Tajik Hunt

ww2269 · #1 12-27-2019, 12:04 AM

My son and I just got back from tajikistan a couple weeks ago. This has been a dream hunt of mine for years and finally it has come true but with my son along side it was even better. I took a 12yr old Marcopolo ram of my dreams along with an 11yr old Ibex, while my son Quinn took a 9 yr old ibex at the eld of the hunt.
Over the years I have heard so many horror stories about these hunts but honestly this adventure went so well I don't have one complaint. It was awesome.

IR_mike · #2 12-27-2019, 12:56 AM

Congrats!!!

Beautiful pics!!!

Ronaround · #3 12-27-2019, 05:43 AM

Great Job on your hunt!
Those animals have to be tough as nails to survive that hostile area and still be big bodied.
show us the mounts when there done

flyguyd · #4 12-27-2019, 06:11 AM

Very nice !!!!

Hawkhills · #5 12-27-2019, 07:21 AM

Awesome pictures. Thanks for sharing. Would be great to read the full story on the hunt.Hint,hint.

Sent from my SM-N960W using Tapatalk

ruger300 · #6 12-27-2019, 07:51 AM

Dream hunt, very nice mountain species. What time of the year did this hunt take place?

Ken H · #7 12-27-2019, 08:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ww2269

My son and I just got back from tajikistan a couple weeks ago. This has been a dream hunt of mine for years and finally it has come true but with my son along side it was even better. I took a 12yr old Marcopolo ram of my dreams along with an 11yr old Ibex, while my son Quinn took a 9 yr old ibex at the eld of the hunt.
Over the years I have heard so many horror stories about these hunts but honestly this adventure went so well I don't have one complaint. It was awesome.

Congratulations, looks and sounds like an amazing hunt.

pikeslayer22 · #8 12-27-2019, 08:17 AM

Awesome Congrats

teledogs · #9 12-27-2019, 08:39 AM

Pure awesomeness!!! Amazing animals and scenery!! Thanks for sharing!! So great to do this with your son!

alder · #10 12-27-2019, 09:07 AM

Outstanding. The Ibex hunt is a dream adventure for me.

Please let us know the booking agent and outfitter you used?

Did you go with horses?

oldgutpile · #11 12-27-2019, 09:10 AM

As in, Green with envy!
Give us all the details of the hunt. Rifle (your own, rented, caliber, etc.)
Outfitter, connections, side-trips, etc. I'd love to hear more.

catnthehat · #12 12-27-2019, 09:15 AM

Wow, gorgeous animals!
Details Man , we need details!

Cat

Just4hugh · #13 12-27-2019, 09:56 AM

Congrats, beautiful animals.

Sent from my Redmi Note 5 using Tapatalk

ww2269 · #14 12-27-2019, 10:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ruger300

Dream hunt, very nice mountain species. What time of the year did this hunt take place?

We were there first 10 days of Dec.

ww2269 · #15 12-27-2019, 10:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alder

Outstanding. The Ibex hunt is a dream adventure for me.

Please let us know the booking agent and outfitter you used?

Did you go with horses?

I booked the hunt through Mike Monnin of Captivatem Outdoors but hunted with Asif Aliosof with Global Safaris. We were at the camp they call Murgab camp. There were two other hunters from the US and they both shot nice rams and Ibex.

ww2269 · #16 12-27-2019, 12:05 PM

Oh boy, I could go on for hours. We flew edmonton-toronto-istanbul-dushanbe and that took about 28hrs with layovers. From Dushanbe we got in a land rover and drove along the Afganistan border about 12hrs to the town of Corog? for the first good horizontal sleep in a few days. The next morning we took off again for the final 7hr leg to base camp at 13500ft and about 100miles from the China border where we just took it easy and shot rifles for the rest of the day.

I took my own rifle as there is typically some long shooting so I wanted something I was comfortable with. I was happy with how my Kimber 8400 in 7mm mag was shooting 168 bergers this summer so that's what I took. I was shooting out to 800yrds but sure hoped I didnt have to shoot that far.

First morning we saw a couple small bands of rams but nothing to get excited about. Having never set eyes on a real Marco in my life I wanted to see a few to get a judge for size. Later in the morning we saw a group of 3 rams feeding up a drainage about a mile away and they hadnt seen us yet so I set up the spotter and the one looked pretty decent so I wanted a closer look. We dropped out of site and drove up the valley to the next drainage, from there we hiked up the ridge to pop over above where the rams were. Just before we got to the planned vantage point they came over the ridge about 200 yards away. They spooked and by the time i identified the ram as a shooter, got my bipod out, bullet in, range, they were at about 325 yards. I hit him solid behind the front shoulder but he still sucked it up and ran around the mountain out of site while the other rams bolted the opposite direction. It took a good 10 min to get around to where he went out of site and that sucker was still standing with his head up so I finished him at about 60 yards. They are tough and have lungs the size of pillow cases.

