I just returned from my Altai Mountain Ibex hunt!!! I shot a grea13 year old Ram with 42 inch length and great mass. I'm equally proud of the cape because it had great coloring instead of the drab brown on many I have seen.
I will e-mail someone pictures if they can post them here on the forum.

Hawkeye47

Sounds like an interesting hunt -- please post more details. I can post pictures for you if you want to email them to me. My email address is in my profile.

Congrats !!!!
It seems you bagged the trophy of a life time!!
Waiting for the pictures....

L

Hi Lorenzo,

The Ibex is definately one of my 5 or 6 best trophies of all time. I e-mailed Charles pictures so hopefully he will have time to post them soon.

The area is really rugged and tough to hunt. If you want a trophy ram you must go back where the average person won't go! We left home on Sunday morning and didn't get to the hunting camp until 2 P.M. Thursday. The last 160 miles took 8 hours by jeep and it was like being in a marathon race. I wouldn't take anything for the expbut I still havn't recouperated from the trip.

Hawkeye47

Posting for Hawkeye47:



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Nice pictures -- it sounds like it was quite an adventure.

Hawkeye, Congrats for a good hunting!

Very nice. I'd love to hunt ibex, they really are one of the best looking game animals. How are you having him mounted?

sevens,
I have been thinking about doing a pedestal mount on a Hexagon base but probably will do a shoulder mount. That is if I get my cape and horns!!! The chap that was supposed to have the vet certificate didn't show up so we had to leave our trophies in UB.

Hawkeye47

Do a pedestal mount. Next to a life-size, I think they are the best way to show them off. I saw one done on a black pedestal in a pyramid shape, the black looked very good with the ibex. Just a thought.

Superb Ibex! Congrats on the hunt and beautiful pics!

Beatiful, increadible animal.
So what is next..?

Do you ever imagine you will be hunting such exotic places and animals ??

Well done
L

Very impressive and definitly one animal to be proud of! That's a dream hunt for me.

Lorenzo,

I will be going to Australia with Al next May to get a Red Stag for him and I will hunt Sambar. We might hunt Thar in N.Z. while we are that close. I have trophies from all 6 continents so there is nothing that I really feel I haft to hunt but possibilities are a hunt for Himelayen Ibex, Blue Sheep in China, MuskOx in Greenland, or a Spring bear hunt in Kamchatka. I have some other hunts traded for in Spain and Austria where the people come to my ranch and hunt and then host me in their country. This makes for good hunting for both parties and cuts the expenses to only plane fare.

Hawkeye 47

'47,

Great Ibex.

Let me know details about that Kamchatka trip....I'm after a big Moose....They've got'em.

Any POC for Kamchatka would be appreciated...gotta watch your ass in those parts.

Thanks,

Jeff

It sounds like a great trip and that Ibex is beautiful.

Do you have any more pictures of the area you hunted?

Thanks for sharing the pictures.
Nice looking bruiser you got there.
From the looks of your grin - you know that.
I think I will turn towards the same game here shortly.Appreciate any experiences
Congratulations

Hawkeye47

Congratulations, you have got yourself a very impressive trophy. I think Ibex are one of the most challenging and impressive mountain trophies.

Regards
Aziz

Congratulations on a fantastic trophy that was earned with lots of shoe leather! Who arranged your hunt? Zuulchin???? Did you use a local agent? Thanks....

Good News!!! We have a tracking # for our trophies and I have been assured by the people from Juulchin that they re-salted our capes and put something in the horns to keep out bugs.I appreciate them doing this but if they had furnished the vet certificate like they were supposed to our trophies would have been at my Taxidermist a week ago. I guess all is well that ends well but I will be one unhappy camper if my cape has hair slippage.

Hawkeye47

Hawkeye: fantastic trophy!. Congrats!. But tell us some more about the shooting, i.e. distance, caliber, stalk et al.

nainital,
The terrain was very rough and steep so the distances were either very far or very close depending on the wind. We had good wind and made a perfect stalk but Geologists set off an explosion during the stalk and the rams moved 2 draws over. We finally found them again and the shot ranged at 234 yards. I used a new Model 70 300 WSM that I got especially for this hunt(because of the light weight). I used the Federal 165 gr Fusion loads and was completely satisfied with the results. I don't think I have ever killed an animal so stone dead in all my hunting. I can't wait to try a few more of these bullets.

Hawkeye47

Good job man!
Sounds like a challenging hunt, and that ibex has v good mass.
Many reports from Mongolia mention seeing lare numbers of animals, especially ibex. Was this your experience?
Also, did you see any other game animals during your trip?

