Kamchatka Moose Hunt - 2022

Thank goodness I never had the itch to hunt stuff that could otherwise be hunted in USA particularly AK. Now, you'd couldn't pay me to go to Russia for any reason. I guess the appeal for hunting there is/was for the wanderlust of a different adventure??? Riding around to hunt areas via helicopter in a country with altogether different hunting laws (ethical or not) was likewise never a draw for me. Nor was camping with loud, obnoxious Russians with baritone voices chugging Vodka and feinting comradeship while grunting "comrade" this, that or the other. Nope, no interest. But having said that, hope those involved in hunts with paid deposits get that money back.

My only knowledge of that part of the world is from visiting with Alaska natives about occasionally going there to visit their distant native cousins in Russia. I imagine that cultural exchange program is dead for the foreseeable future. I also worked with a fellow who went to Siberia on contract to trap and radio tag Siberian Tigers. I believe that program was sponsored and funded by one of the private international conservation outfits. I imagine the Russian government has little interest in conservation for much of anything, including Tigers, for any purpose other than show or grant money or hunting residuals. I also believe the locals in Siberia have little in common with those living in the more populated areas of Russia. According to my co-worker who lived with them during that work, those people are extremely poor with little to no support from the central gov in Moscow. They were very kind and friendly to him and pro-USA in general.
 
I got a hold of the agent i was using for the Russia hunt and fortunately, they are very willing to work with me on other locations there are bird hunts, either Azerbaijan or Latvia. Anyway, it’s nice to know i have options. I was looking at the Azerbaijan for a duck hunt, but i guess it’s been closed for the last 2 years (the duck hunting) due to COVID and is expected to reopen this year. Fingers crossed for February/March
 
Can't imagine that sport hunting travel to Russia will sort itself out for a very long time. Naturally, our hunts are paid in full - settled up at DSC just before the Covid catastrophe. It was rolled forward twice during the pandemic and now we have a war and Russia on a list that looks a lot like North Korea. I am confident that I'll never see that hunt.
 
Sorry, but I have to agree with you. Unless Ukraine has a drastic change of heart on a compromise, which is highly unlikely, this war is going to last a long time. I suspect that the Russian hunting industry will have to be rebuilt from scratch. I suspect that more than a few guides may be on the casualty list.

Think about an interior grizzly hunt in Alaska. They are smaller but a far more beautiful and interesting quarry than the coastal bears. They also tend to have a much worse attitude. The hunt is much less expensive than a coastal hunt.
 
Who knows about the future of hunting in Russia or about the US based companies involved in it? I do know some US outfitters and guides and outfitters and PHs in Africa who would just as soon not have to deal with Russians. While we may call them oligarchs, many can be viewed as simply mafioso who don't speak Italian. A situation develops in dealing with them where once they get their claws into you, you can't extract yourself. Those big money elements in Russia are extremely powerful and can be very intimidating, with world-wide influence and strings. One outfitter in AK relayed a story to me about taking Russian hunters one time- for really good money and tips of course, then spending rears trying go to get rid of them. Then a few years ago an outfitter in Africa told me a very similar story about having trouble shedding themselves of Russian clients. No thanks.
 

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