Arrival in Pakistan ... We made it from Toronto to Islamabad, it was 13 hours in the air, cleared customs everything went really well ... we were through within two hours. Hung around for a three-hour layover, caught another flight for Karachi which is in the southern part of Pakistan. It's the 20th largest city in the world, about 13 million people, I believe.
Once we landed we then headed off in the vehicles. We drove for three hours to this area which is about 5,000 square miles owned by a prince. The people work this land and he gets 50 percent of whatever they produce and he manages all of the hunting out here.
I am with a fellow named Chance from Texas, good guy. Todd Bissenden is my cameraman, and we're doing great. We got in at 3 a.m. and by 6 a.m. they are waking us up to go hunting. We're going for Sindh ibex, we'll see. Supposedly there are quite a few, but they are telling us it's tough this time of the year because it's so hot.
I feel safe, everybody is really nice and I don't get any feeling that we're not welcome ...
First days hunting the Sindh ibex ... Day from hell ... after traveling for 48 hours straight and only a few hours of sleep, we got up to go hunting. We went to the first place, and the ibex started coming up on the hill. I saw right off the bat a herd of about 30 males, some real beautiful ones, but we couldn't get close enough so we went to a different area where some guys had seen a real big one that had been sleeping in a cave! It was a two-hour drive, not one road the whole way, just desert. We got to the mountains which are mounds of old sea beds pushed up from the bottom of ancient oceans ... those are the mountains the ibex are on. The mountains have real nasty ravines and rotten rock. It was two hours climbing to get to the top. We got there right at sunset and no ibex in any caves, so we had to come all the way back down and I was exhausted. The temperature had to be 100. The sun was baking down on us, cooking hot. Of course, I forgot my sunscreen and was wearing too heavy clothing. Blisters ... I was really crabby after only three hours of sleep.
The other fellow in camp, Chance from Texas, went a different way for the afternoon and got a beautiful ibex. He said it came to within eight yards of him. The guys were hiding in a rock blind and they had to wait til it got out a ways so Chance could move to shoot. Eighty-yard shot, perfect. His was 43 x 41, it was one of the big group we saw in the morning.
Fossils everywhere. I was picking up all kinds of cool fossils laying all over he place ... it was like walking on a sea shore.
The Next Morning ... So this morning we went out again. They have the local villagers walking around the hills which moves the ibex around ... it's not beaten drives or anything, but they can walk around in the mountains and the game warden is with us at all times. Good night's sleep and we found that same herd from yesterday that we'd seen. We were waiting for them to come up from the bottom to the top where they cross over. There was a big, beautiful one ... the ibex were getting to within 80 yards. The first six ibex were there and the rest were coming ... you could see their horns coming at 80 yards. I went to lean on the rock wall, and it caved in!
It was fantastic footage up to that point, but I haven't been working out much lately, so I'm a few pounds overweight and the wall caved down and that spooked them. They passed us at 100 yards, but Todd said not to take the shot because the footage wasn't as good. I was disappointed, but we watched them and saw where they went into a valley. We got into a position above them and waited for work their way up. An hour later under a blistering sun they started moving up. The second one in line was the big one that I'd seen in the morning. Made a good shot, but the ibex took off running and I hit him running at 175 yards and dropped him. The ibex is 41 inches on one side and 37 on the other, gorgeous animal ... the guys are fantastic ...
Later in the day we went and video'd the local culture. I met three different snake charmers. These guys carry bundles of onions and produce around on their heads and they also carry these baskets with cobras inside. They do their pipe thing and the cobra rises up and flairs the skin around its head. I got to work one of the pipe things and then held a cobra by the tail. It was scary but cool! I got a ride in a donkey cart that was carrying onions ... I haven't had a shower in a few days, so the onions helped me a bit. And then I got a ride in an oxen cart which was spreading manure, so that helped some more. Then I got to milk a goat!
We had a fantastic, unbelievable day. The people here are so cool. This is one of the most fascinating places I've ever been; I'm definitely going to come back.
