Publications - OVIS Magazine - WINTER 2007

Craig Nakamoto (IA) - OVIS Winter 2007 - Page 16

Craig Nakamoto (IA) hunted in Russia for Kamchatka snow sheep in 2006   with   Vladimir   Melnikov's Profi-Hunt.   Here   is   Craig's   full report: In late August, Pat O'Neill (MN) and I went on a Kamchatka snow sheep hunt booked through Vladimir Melnikov and Profi-Hunt. This hunt started out taking us three quarters of the way around the world to the Kamchatka Peninsula of Russia. Normally, this would have been a rather   short   5-hour  flight  from Anchorage, Alaska; however two months before our departure date, the only airlines serving the Alaska-Kamchatka route declared bankruptcy, hence the 2-day trip via the long way to Kamchatka.

Craig Nakamoto (IA, left) took this Kamchatka snow sheep in Russia, August 2006. Craig booked with Profi-Hunt Ltd.

Upon reaching Petropavlovsk, we spent another two and a half days waiting for a flight into Palana, where we were to be met by our outfitter. Then, it was another hour helicopter flight to our base camp. The first day of our hunt found Pat and me horseback riding into our spike camp where our guides had previously spotted two bands of sheep. Unbeknownst to us, one of the bands contained only five ewes and immature rams and the other had two rams, of which only one was a shooter.

On the second day, it was decided that we would split up into two groups. Not understanding Russian, we both had no idea where we were heading. After about a 3-hour uphill hike, it became apparent to me that I was going after the two rams which we had spotted earlier. Finally at about 12:30, the rams were spotted on a ledge around a half mile away. The larger of the two was bedded down on the very edge of the ledge, and the smaller one was feeding below.

We painstakingly made our stalk. Much of the terrain being sparse with vegetation,   we utilized every nook, cranny and shrub to our advantage. "Close as can get... you shoot? " questioned Igor my guide, in as good English as he could muster up. "How far? " I whispered. "402, " was not the reply I wanted to hear. I decided it was now or never, for the ram got up and started to mill around. My shot proved to be fatal as the ram tumbled over 100 feet down the step ledge, finally coming to rest in a rocky ravine. How I made that shot, I will never know.... I will take luck over skill any day!

Dan Parks (DE) - OVIS Winter 2007 - Page 46

Dan Parks (DE) scored with this Kuban (Western) tur while hunting in the Republic of Karachayevo-Cherkesiya, Russia in September 2006. Dan booked this hunt through Profi-Hunt.

It doesn't look like Dan Parks (DE) plans on slowing down any time soon. He just sent in this hunt report for his Kuban (Western) tur:

Once again I traveled to the Caucasus Mts. to hunt tur. I hunted on the western side for Kuban tur and Caucasian chamois in Russia's Karachayevo-Cherkesiya Autonomous Republic. This hunt was booked through Profi-Hunt. The 10-hour flight from JFK to Moscow went very smoothly. After the usual long wait to clear customs in Moscow, we were met by Profi-Hunt s representative and taken to the hotel for the night. The following day we flew from Moscow to Mineral 'nyye Vody which took about two hours. After meeting the local game manager, we traveled another five hours by van to his guest cottage. Another 5-hour drive by truck the following morning, and we were in base camp.

Day one of the actual hunt broke clear with no clouds. Our camp was situated in a saddle with mountains both to the east and to the west. While eating breakfast, I observed chamois on the mountain to the west. Later, I also observed a few chamois on the mountain to the east. Our plan on this day was to head to the tur mountains to the west of camp. About a mile out of camp we noticed bad weather rapidly approaching us. About the same time we came upon a group of five chamois. Looking at the weather situation we decided to hunt chamois and save the tur hunting for tomorrow. We quickly moved down the mountain with hopes of intercepting the chamois before they disappeared. Searching every nook and cranny in the cliffs, we finally found our quarry. The problem was that they were now still more than 400 yards away, down in a tree-choked valley.

