Just spoke with my friend. He works in the government in Bishkek.

The president of the republic Kirgyzstan signed today the law on the simplified visa regime till 60 days.
From now on hunters from Europe, Canada, USA, Australia can visit the country without the Visa.
Marco polo hunt for a very good price:
http://forums.accuratereloadin...2100588/m/9761096771

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

Damn brother. Sorry to hear that. I don't hear anything good about that company even considering that part of the world.

Prezman....I'm very sorry to hear of your issues in Kyrgyzstan but you are correct that it is a very corrupt country with several less than reputable operators.

I booked a Marco Polo/ibex combo with Bryan Martin at Asian Mountain Outfitters and while we paid more than some of the other "special" prices one sees, we had no issues getting our trophies home. He would be worth a call if you are considering going back.

isn't Bryan Martin the guy with several felony wildlife/hunting convictions in Canada? the name rings a bell. if i am wrong, i sincerely apologize but i seem to recall some posts here about the guy and his legal problems.

quote:

Originally posted by jdollar:
isn't Bryan Martin the guy with several felony wildlife/hunting convictions in Canada? the name rings a bell. if i am wrong, i sincerely apologize but i seem to recall some posts here about the guy and his legal problems.

Wow, it will be hard to get all the feathers back into the pillow once you've ripped the cover!
Just a thought,
Zeke

Absolutely, jdollar

I am Tur hunting with Mirbala this fall and I am just about to put a deposit down for my Marco polo hunt. I most likely will be going with Mirbala but Bryan Martin is also one I would choose to go with if the price is right. I know Bryan has had some of his own personal issues back in Canada here but he puts on a good show and does well for his clients. I would be happy to hunt with him.

quote:

Originally posted by nube:
I am Tur hunting with Mirbala this fall and I am just about to put a deposit down for my Marco polo hunt. I most likely will be going with Mirbala but Bryan Martin is also one I would choose to go with if the price is right. I know Bryan has had some of his own personal issues back in Canada here but he puts on a good show and does well for his clients. I would be happy to hunt with him.

+ 1

I vaguely remember something about Bryan Martin's problems. Can anyone elaborate on them?

I'm not positive but I thought Brian books tur hunts for Mirbala. Perhaps I am mistaken. He has had legal problems of some sort in B.C.. Maybe that is the reason for him primarily being an Asian outfitter so to speak now.

quote:

Originally posted by nube:
I am Tur hunting with Mirbala this fall and I am just about to put a deposit down for my Marco polo hunt. I most likely will be going with Mirbala but Bryan Martin is also one I would choose to go with if the price is right. I know Bryan has had some of his own personal issues back in Canada here but he puts on a good show and does well for his clients. I would be happy to hunt with him.

his "personal issues" are convictions for a poaching violation that one of his clients got wrapped up in IIRC. somewhere here there is a thread about the problem.. ah, here it is

http://forums.accuratereloadin...491061791#2491061791

of course, if he puts on a good show.....

quote:

Originally posted by larryshores:
I vaguely remember something about Bryan Martin's problems. Can anyone elaborate on them?

Larry this is the last one you can find.

http://forums.accuratereloadin...561027481#3561027481

Any more news on your horns and capes Steve?