Before I even start, all I can say is WOW! I have read a lot of books on hunting, I have posted a lot of reviews here - but this one is one the all time most interesting books I have ever read as it pertains to hunting.

If you do not know the author, he is the guy that has taken 7 of the top 10 Marco Polo sheep ever killed. After the age of 66 (when this book was written) he has taken 3 Marco Polo's over 70". To get perspective, a very good Marco Polo is 55" or better. He has taken all of the world's sheep, at least two North American Grand Slams, been on 200 sheep hunts, and has been on at least 18 African safaris. Easily Soudy Golabchi isone of the world's most accomplished hunters.

Now for the book itself. As I have said in the past, I rarely ever start a book and then not finish it. When I started this book, I was unaware of his accomplishments. When I got into a little bit, I thought, "here we go again, another I went there and shot that type of book". This was due to his writing style more than anything. He is a native of Iran, married to a German woman, and lives in Augusta, Georgia. I could not tell what he does for a living but it must be good as he spends a lot of time and money sheep hunting in all kinds of places.

His writing style started out a bit slow for me until I realized that he tells the story as he sees it in his own words without a lot of editing that would detract from his style. Once I got into the book, I could not put it down.

He told story after story of being in any one of a dozen countries, getting stranded for days, snowed in for days, missing shots that I likely would not reveal in a book, being cheated by dishonest outfitters, being screwed over by Russians, being sick in many places and breaking his arm in a Bishkek hotel needing serious surgery.

His passion for sheep hunting is more than evident. He persists on getting the sheep he is after. One instance, he made 7 trips to Turkmenistan to take a Trans-Caspian Urial. He made 20 or more trips for Marco Polo sheep and in several cases, never took a shot.

The book is one of those that you can pick up and put down due to the way the chapters are written. I could not put it down as it fascinated me. Each story had a problem or disaster that was funny and tragic, yet he persisted. An amazing hunter for sure.

The only downside to the book are the pictures. The photos are few and not of great quality. Most of them were taken with film cameras. He laments this in a couple of places in the book.

Overall, if you hunt sheep, you MUST read this book. It will change or alter your perception of real sheep hunting to being obsessed with sheep hunting. He is now in his 70's and still hunting.

I rate this a 9 out of 10 on the dogcat scale. The only thing holding it back is the lack of some great pictures. YOu will like this book.

I got my copy from Safari Press and my copy is not for sale!!!!

Thanks for the post. Will check it out.

He is a real estate developer in Agusta Georgia. Been in Georgia since the early 80's. I don't know what he did before that.

Real hunter, sounds like
One who hunts to hunt and goes for broke even if means going home empty handed
My kinda guy