After an hour in our observation position, it became clear that they had somehow given us the slip. With the weather bearing down on us, we high-tailed it back to camp. Luckily for us we arrived just as the skies opened up with very heavy rain. The plan for day two was to, again, head west toward the tur hunting area. Once again we observed chamois on the mountain to the east. A few miles out of camp, we saw the weather coming in again, but we decided to continue on anyway. By the time we arrived at the tur area we could only see about 100 yards due to heavy fog. My guide and I decided to go ahead and climb to a "guaranteed" area for tur. In my guide's experience, he had always seen tur around this particular peak. Well, there is always a first for everything. Standing on the top, we decided to walk down a ridge to an observation point where we could look over some prime tur real estate. The visibility was poor and progressively getting worse as it started to snow. Within an hour, with 2 " of snow on the ground, we reluctantly decided to call it a day and head back to camp.

The following morning, after a conversation with the guides, it was decided to spike out a few days in another area. The tur were definitely not where we were hunting. Before leaving camp "my" chamois were on the mountain to the east again. The plan was made to make a quick dash up the mountain and see if we could connect. Within an hour we had our chamois on the ground. In the late morning, we moved camp which took the remainder of the day. Day four began with heavy frost and more snow on the mountains. We headed up a ridge behind camp toward another "guaranteed" tur area. It was much colder this morning with moderate fog. About halfway up the ridge, to our surprise, we heard three gun shots. The guides looked at each other and immediately were on the phone to inquire who coul possibly be in our area. We were told that there were som chamois hunters off to our right, but no one was permitted to b in our final destination. After about another minute, shots ran out again. This time there was no doubt where they had com from. There were poachers in our area. After coming upon camp set up on the side of the mountain our suspicions wet confirmed. In total, 12 shots were fired. After confirming b phone with the local game manager, the guides told us to sta put as they went up the mountain to apprehend the poachers.. few hours later, the guides returned with the five men. The hun ing day was ruined and now the area was too disturbed ft future hunting. The guides thought the tur would run a fe mountains over and that we would try to hunt this area the ne: day.

Day five began at the base a very large and steep mountaii We could see tur tracks in the snow about halfway to the top. Th guides were certain we would find animals today. The weatht was clear for the first time. From the top you could actually se Mt. El'brus, some 40 miles to the east. We scaled the first pec and found no tur. We descended to the valley floor and climbe to the next peak, but, again, came up empty. My guide looked < me and asked if I was up for climbing to the top of anothi mountain. He knew my reply when 1 just started to climb agal Halfway up we finally spotted some tur. Unfortunately, they wei all small males. We continued upward in search of somethih larger. By this time I was starting to get a little tired. While fo lowing my guide I was starting to wonder if this was going to I another wild goose chase. Suddenly, my guide dropped to h knees. There were two good looking male tur near the top oftl mountain ready to cross through a saddle to the other side. Vi quickly moved up to where we had last seen the animal Hopefully they would still be somewhere in sight. To my su prise, they were still only about 400 yards away. It would be tricky shot due to distance and a pretty strong crosswind. I wc not crazy about the shot at all. My guide agreed that we should try and close the distance.

As we ran closer, I could only hope they would still be unaware of our presence. Looking over the jagged rocks, I was pleased to see both animals at only 75 yards. I was told to shoot the tur on the right. Everything was happening so fast. At the shot I was surprised to see the tur on the left drop and roll down the mountain out of sight. I could not figure out what exactly had just happened. Upon inspection of the tur, we noticed that the shot had hit him dead center of his forehead and exited behind his left ear. A brain shot. We figured out that at the last possible second the tur had stepped forward into the bullet path which was intended for his partner. Unfortunately, the intended target was slightly larger, but I did not care at that point. I was just happy to be successful. After only seeing six tur in five hunting days, I felt very fortunate.

With the completion of this hunt I now have ten animals toward my Ovis World Slam. I never thought I would ever get to this point. I have two sheep hunts booked for 2007 that, hopefully, will put me over the top.

Congratulations, Dan, on taking two very difficult animals. And, good luck in 2007 on achieving your Ovis World Slam!

