Bryan Martin owner of Asian mountain outfitters, he knows what he is doing in this part of the world better than most.

Hey Guys,also have a look at global safaris. i hunted with them or Asif the owner acouple of years ago it he has a fantastic opperation and a lot of big name outfitters are booking their hunt through him, see my post on page 5 i think

quote:

Originally posted by Maxx:
Steve,

I am very sorry to hear of the bad trip that you had. Talk to Bryan Martin owner of Asian mountain outfitters, he knows what he is doing in this part of the world better than most.

@Maxx
do you know that Steve have not paid the trophy fees?
do you know, that Steve have not paid full service?
do you know, that we have say to Steve, that we will sen the trophy to USA free charges?
do you know, that we have shot the photos from Steve Trophy






Steve, we will not send the trophy without payment!!!!
You have paid only 2000USD for hunitng fees
Please, make the many transfer for throphy fees - 1800USD
Steve with USA hunters in Naryn 2012
[/QUOTE]

quote:

Originally posted by zhaba:
Hey Guys,also have a look at global safaris. i hunted with them or Asif the owner acouple of years ago it he has a fantastic opperation and a lot of big name outfitters are booking their hunt through him, see my post on page 5 i think

Dear Zhaba,
this is a hunt in Russia and not in Azerbajan.
I know Asif too, he ia a good outfitter, but in another State

To all here. I agree that money is owed to Profyhunter for the hunt and for the trophy fees. But, I have to agree with Larrys that the outfitter/booking agent is responsible to make sure the hunt goes off without major problems. Unforgettably ours did. There also at this point is a lack of trust on my end as what was agreed to prior to us departing the hunt was not ad-heard to. Originally the outfitter told us we could pay him once the trophies were shipped and that he would ship the trophies in two weeks after our departure. Once I returned home they changed their minds and stated I needed to send the money before they would ship the trophies. I am just worried that the skins were not properly taken care of and that I will have nothing to mount or maybe they will not be sent at all. I have been contacted by a Forum member from another forum, who is a "Super mMderator" on that forum (AH) He has offered to be a non bias moderator between Profyhunter (AKA Ibexhunter)and myself. He sent a PM to the both of us stating he would collect the money from me, hold the money and when the trophies are shipped and received By our group in good shape he the moderator, who lives in Canada, would release the money in full to Profyhunter ( Ibexhunter) for payment. I have agreed to let this happen. To date Profyhunter(Ibexhunter) has yet to reply to this offer to complete this mess. If everything was on the up and up and everyone involved knew that the skulls, horns and skins are in mountable shape, why then would they not agree to this. In the end everyone would have there money or trophies and be satisfied. With this not happening, this brings out the RED Flag as now there is something wrong. Everyone who is following this , please let me know if I am looking at this wrong???? Prezman

For those who keep thinking that this was not a big deal. I will explain the detainment/arrest in detail. On the day we were arriving back at base camp from our hunt on horseback. We three hunters and the 7 guides we had were met about 1 mile from camp by another guide. He stated that the police and 2 military personnel were waiting for us at camp. The guide we had then proceeded to ditch all their weapons in the bush along with their round. First clue something was wrong! Once in camp we went through a lengthy interrogation from a guy who was the police captain. He took us all inside the cabin, placed his pistol on the table, for intimidation and began interrogating us about the hunt. He wanted to take our passport all our documentation and also on that day take us back to Karocal for the night. We refused and after a heated argument the police decided to confiscate the trophies. This lasted 4 hours the first day. We had a SAT phone and immediately called the outfitter Adilet. He informed us that he or his father would go to the police the next day and straighten this out. Which he never did.
The next morning we decided to leave and head back to Bishkek. We went through the usual check points and at the last one, once again were stopped and asked to take all of our weapons out and all our bags, we waited awhile asking our interpreter what was going on as he did not know, they would not tell him anything. Then at once they told us to pack and leave. Well ½ mile down the road they police had a road block waiting for us. This time with 5 military guy all with AK-47. They took out interpreter in a separate vehicle and drove off leaving us without someone who spoke English. Then after a 2 hour wait at the side of the road we were menaced by the guys with the AK-47 to get back into the truck. As we got in one of the military guys with the AK-47 entered and sat between us. They took us to the Police station in Karocal, which looked like prison, 4 stories surround by guards and barbwire. They escorted us to the building and took up each to a room. They then brought in our weapons, interrogated us. Took pictures of us as well as pictures of our weapons, took ever pieces of documentation and made copies, and had us sign a document stating that we had hunted with an illegal outfitter and so on. They originally told us we would be spending the night and would see if someone from the “Department” could come from Bishkek the following day to decide to release us. Once again we had the sat phone and called the outfitter Adilet, he made every excuse why his father was not there. We told him he needed to get to Karocal immediately to help us out. He refused and in the end neither he nor anyone ever showed to help us.
After sitting and going through this which lasted over 4 hours, all at once they decided we could leave with our rifles, but not our trophies. At that point we were just glad we go out. We decided that the truck we were driving stood out like a sore thumb and hailed a van cab to take us the rest of the way to Bishkek, we thought they would not stop us again if they had no idea what we were driving. This turned out to be the best thing we did.
So for all you guys who think this was not a big deal, put yourself through this and see where you stand on giving the outfitter his money first before he send the trophies he promised to do, which he has not.
Prez