My Ibex was a bit of a rodeo but it ended well. We spotted the group far off and there looked to be a good billy in the bunch so we planned a stalk but there wasnt much cover. We got to about 800yrds and they started going up. I felt real solid so I figured I had nothing to lose so I would try and send one. Well I hit him but not well, so he bedded on a rock outcropping at about 1200yrds watching us. With no hidden approach we just watched him til dark. Next morning we got to our vantage point to find him on his feet watching us again so we went straight for him but about half way there he bailed over to the next drainage. We dropped back down to try and get a visual on him but couldn't find him, so we took a guess of whereabouts he was bedded and started the hike from hell. 4hrs later we were close but couldn't pick him out of the rocks so I ripped a shot into the cliffs to try and get him to present himself. It took about 10 minutes but we finally spotted him and I was able to finish him at about 350yrds. We brought him about half way down before it got dark and got back to camp at about 10:00 that evening. I didn't have an altimeter but I estimate we were at about 17000ft.

The next day we cruised around spotting groups of Ibex in hopes to find a good one for Quinn, and sure enough we spotted a bedded group with a couple good ones. We planned the stock and got to 438yrds without them knowing. Quinn missed the easy shot but they had no idea where the shots were coming from so naturally they just started going up and a couple rounds later he dropped his billy with a spine shot.

We did see a wolf but couldn't get a shot and one of the other hunters saw a snow leopard and got good pics and video of it. We basically spotted all the game from the truck and planned a stalk from there. The country is just way to big to travel it any other way and the elevation takes alot out of you. We were taking diamox for elevation sickness and at the start ibuprofen steady to curve the headaches. After about day 4 we were adjusting well.

Last couple days we just hung out and looked for wolves, shot rabbits, and took pictures. Camp was warm and comfy with a cooks, skinners, and a doctor on staff. We ate goat, rabbit, yak, marco, and horse meat(which was quite good) and lots of fresh veggies and fruit.

This is the first year they started registering and plugging sheep so I wasn't able to bring the trophies home with me as there wasn't enough time to get it done. I am expecting to see the cities permit and vet certificate emailed to me today and hopefully have the horns in my hands soon.

Hawkhills · #17 12-27-2019, 12:14 PM

Thanks for taking the time.Appreciate the details

Sent from my SM-N960W using Tapatalk

sns2 · #18 12-27-2019, 01:11 PM

Thank you for the pics and great write up. What an amazing adventure to share with your son.

marky_mark · #19 12-27-2019, 02:07 PM

What an adventure!
Congrats chris

alder · #20 12-28-2019, 10:12 AM

That is outstanding. Thanks for sharing the details. It certainly wasn’t a cakewalk.

KUDUHNTR · #21 12-28-2019, 07:53 PM

Congrats!!
Looks like it was well worth the outcome, lots of hard work !
Nicely done!!

Sitting Bull · #22 12-29-2019, 11:09 AM

WOW! Great animals.

cowmanbob · #23 01-06-2020, 03:45 PM

A dream hunt for sure. Congrats to you and your son.

Mb-MBR · #24 01-06-2020, 04:22 PM

What's been said already, stunning scenery, great looking animals and congrats....thanks for the write up, pics and details.

HuntingAlberta · #25 01-07-2020, 08:55 AM

Looks and sounds like an awesome hunt! Looking forward to hearing about it in person in a few weeks....

skain11 · #26 01-07-2020, 09:07 AM

Incredible narrative and photos. 17,000 ft is nuts. I got dizzy and slightly disoriented while touring the summit of the Mauna Kea Volcano at 14,000 ft. Lifetime memories for you and your son. Congrats...sk

Ceilidh69 · #27 01-07-2020, 10:24 AM

Great post thanks and congrats

Double Dropper · #28 01-08-2020, 08:42 AM

WOW man just WOW! Dream of a lifetime.

bonedogg · #29 01-09-2020, 10:26 AM

thanks for posting this amazing adventure. Ballpark figure on costs if possible? also , any other pics to keep us dreaming? sweet share.

Bock Fever · #30 01-09-2020, 11:12 AM

Congrats on a beauty ram and a couple nice goats!

What sort of daily high and low temperatures were you guys getting?