Chris Jackson (MO) - Winter 2007 - Page 77

Chris Jackson (MO) took this heavily broomed Koryak snow sheep in Russia in August 2006. Chris was hunting with Profi-Hunt.

Chris Jackson (MO) filed this great report and earned a Skyline Feature for it:
Species: Koryak snow sheep
Date Taken: August 6, 2006
Location: Koryak Mts., Northern Kamchatka, Russia
Guides: Vladimir Koshcheev and Alexander Borodulin

In August 2006,1 returned from a hunt for Koryak snow sheep, on which I took a heavily broomed 12-year-old ram on the fifth day. I was accompanied by a super group of seasoned hunters that included Dennis Campbell, Ed Yates, Tom Lavelle, Jim Dovenberg, and Joe Crawley. This hunt was donated by Profi-Hunt and auctioned at the 2006 GSCO convention in Tunica.

Shortly before we were to leave for Russia, Magadan Airlines discontinued flight service from Anchorage to Kamchatka. We instead flew through Moscow, where we were met by Vladimir Koshcheev of Profi-Hunt and Sergey Ivanov, a superb professional photographer who was to join us for the duration of the trip. After an overnight stay in Petropavlovsk, we discovered that Renee Snider (CA) was also at our hotel, and she too, was scheduled to hunt Koryak sheep. That day we all flew to Ossora and then boarded a helicopter for the journey into the hunting area, where we were divided into three camps. I teamed up with Ed and Dennis. After the long journey, we were all elated to finally be in camp. That elation was quickly tempered by the reality of our environment, as the noise from the helicopter disappearing off in the distance was quickly replaced by the buzzing of thousands of mosquitoes that were glad we had joined them for dinner. The looks on our faces were priceless as we scrambled for Deet® and the assembly instructions to our tents.
The next day, we each headed off with our guides in separate directions. Although we each saw sheep, Dennis was the first to score, taking two nice rams. The next day Ed and I headed out together, along with several guides (and our friends, the mosquitoes). We hiked a few miles up a drainage, but most of the higher elevations were shrouded in fog so we didn 't spot any sheep. Ed scored with a beautiful ram late the following day, so that night we enjoyed a fantastic meal and great camaraderie with our Russian hosts.

After being weathered in camp for a day, I headed out across the main valley from camp, along with the head guide, Alexander Borodulin, and several others. We had traveled only a mile or so along the base of the mountain range before we spotted two nice rams higher up on a back bowl. Leaving the other guides below as spotters, Alexander and I headed up and around the back of the bowl. Along the way, we were amazed at the amount of sheep beds and fresh tracks that we were seeing. After a couple of hours of climbing, we were high enough that we could see into the bowl where the sheep had been bedded. They were now feeding so we worked our way down the back of the bowl until we peaked over the ridgeline 70 yards above the broomed ram. After the shot, the ram tumbled several hundred yards down the mountain. Sergey and the guides soon joined us from below and they literally took hundreds of photographs.

Over the next couple of days, we waited until everyone had taken a sheep before we were able to get a helicopter into our camps and fly out early. We stayed two nights in Ossora before Vladimir was miraculously able to get all of us on board a flight into Petropavlovsk, where we again spent the night before flying back to Moscow.

While the mountains in the areas that I hunted weren 't terribly high or steep, the rocks and crevasses made it difficult to spot sheep. Most of our scouting was done from the valley floors at elevations around 2,500 feet, and my highest climb was just over 2,000 feet.
Hopefully, flight service from Anchorage will resume soon, which will make the logistics of this hunt much simpler. Fortunately, the other hunters were patient, experienced, and a great joy to spend time with.

My special thanks go to Vladimir and his staff, as they were tremendous hosts during our entire stay. They took care of every detail during the trip, and went out of their way to provide for us, especially during the many days of travel. On the last evening in Moscow, we were able to reminisce about the many details of our hunt over a memorable dinner that was graciously hosted by Vladimir Melnikov, the owner of Profi-Hunt.