Dates: Sept 5-11, 2013
Outfitter: Bryan Martin, Asian Mountain Outfitters
Gear: RMR 270WSM, 130 grain GMX, Zeiss 4.5-14x44 with Rapid Z 800
We flew to Baku via Frankfurt and all flights were good other than when we arrived in Baku, our guns didn't. We spent one night in Baku and then drove 5 hours to Sheki the following morning where we stayed at a small guest house. Mirbala made arrangements to have our guns delivered the following day. They arrived around 10:00am and we made plans to head to the mountains. I was hunting with my buddy Pat in one camp and the other two hunters would be heading for another camp.
Our journey began in the back of an old Russian truck that took us two hours up a rough creek bed where our guides were waiting with four horses. We loaded the horses and made the four hour trek up to base camp at 8,000 feet. It was comprised of several small nylon tents and a permanent rock structure which served as both kitchen and dining area. We got settled in that afternoon and prepared for our hunt the following day.
We all left camp together at around 7:30am and climbed to around 12,000 feet, where we ridge walked about five or six miles in search of tur. Around noon we found a band of good looking rams but they were in some very nasty terrain. We played cat and mouse with them for most of the afternoon but were unable to get close enough for a shot. Late in the afternoon, the rams moved into a canyon and our guides figured we could get above them and hopefully get a shot. After some very scary traversing of a ridge, we got above the tur but they were over 500 yards and the shot was about 60 degrees downhill. Our guides were confident that even if we missed the shot that the tur would run uphill. Pat graciously offered me the shot at the huge ram that was likely in the 38" range. I ended up holding for 350 yards and hit just slightly low, sending the tur fleeing, not uphill but for the opposite side of the valley. Our day was over. We arrived back in camp long after dark and after a quick supper fell fast to sleep.
The following morning the wind had shifted and our guides seemed very concerned that the weather was about to change so we elected to split up, with me heading back where we had been the previous day and Pat heading to another mountain range the opposite direction.
It was around noon when we spotted a group of tur on a distant mountain and my guides figured they were worth checking out. There were about a dozen and all were quite young save for one very old broomed ram. They were is some nasty cliffs and approaching them was going to be impossible, until the fog rolled in that is. We took advantage of the cover and dropped about 1,500 feet elevation at a very rapid pace, stopping to hide only when the fog disappeared. Amazingly, we got within range of the rams without being detected and I was offered an easy broadside shot at the biggest ram. I put him down almost instantly with the 130 grain bullet.
I was determined to get to my downed trophy so for the next hour we cut out foot holds in the shale, scaled waterfalls and moved across cliffs. One slip meant a nasty fall of about 2,000 feet and certain death. We got within about 50 yards of the downed ram and it seemed there was no way to get closer. My guides told me to stay put while the checked out a route. For the next hour they tried several different approaches. It was the most careful and nervous I'd seen them on the entire trip. Finally they told me that it was just too dangerous and that I should stay put. It was definitely a bitter sweet moment. I had my trophy of my dreams but I could not get to it and they were right, the chance of me slipping and falling to my death was real. I wedged myself behind a rock on the cliff and waited for them to return with my tur.
We took some photos with the head after climbing out of the canyon and then started the long journey back to camp. We arrived about 11:00pm and were shocked to see Pat had not returned. I waited until about midnight and then went to bed, figuring they'd be spending the night on the mountain but around 3:00am, I could hear Pat yelling outside. He too had been successful on a great ram.
The weather came in the next day so we just hung around camp and admired our trophies. The following day we descended to the river valley in the rain where the old Russian truck took us back to the guest house. We headed back to Baku the following day and spent a couple days touring before heading home.
This trip is definitely not for the faint of heart although drives can be organized for those not able to traverse some of the steeper country. One of the other hunters with us was 66 and he took a nice ram on a driven hunt but is was no walk in the park either. This is without a doubt one of the greatest hunting adventures there is. I have to give credit to Bryan as this hunt is one of the most organized I've ever been on and there wasn't a single time where things didn't go as promised. The people were absolutely wonderful and very knowledgeable and the food was really good. We had a cook in camp that prepared hot food both for breakfast and dinner every day. The gear was good too and we each had our own tent and the horses were incredibly tough. This hunt truly is a bargain in the world of sheep/goat hunting and I'd highly recommend it!
My tur was broomed and measured 32" and is 9.5 years old.
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