Cheers
Gabriel Boghossian

Boghossin,

I saw a Wolf on the first day but didn't get a shot at him. I think many areas have been poached out by locals including the one we hunted. We saw a total of 7 adult males and 24 total counting females. It is possible that the hunters before us had driven them out of the area but another camp 30 miles from us came out to Ghovd the same time we did and they didn't have anything that I would have paid for to ship home(really small animals). One of the guides stated (off the record) the locals had poached the area out. I was expecting to see much more game. I feel very fortunate to have taken such a good animal. If you go to Mongolia do your homework and be specific about when the refrences hunted there because 4 or 5 years ago the area we hunted was full of Ibex.

Hawkeye47

Wonderful!!!! One of the things on my to do list... Congratulations!

An observation... I notice you refer to the male ibex as a ram. In my native language (dutch) and also e.g. in German, the male ibex is refered to a buck, because it is seen more as a goat than a sheep...

Funny.

Frans

Congratulations on a great and rewarding mountain-hunt! Nice photos of the rugged terrain! What an animal!

Hawkeye:

What is with the vet certificate? I don't remember having one, just brought the cape and horns back with me.

AZwriter,

You haft to have a paper saying that your trophy has been checked by a Vet and that it's healthy and disease free. It has to be stamped with the seal and signed or they will not pass it through customs. Fauna and Flora has our trophies in New York and I have my fingers crossed that the capes aren't ruined.

Hawkeye47

Beautiful animal. I know how hard you hunt so am not surprised that you did well.
Congrats big guy.

Bad News from DHL!!! They had our trophies in route from N.Y. to Missouri when the Fish and Wildlife service stopped the shipment with a recall on the shipment. I never heard of such a thing but the lady from DHL said they wanted the shipment returned to N.Y. I fear that our capes will be ruined before we can get them but I have no control over the situation. I just can't believe that a species that doesn't require a cities permitt would need to be re-inspected. Has anyone else had a similar experience?

Hawkeye47

Hawkeye:

I brought my cape and horns with me when I went. I don't recall having a vet certificate. I also brought antlers and skulls back with from Scotland. The US Wildlife guys wanted my ibex cape sent to a taxidermist, but I pleaded with him that I was bringing it directly to a taxidermist and he let it go.

A.AZWriter,

We had our capes salted and the skulls boiled and dry, ready to bring back on the plane with us. I have a licensed receiving agent in my area that I bring anything to from out of the country. Fish and Wildlife just look in their book and when they see him listed as licensed they let me bring my stuff right on the plane. I would have already had my cape on the way to the Tannery if that Asshole in Mongolia had signed the vet certificate. Now I fear our capes will be ruined by the time we get them.

Hawkeye47

I wouldn't worry about. Ever hunt in Africa? That stuff is salted for months...

A.AZWriter,

The stuff from Africa is salted and dried for months. These capes were only in the salt for 4 or 5 days before we left so it doesn't look real good. My cape has a better chance making it because it was much drier than my buddies.
I just got off the phone with DHL and they say Fish and Wildlife in New York wants the shipment back there so I told them to ship it to Fauna and Flora to expedite clearance. This has been such a cluster F*** that it should be funny, but somehow I can seem to laugh about it.

Hawkeye47

I returned through Washington's Dulles airport with two Seberian Ibex on September 15. I brought the capes and boiled skulls in as checked luggage. There was a bit confusion by the customs agents but they looked up a report regarding my June 2003 import of some African trophies (I also carried them in as checked luggage). I arrive with a formal looking form that listed the animals I was carrying although it was written in Russian. I was at the counter about 10 minutes before they waved my through.

Boise,

We had everything ready to bring our stuff back with us but the chap with our vet certificates decided not to show so we were screwed. I spoke with DHL today and our trophies are supposed to be shipped out to us tonight. Fish and Wildlife has them in New York.

Hawkeye47

Hey hawkeye, how goes it with the cape??

Boghossian,

Our trophies were supposed to leave out of JFK in New York last night and be delivered today. I havn't gotten any info yet today but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the capes come through O.K. I should know in a day or so. I'll post the results when I get the shipment.

Hawkeye47

Our capes and Horns are still in New York! Fish and Wildlife cleared them but customs hasn't released them to Fauna and Flora yet. I guess they haft to do something for their salary so I'm sure they won't get in a hurry. Fauna and Flora says no later than the 11th of Oct. but I've heard this bull for a month so I'll believe it when I see it. Fauna and Flora is shipping the capes directly to the Tannery if they are still good.

Hawkeye47

Fauna & Flora in New York finally has our Ibex trophies in their Possesion!!! Now they will shiop them to the Tannery after they receive my check because they don't take a credit card. On the good side they say no mold mildew or odor from our capes.

Hawkeye47

That is good news, I'm sure you are feeling a little better about this whole thing. That's enough to make a man start drinking!

Haven't posted in this thread until now, I was waiting to see how everything turned out for you, and am glad it appears to be coming to a happy end.

You had a fantastic hunt and I have often thought about giving the same hunt a try before I get too long in the tooth or too far out of shape.

You did real good!