Thread: My Mid Asian Ibex Hunt

Originally Posted by Tentman

As a long time horseman I'd recommend doing at least a dozen rides locally in the month before you go, the hour per visit to the stables it would take over that time would reward you handsomely.

+1 on that one. I had one day of lessons riding in the mountains. Not enough to acquire any real skill, but enough to get a feel for how the horse moves and get the basic idea of how to sit in the saddle going up/down. The Kyrgyz saddle was a little different; padded and you sat slightly forward compared to the european and I found the riding to be much easier.

Originally Posted by chainsaw

Stunning scenery & landscape….. [...] You’re a very patient man.

With hindsight, too patient. But you don't want to be the difficult customer or make the trip unpleasant for the group. As it was, the brits and I was of the same mind.

Originally Posted by Bagheera

Thanks for all the work you put into making the video, @Norway. It was a lot of thoughtful, gritty filming and great subjects. The countryside was an adventure, like the easiest terrain and the sunniest in the NZ Southern Alps, but with altitude. I loved seeing that big Steinwild and the others at the end with the red dot on them. That's gold !

Looking at the first section on the 6.5 PRC, 6 to 15cm better sounds a lot but at 600m it's only 0.1 to 0.25 mRad. What sort of winds are you talking about - 5 to 10m/s ? So, compared to other variables, is it highly significant and would you recommend a hunter to buy and set up a new magnum rifle for a trip like that ?

Thank you very much. The error margin is simply 6.5 PRC winddrift at 1 and 2,5 msec, minus the same value for my 6,5x55 ammunition. The answer is the improvement. It WILL drift just as any caliber, but the error will be smaller.

Originally Posted by Puddleduk

At least they didn't try to get you to shoot an ex farm red stag inside a high fenced area

Throwing lead a random ibex running past at long to very long range is about as bad as it gets. I told them very plain that I will rather shoot the horses before I shoot an ibex that way. I would rate that farmed red higher as there is a certain honesty in killing livestock and not calling it hunting.

Originally Posted by RUMPY

Finally got round to watching this. Pretty gutting alright, especially with the hunt contract wording saying it was your hunt, your way. I felt your frustration while watching, pissed off is putting it nicely.

Thank you.

Originally Posted by Russian 22.

you pay either way. just depends on if you want cash on delivery or spread out over the year.

@Norway was there any good reviews or recommendations that this crowd had that made you go with them? Everything you seem to read about central asian or russian outfitters is bad

I went with the agent I have used several times and apparently there has not been an issue there before. I have seen/heard the coordinations and readbacks between agent/outfitter, so the agent is not to blame. It was stressed that the brits would be important for future clients and I would be filming everything so a fuckup would be a [quote] "biiiig problem". He very directly coordinated that I would likely be the easiest client in the sense that I wouldn't care about trophy and only needed space to work with cameras and film the whole process and it was agreed that I would go with a specific guide for just that. Which makes the lack of professionalism even more astonishing; even without any malice in the editing (at least that's how I feel), that film is not a reference you'd want your name attached to considering the prior coordination and agreements.

Originally Posted by EmpireSafaris

Was one of British Hunters named Matt shooting a 7mm PRC?

Yes. Are you the guy doing a swap hunt? No problem recommending him as a guest, if anything he's too polite. I had him over for a winter hunt and he put his back into it with zero moaning. I found him perfectly safe and capable as long as you offer some advice on the local peculiarities you yourself would take for granted (England is flat)