TAJIKISTAN: Bukharan Mid Asian Ibex Hunt With Hunting Consortium

[Cecil Hammonds]

Just got back home from a successful Ibex hunt in Tajikistan in the Darvoz region on the Afghan border. I will get this written up and post some pictures later today.

 

[Cecil Hammonds]

I booked this hunt in January of 2024 at the DSC show with Rob Kern of the Hunting Consortium. My hunt was scheduled for 25 September to 3 October 2025. I trained hard physically to prepare for the mountains with a lot of focus on my lower body strength. I also attended a couple of long range shooting courses to hone my shooting skills. After 21 months, the time for the hunt finally arrived. I traveled on Turkish Airlines from DFW to Istanbul and then on to Dushanbe. Turkish Airlines requires a Sporting Equipment fee for the hunting rifle which in my case was about $200 each way. However, they have also recently implemented a policy requiring the ammunition to be checked as a separate item as well. That was another $100. I didn't bring ammo back home, because it didn't make financial sense to do so.

Upon arrival in Istanbul, I was met by a rep from Hunting Consortium that handled everything in the airport and then took me to my hotel. The next day, he took me back to the airport and got everything taken care of with no issues.

The flight from Istanbul to Dushanbe gets in at about 0150, and I was once again well taken care of by the staff from Hunting Consortium at the airport. They take you to a VIP area, collect your passport, and then take care of everything. After about 45 minutes, we had all the gear and were loaded up for the 6 hour drive to base camp in the Darvoz region.

 

[Cecil Hammonds]

We arrived in base camp not long after dawn and enjoyed a hot meal and got settled in.

The border with Afghanistan is the Panj River. Here are some pics of the border area where we were.

 

[Cecil Hammonds]

The next morning, we loaded up to head up to spike camp. We shot the rifle to check zero. My rifle was on, but I had them move the target out to 400 yards and discovered I was shooting 4 inches high. I had to go in and true my muzzle velocity to correct the ballistic data. I'm very glad I took the time to do that as I would end up taking a long shot and would have shot too high. After about 6 hours of hiking, we arrived at our first spike camp, a shepherd's hut.

 

[Cecil Hammonds]

The next morning, the head guide decided to move spike camp further up the mountain to get closer to where the ibex had been spotted. After a couple of hours, we arrived at the spot where we would spend the rest of the week as our base for the hunt. The altitude here was about 8,500 ft. This location put us in close proximity to where several groups of ibex had been spotted and pretty close to good locations for glassing the mountain slopes.

 

[Philip Glass]

What an adventure.

 

[Cecil Hammonds]

For the next several days, we took several different attempts to get within range of a particular group of ibex with 4 good shooters. They would bed down high up on the slopes during the day and then come down a little in the evening to get water. We were unable to get close to them without being seen, and it was starting to get down to the wire to get this done. Finally, on the last day of the hunt, we were able to climb up to where the ibex were bedded without being detected. One guide was on a different mountain with a spotting scope and a radio. He could see the ibex and us as we climbed. After about 3 hours, we got to spot behind some big rocks where the ibex were on the slope on the other side. The elevation here was 11,600 ft. At this point it was a waiting game. Even though they were about 600 yards away, I felt confident we were going to close the deal. As evening approached, the ibex got up and started slowly grazing. Finally, the moment of truth arrived and I took the shot at 673 yards. The ibex went down, and we celebrated. However, it was starting to get dark. We had to leave the ibex until morning because it was too dangerous to try and get down the mountain in the dark. We got back to spike camp, and I felt the sweet feeling of success after training and planning for 21 months and realizing my goal!

I guess at this point I should mention I was using a Bergara 7mm PRC with a NightForce SHV F1 optic and Hornady 175 grain ELD-X.

In the morning, the guys went up to recover the ibex and we started the 7 hour pack out back to base camp. The ibex measured 43 inches, and I was beyond happy with him.

 

[MontanaPat]

Nice trophy, congratulations

 

[Tally-Ho HUNTING SAFARIS]

amazing adventure
congrats

 

[Cecil Hammonds]

We spent the night at base camp, and then drove back to Dushanbe in the morning. Eldar from Hunting Consortium put me up in the Hilton hotel which was very luxurious. The flight out that night/next morning was at 0230, not much sleep but great relaxing, hot shower, and delicious meal. Eldar and team put me on the flight to Istanbul with no issues. I arrived back in Turkey and was met by Sony again and linked back up with my lovely wife. She went with a tour group on a wonderful tour of Uzbekistan while I was hunting with Gate 1 tours. She had a great time and was very safe. We spent a day in Istanbul, and then flew back to DFW the next day. I can't say enough great things about my experience with Hunting Consortium. Eldar was with me every step of the way. I highly recommend them for hunting in Asia. Now I am back home, and I am still walking on air and relishing the accomplishment of a challenging goal!

 

[gillettehunter]

Good looking Ibex. Congrats on your success. Ibex was one of my first international. You can get pretty high up hunting those buggers. Loved your pics!!!
Bruce

 

[Green Chile]

What a fantastic adventure. Congrats on a tough mental and physical hunt and a very long shot at the end of it all. Excellent photos.

How was the food? Was the language translation good enough or was there a lot of sign language and drawing in the dirt to get it done?

 

[Cecil Hammonds]

What a fantastic adventure. Congrats on a tough mental and physical hunt and a very long shot at the end of it all. Excellent photos.

How was the food? Was the language translation good enough or was there a lot of sign language and drawing in the dirt to get it done?

Eldar speaks excellent English, and he was with me every step of the way right up to the shot. The head guide knew a little English. Food was good, mostly soup/stew with camp meat. The caught partridge for the cook pot. Plenty of water from the mountain streams. I never had any stomach issues during the hunt. They like to eat bread with every meal and they drink a lot of tea.

 

[Cecil Hammonds]

I will add this picture as I think it adds some good context. The red dot on the left is spike camp location, and the red dot on the right is where we got the ibex.

 

[Green Chile]

Besides the physical prep and being able to shoot long distances, is there any advice you would give to someone thinking about this hunt? Any particular gear advice or travel advice?

 

[Cecil Hammonds]

Besides the physical prep and being able to shoot long distances, is there any advice you would give to someone thinking about this hunt? Any particular gear advice or travel advice?

From a travel aspect, having a day in Istanbul each way breaks up the trip and allows you to get some rest and adjust to time change. I had Diamox for altitude sickness, but didn't need it. I also brought anti-diarrhea medicine, but didn't need that either. From a gear aspect, I would say have a good layering system. The weather can change suddenly, and can get quite cold. That said, we had good weather the whole time I was there. 70s in the daytime and upper 30s at night. A good sleeping pad is essential. I also recommend a solar panel and battery for keeping everything charged up. All the guys had a solar panel. Here is the one I have:

 

[BRICKBURN]

Well prepared for your hunt. Nicely done.
Congratulations on a very nice trophy and a job well done.

 

[Red Leg]

Heck of an animal and that was one amazing poke with that rifle.

 

[Nyati]

Great trophy and fantastic adventure, thanks for sharing with us

 

[Reihuc]

What a trophy! Congrats.