Anyone hunted these recently?

Any tips/stories?

I may get a crack at one next November in Iran, which would be a great hunt as I believe that is during the rut.

Cheers

Gabriel

Hi Gabriel,

I have hunted the Transcaspian Urial in Iran in 2005. Politics aside, Iran is a big country rich in wildlife with great people. I enjoyed my stay there and the hunting was also very good. I was hunting in Parwer region of Mashad district in December but I believe that November will also be a good time however try to avoid early November as at that time the neck bib of certain males is not fully developed. Good luck.

Thanks Ahmed, I have hunted in Iran before. A stunning country with hospitable people, nothing to do with their world image.

Unfortunately I missed a great bezoar ibex twice on the first day, but managed to save face by taking a nice Armenian sheep.







This is still early stages, but if I go I will make sure to take my gun and practice at longer ranges. The guides expected 400m shots not to be a problem, an attitude I hadn't encountered in Europe/Africa before.

I got tired just looking at that last picture !!
I am very lazy so I prefer to hunt flat terrain

L

hi gabrial
how r u?
my name is vahid and live in mashad - iran
i m members ovis and grand slam and i m sure can help u for find good record
if u want u can email to me
joulio75@hotmail.com
i have map too for get good record this season too

Lorenzo, what he did not tell us is that he wasn't even halfway when the picture was taken!
Two years ago in Azerbaijan we hiked from base camp a vertical 1km at 50-60 degree angle to the spike camp. After lunch we glassed the other side and found some good tur. We ended up going down another 600 vertical meters at at least 60 degree slope to finally make the shot. My guide was 67 years old. Then some of the younger guys packed it out down the valley and the long way around. I went back up to the spike camp so the other hunter, whose rifle had not arrived, could use my gun.
Me, the tur, and Arif--67 and a spring hare


Tur country

It was some rough stuff, that is for sure.

A true test of your fitness and your gear.

As silkibex says, we were not even close to the crest of the mountain where the ibex live.

Every morning the trek in the dark was very tough mentally as you were not even hunting, but just going to the spot from which you could begin hunting, and yet your legs felt finished.

Fortunately we stopped to eat frequently, food like dates etc helped keep up energy supplies and morale.

At the end of the day the ibex hunt was a failure due to infamiliarity with my borrowed rifle. The shots were always on the far side of 200m. Fortunately I was able to creep up to this sheep at take him at 231m as he got up from his bed. Not a huge trophy by any means but after a 4 hour stalk it was well earned and worth mounting.

This time, I will go with my own gun and see if it makes a difference...

P.S. that is one hell of a fine tur.

P.P.S. My post above sounds a bit like a prolonged moan so I will clarify...this hunt converted me to mountain hunting. It is the champagne of hunting and I can't wait to be in the mountains again!

Hi Gabriel
In which part of Iran you were hunting? nice sheep trophy i hope you'll geta great ibex trophy in your next trip.
regards
yes

Thanks Gabriel. It was a lot of work, as you know. As you say, the climb kills you--and you haven't even started the hunt yet.

It certainly is hard to top mountain hunting.

Wow¡¡silkibex
That is a great trophy. I enjoy mountain hunting too and last year I went to Azerbaijan for a Tur Hunting, but got a mid size Tur. I wrote a report in the Rest of the World Forum. Uff¡¡ a very steep mountains, but I did it and enjoy it a lot. Maybe I will be back some day in search for a bigger Tur and Chamois.
Gabriel I will be pending for your report.
Regards

You guys must be crazy !!!!!
The suffering is part of the fun ???

Hey Silkibex, Once you arrive here I will take you hunting to our highest mountain...1,644 ft or 501 metres...so you can feel at home

L

I would have use some kind of game feeder with corn to bring those goats down..

L

Kechutti, thanks. It was chance/luck. Two weeks before the trip I injured some knee ligaments and had decided to shoot the first respectable goat I saw. The climb up didn't bother me but as soon as we dropped down the other side I started to feel the bad knee--although it "went away" as soon as we spotted the group of males. We had to descend a long way to get to them but in the end we were directly across a gully from them, maybe 150m. There were about 10 and all but 2 looked like keepers. The local guides weren't much help as they seemed to be better judges of meat. I picked out this one who seemed to have slightly more massive horns and hadn't shed yet--leading me to believe he may be older. An hour and a half after we began hunting (after the 4 hour climb up) it was all over. The other hunter in camp shot a smaller tur from a group that was driven by the guides the next day. Mine measured 33" with some moderate brooming. The outfitter was Shikar Safaris and the PH was Riza Gozluk, who has since started his own company, Caprinae Safaris. I would recommend him highly, although I didn't actually shoot my tur with him as he arrived in camp a bit later. I hunted with the local guides using my broken Azeri and their broken Russian

Lorenzo, can we go up and down you mountain several times before we start looking for animals?

It would have to be bigger even than a Texas deer feeder!

i share my latest trohy from trance caspian urial here , i hope like it
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Vahid,
That is a beatiful animal !!
What caliber you use for hunting sheeps and what other game animal you have there ?
L

dear lorenzo
i use 270 win . i hunted this trophy in north east in iran , u can find here persian ibex, wild boar , gazalle , ....

Vahid,
Nice urial.

Vahid underrates his country. They have 3 subspecies of ibex--Bezoar ibex, Persian Desert Ibex, and Sindh Ibex--and up to 9 sheep--Armenian Mouflon, Esfahan Mouflon, Laristan Mouflon, Shiraz Mouflon, Transcaspian Urial, Red Sheep, Kerman Sheep, and possibly Afghan and Blanford Urials. On top of that they have large boar and at least one gazelle. It is a pity that so few have hunted there recently--including myself. Iran is definitely an area of interest for me.

hi
i share wonderful photo from record tarscaspian urial in north east in iran
i have very good local guid here u welcome

WOW!!!! ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL.

Hello vahid_vp,

Iran is one of my first Asian hunting country in my list. Great hunting and animals you have!
And, Lorenzo, the mountains are not so hard...Ja! You have been, at least in the foothills, of some mountains down here...
And as the old rendevouz said "...meat don´t spoils in the mountains..."

PH

wow! That's a massive and beautiful ram