Upon arriving in Baku it was a marathon of planes, vehicles and horses to get to camp with our guides and Russian liaison, Sasha, who does an outstanding job of keeping things in order. In camp, we immediately began spotting tur on various ridges. It soon became apparent what a game-rich environment this area was. Later that same evening, tur were spotted on a ridge behind camp and we began the ascent up the mountain to cut them off. We eventually crossed paths at 380 yards with the herd of 41 and the frantic excitement began as we tried to pick out the "shooters". Allen (my new hunting partner) and I crawled into shooting positions and were ready to drop the hammer on two massive animals in the group. Unfortunately, they were all feeding too closely and quality shots never presented themselves. The herd continued up and over the mountain along with the sun as night slowly settled in. My guides and I continued after them in an unrelenting effort to catch up. Unexpectedly, we jumped a small group while cresting a ridge, where I shot a respectable animal at almost point-blank range in the last few seconds of the fading light. The horns had a lot of character from fighting with broomed tips.
The entire trip went off without a hitch from the time I left the States until I returned thanks to all the key members of Safari Outfitters. This is a relatively unknown hunt with high success due to good area management efforts and was very rewarding in terms of the quality of the hunt itself. The temps were in the 50's during the day while the weather was quite wet with it raining every afternoon, but the tents were sound and the food was plenty. Being physically fit and mentally tough for scaling the mountains each day is a plus. Thanks again!
Dan W.
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