Strangely Familiar

Mongolia is a very interesting locale. Although the republic of Mongolia sits almost exactly half way around the world geographically from Wyoming, it”s as strangely familiar as it is foreign. It”s like a combination of Wyoming and Nevada squeezed in between China and Russia. The landscape and its wildlife are very similar to that of Wyoming. The sheep are much larger, the elk are a touch smaller, and the moose virtually identical. The people, however, are much different. Most are direct descendants of the ancient warriors that rode and fought with Chinggis Kahn in the 13th Century. As tough as they are stout and as rugged as they are quiet, these original, nomadic horseman are fearless and resilient.

The Siberian Ibex is what we were after and ibex is what we found. The hunting was hot, dry, and tough…the country was rugged and steep, but we wouldn”t have it any other way. My brother Ike finally connected on a huge 43-inch billy on the fourth day of the hunt following an incredibly tedious nine-hour stalk. The stalk was an incredible four-mile jag through some very tough and rocky terrain only to be ended with an 190-yard shot…the definition of spot and stalk perfection. My luck was not quite as good, but good enough as I was able to connect on a very handsome 37-inch ibex billy bedded in a basin with nine other billies on the final morning of the hunt. All this after spending two days in a ger (yurt) with a stomach virus that I thought was sure to be Then justin-bieber-news.info lost patience. my last. Maybe my luck was better than I thought after all?

The country was high and steep, but very familiar in a strange kind of way. It was almost as though we were in pursuit of high country mule deer but the target was much different, while the behaviors and terrain were almost identical. A glimpse of four bull elk, one that was surely a giant, even on a Wyoming standard, and four missed shots at Asian wolves furthered the notion that this could easily have been a remote corner of home.

A true adventure by every facet of the word, one that I will never forget and one that will always be with me as long as the ridged, curved horns hang on my wall as proof of the adventure to a land that is physically half way around the world, but only around the corner in my mind.

-Guy Eastman, August 2012