MARCO POLO ARGALI
SEASON: The argali hunting season in Tajikistan runs from September 1st through the end of Marc with a break of about 6 weeks in January and February.
Although debateable, many consider best time to be October and November mostly because the weather conditions will be most favorable. September and October are the warmest time of the whole hunting season in Tajikistan. Although the sheep can be expected at the higher elevations early in the season, there will be enough rams to choose from and the 4x4 truck can travel higher on the mountain sides. For the hunters whose priority is an enjoyable hunt, early season hunts may be more accommodating. The temperatures will not be too low and will allow a more enjoyable hunt.
On the other hand, late season hunts, when the rut is on or when the snow draws the argali down to lower elevations, may give the hunters better opportunity to harvest older rams. December is the rutting time for the Pamir argali but by late November Marco Polo sheep start descending to the valleys from nearby peaks in Tajikistan and from mountains in Afghanistan and China. Older rams intermix with ewe groups prior to rut. By this time agresive interactions occur between older rams in order to establish a social hierarchy. Some hunters may want to take advantage of rutting time when the older, long horned rams intermingle with ewe groups.
Some others may prefer the post-rut period when the rams group together to form larger groups for protection, and to conserve energy. The entire area will be covered by deep snow and the temperatures will be very low mostly below freezing point during the daytime. The main advantage of this time is the less demand by the hunters. So the camp and the whole area will most likely be your own as there will not be any other hunters in camp.
AREA: Most Ovis poli sheep is an inhabitant of very high plateaus of Pamir Mountains region adjacent to the borders of Afghanistan, Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan, and China. Despite this wide distrubion, Southeastern part of Tajikistan is most probably home to the healthiest Marco Polo sheep population in the world. The country has the largest concentration of wild sheep/argali in the world and is an exemplary model for wild sheep management in Asia.
One of the two areas we hunt Marco Polo argali is located in the southeastern Tajikistan adjacent to the border with Afghanistan’s famed Wakhan corridor. This inaccesable, narrow corridor of Afghanistan, geographically stuck between Tajikstan and Pakistan has always been a good Marco Polo habitat and was the holly grail of Marco Polo sheep hunters in late 60’s and 70’s. Some 120 –odd hunters from all over the world visited this land in order to hunt Marco Polo sheep between 1967 and 1987. Here at this very same geography Pamir argali regularly migrate back and forth across the border between their winter and summer home range. That is why this area along the Afghan border becomes a hot spot for Marco Polo hunter during winter time. There is no other place on earth where hunters can see hundreds of sheep in a single hunting day and find trophies of such good quality.
The other area where some of our hunts take place is also located in the same Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region. But this one is some 150km north of the first area where the region borders with China. Both areas embody some of the highest peaks in the whole Pamir region that host a large number of Marco Polo sheep.
Our hunts can take place in one of these two areas depending on the time of year and the scouting our local operator does prior to hunts.
HOW TO GET THERE: Hunters are required to fly into the capitol city Dushanbe, the only port of entry to the country. They will be met by our representative at the airport and be asssited for the rifle clearance at the customs. This is a simple procedure that can take10-15 minute while you sit in the VIP lounge and enjoy your coffee.
The hunting areas are about 16 hour driving distance west of Dushanbe. Since the traveling is quite taxing, we break this trip into two days. First day, hunters ride around 12 hours to get to a small town named Khorog where they can overnight and rest in a nice hotel. The remainder of the ride to camp takes only 3-4 hours from Khorog onwards.
ACCOMMODATION: As a general rule, most hunting camps in Tajikistan offers the near-luxury camp conditions with food prepared by a chef, an on-site taxidermist to take care of the trophies and a group of knowledgeable and experienced hunting guides who are familiar with every peak and valley of the Marco Polo argali habitat. Hunters always are accommodated in their own rooms for a good night’s rest. Camps can provide hot shower or even sauna to soothe the fatique of a tiring hunting day.
WEATHER: The vast high plateau where Marco Polo argali live is subject to severly cold winds and rather arid climatic conditions throughout the year. Temperatures are milder early in the season and will get progressively colder later in the season, with sub-zero temperatures possible in December, February and March. Normal daytime temperatures in October will range between 10°C to 18°C (50°F to 64°F), with night time temperatures varying from -2 to -10°C (28 to 50°F). The mean November temperature will be 8°C (46°F) with expected sub-zero temperatures towards the end of the month. December temperatures will be anywhere between 0°C to -10°C (32°F to 14°F).
ALTITUDE: About 93% of Tajikistan is mountainous, and over half of the country is situated above 3,000 m. The terrain in the east of the country, the Pamirs form the highest mountain systems in Central Asia, This region is known as the “roof of the world” with wide and grassy valley floors, and meandering rivers and streams. Few animals are adapted to the extreme habitat of this arid high-mountain region. On the whole, the diversity of the fauna in the Pamirs is quite limited although Marco Polo sheep and Mid Asian ibex are well adapted to environmental conditions in the Pamirs. Their elevation ranges from 3,700 to 5,200 meters (12,100 to 17, 000 feet) above sea level. Most Marco Polo hunts take place at about 4600-5200 meters (15,100-17,000).
DURATION of the HUNT: Our Marco Polo argali hunting organisations are for 12 days including the 3-4 days of traveling time. So actual hunting time is 6 days although almost all our hunts end much earlier, wihin the first two days.
HUNTING METHOD: Marco Polo hunting is not so different than any other sheep hunting around the world. It takes a lot of glassing and climbing to some degree. As it is with all other sheep hunting, locating the sheep before it detects you is of utmost importance. Their sense of smell is accute and under favorable conditions they can detect human scent at long distance. But it is argali’s extrememly keen eyesight that detects the hunter from miles away first. As highly visual animals, they avoid mountainsides where visibility is limited and prefer open faces of the mountains or valley bottoms. Drainages with little or no cover are a stalking nightmare. This coupled with the tendency of poli rams to be quite spooky make shooting at extreme long range commonplace at times.
The hunting in Ammon Poli country starts with a wake up call at around 6 am. But this can change according to the distance to cover between the camp and the selected location to hunt. After a hearty breakfast, 4x4 vehicles are loaded and the hunting party –consist of guides and Caprinae PH/interpreter- leaves the camp for the area. Once in the area, there will be frequent stops to glass and check the bands of sheep in order to find a desirable size ram. This practice can goes on all day long until a trophy ram is spotted and examined through the spoting scope. Guides usually prefer to drive as close to the animals as possible, to a certain point where they think it is risky to continiue. When it is impossible to get any closer, a stalking plan is made and hunter continues on foot. At this point, there are no promises as how far the walk or how high the climb will be.
As a general rule, Marco Polo sheep are spotted feeding on the valley floor or low on the mountain sides in early morning. Once they are done with feeding, they tend to climb to a vantage point where their keen eyesight can cover all visible activities below them. During mid day they chew their cud and rest until it is time to go back to their feeding activity. By afternoon they are likely to be heading for a ridge or a bluff or any point where they can lie in safety. However a late afternoon feding period is not very uncommon especially in fall time although this usually happens in the direction of sanctuary.
As a general rule, rams are prone to end their feeding shortly before daylight. But this can change during the late season since the animals will want to graze nearly all day in order to store enough fat in their body that will last throughout the winter
