Publications - OVIS Magazine

Giancarlo Boienti - OVIS #9 - Page 64

Giancarlo Boienti (Italy, left) and Vladimir Melnikov(Russia, right) of Profi-Hunt, with Giancarlo's Karagandaargali taken in Kazakhstan, November 2000.

Now we come to my friend Giancarlo Boienti (Italy). Giancarlo and I met on a Yakutia snow sheep hunt in 1999, and we have stayed in touch since then. We are booked for Nepal together in October/ November 2001. I am looking forward to it, Giancarlo! Now, to Giancarlo's report:

While I looked at the photos in the magazines and at the conventions, I thought the Karaganda should be probably the best argali in appearance, color of body,and facial expression, so I chose it as my first argali hunt. Kazakh people are very friendly and my head guide Oscar was perfect. I got my ram after six days, but I lost two days because of a snow storm.

As on my other sheep hunts, my guides spotted more sheep than I did, but I usually spot my ram. In the middle of the sixth day, while the others in my group were looking at a group of 5 to 6 sheep moving up a hill, I turned my binoculars to the bottom of the hill. At 300 meters, a ram was standing & looking at us. As I showed the ram to my guide, it started to walk away.

After an hour of searching, Oscar saw the ram lie down in the middle of a mountain; because of the open terrain, it was going to be impossible to stalk the argali. Oscar, Vladimir and I climbed two ridges on the left of the sheep and stopped at the same level; the other guide climbed the right side and went towards the ram. The plan was perfect: the argali stood up and walked toward me. I saw it 500 meters, and put the cross of the scope on his body at 300 meters, but I couldn't shoot because he always showed only the front of the body.

I didn't believe my eyes, and finally shot at 100 meters. Back in Almaty, I knew my first plane to go home was after two days, so I spent that time hunting in a mountain area bordering Kygyzstan; I was searching for Siberian roe deer. Riding up to a mountain, I heard several roe deer, but we did not see any because of the foggy weather. We set up the tent at over 3000 meters. The next morning we saw a group of Maral with no interesting bucks, and finally I harvested a good 49" ibex: it was the best of the season hunted in that area.

Thanks to Vladimir Melnikov, the owner of the Russian outfit Profi-Hunt

Giancarlo Boienti - OVIS #10 - Page 16

Giancarlo Boienti (Italy) got this terrific 49" Mid-Asian ibex in Kazakhstan, November 2000. He hunted with Vladimir Melnikov of Profi-Hunt.

Last time we reported on the hunt of Giancarlo Boienti (Italy) in Kazakhstan in November 2000.

He took a beautiful Karaganda argali while hunting with Vladimir Melnikov of Profi-Hunt.

After he returned to Almaty after that hunt, he had some time, so hunted the nearby mountains on the Kyrgyzstan border. There he scored with a terrific Mid-Asian ibex of 49".

Dieter Ochsenbein - OVIS #20 - Page 60

Dieter Ochsenbein (South Africa) took this Koryak snow sheep north of 60" latitude on the Kamchatka Peninsula, August 2003.

We received this report and photo from Dieter Ochsenbein (South Africa):

From August 1-15, 2003, I hunted in the northern half of the Kamchatka Peninsula, in the Koryak region. Gerhard Damm (South Africa) was with me on this hunt, and I took a beautiful more-than-full-curl ram on the very first day, after a 15-hour stalk out of a bunch of five good rams. Gerhard took a fantastic ram on the last day of our hunt but the delay was mainly due to bad weather, not absence of sheep. I saw good numbers of sheep whenever the weather was playing its part.

Like all sheep hunts this one is no exception, you have to befit to go after the snow sheep. The areas are so huge and horses are not always available. It makes good sense to have a small tent along to stay out in a spike camp and to have shelter from weather which can move in within hours... and I mean really bad. Just look at the location: Sea of Okhotsk on the one side and the Bering Sea on the other!