[dave99]

Simply outstanding. Thanks for sharing this story, which is a good for a laugh but also shows the potential folly of running uncommon chamberings on international hunts.

Last fall my 30.06 got the nod for a mountain moose hunt, after a few years of neglect as I’ve gravitated toward the latest and best in recent times. The 168gr TSX handloads dropped a bull in his tracks at 410yds.

Originally Posted by Pathfinder76

Well, here is what the same gentleman I quoted above sent me and a couple of friends this morning.

“I know you all will be surprised, but I used a 30-06 with 168 TTSX's in Tajikistan. There are only three flights per week to Dushanbe on Turkish Airlines, which is the route nearly all American and Canadian hunters take. So, during the hunting season, there are always 6-8 hunters on each flight that are going to various hunting units throughout the country. The method for getting cleared by customs with a firearm is straight out of Soviet times, so they herd the hunters into a room for about 2-3 hours while they all get cleared.

As you can imagine, this leads to much discussion of where everyone is going, what you are hunting, what rifle you brought, etc. I was asked what I was shooting and said a 30-06 on a Mauser type action. They literally made fun of me, to the point that when we ran into one of the groups at a gas station on the way to the Pamirs, they referred to me as the '30-06' guy. The leader of the pack had a super-cool rifle in something called a 6 Dasher or some such thing, which seemed sort of crazy in a country where the only ammo I saw was in 300 Win Mag, 30-06 and 7.62x39.

We all ended up back in the same room at the airport on our way out two weeks later. I had killed the biggest ibex by about six inches, so they were much more muted than on the way in.

In all seriousness, I had to shoot the ibex at 425 yards. I center punched the shoulder, as you can see in the photos. The ibex collapsed at the shot and rolled into a snow slide. The boar was 415, shot through the shoulder, ran 15 yards and collapsed. All with a cartridge that I can find ammo for in any reasonably well stocked Tim Horton's from here to Bulawayo. Not sure a lot can be gained as far as actual hunting goes.

I am all for having fun with obscure cartridges locally, but if I'm flying to the hunt, I'll take a 30-06 or 300 Win. :-)”