Corey Knowlton the Professional set up the hunt for me and everything has been excellent. I'll see Corey tomorrow as we're headed back to Karachi and then to Baluchistan, Pakistan where we can hunt Blanford urial and a type of gazelle.
I'm here in Reno, Nevada as I write this with the big Safari Club International convention ready to get going. Can't wait, it's my favorite show of the year as the greatest hunters, outfitters, manufacturers and hunting artists in the world gather in this one place for a few days.
About 10 days ago we departed Victoria, British Columbia on the Sportsman's Warehouse private jet and visited 10 stores in four days, hop-scotching from the Pacific Northwest heading southeast and eventually ending in Orlando, Florida where I spent four days at the Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade (SHOT) show. Busy!! Lots of meetings with TV sponsors and licensees, many of whom are old friends. Definitely some challenges in the hunting business given this economy, but also a lot of good news around the show as well. Our friends at GSM (Stealth Cam) are really excited about the two new for 2009 Signature SNIPER cameras, including a new infrared model that takes video. I'm really proud of that association. GSM also is introducing my Signature custom Walker's Game Ears that are the best of the best dollar for dollar. So keep your eyes peeled for these cool new products.
Leupold is selling my new Signature Ultimate Slam muzzleloader and shotgun scope like crazy. Sales have been ahead of forecast so far, so that's more good news from this long-time partner of ours. And there are more things in the works for 09 that are still super-top-secret. But we'll tell you as soon as they're not secret anymore.
From Orlando to Reno where I'm looking forward to the SCI Show. Following this amazing event, Louise and I and our daughter, Eva, get back on the Sportsman's Warehouse jet and travel throughout the Western U.S. See the Latest News item for our exact schedule. We end in Tucson, Arizona and then get ready for my Desert Golf Shootout tournament at Loew's Ventana Canyon Resort and Spa on Saturday, January 31. You can still join us for that!! It's going to be great fun with some amazing raffle and auction items. My buddy, professional golfer, Frank Lickliter II, has even committed to joining us for the golf event!
From there we're headed to the Foundation for North American Wild Sheep (FNAWS) convention in Salt Lake City in early February, and then finally back home for a couple of days before I head to Iran (yes, I said Iran) to hunt some of the various wild sheep varieties living in the mountains there.
Stop out and see us at Sportsman's Warehouse, SCI or my golf tournament. Hope to see you there!
Looks like we may need your help to settle a huge dispute that has broken out here in Saskatchewan. Seems Hal and Len had a "friendly" wager over who would get the bigger buck. Well, they got their bucks, but...
Found Dad's deer, and him and Len had a big discussion about which was the bigger deer, even though Dad's was a forkhorn?? Turns out it was all about body, the bet was all about how much meat, and Len was giving me a hard time that he should have held out and judged his own deer instead of me judging it for him! Are you kidding me?!
Pam and Brian from SHE Safari are here and they shot some "SHE Moments" with Louise and some stuff for their TV show.
I have to say that my Heater Body Suit is great. Really like it a lot. Also love the Double Bull blinds from Primos... The Stealth Cam pics have died off because of the weather... because it's too warm.
I got to see Milo Hansen at breakfast... a huge honor to see him and got my picture taken with him. Not a nicer guy in the world could have gotten that world record deer. really cool to see Milo.
Bran got a great buck... I think it will go close to 160! It's a buck that we had a number of Stealth Cam pictures of. Below is a recent picture of the buck from the Stealth Cams. Bran made a perfect shot, pretty good video, but little snow on the ground, so it's a little drab, but a great buck!
Went out this morning with Hal and Len. Saw only does and small bucks in the morning, pretty warm, though, so we only sat until 11 a.m. Then I went and did some work and set up some stands. And drove around basically until about 2 o'clock. Went back in and at about 4:30 we had eight does in front of us and two more coming in but they circled downwind of the blind and spooked and all of the deer tailed out of there. I thought, "Oh, no, we're done." And just then I looked off to our right and saw a doe coming in and right behind her was a beautiful 5 by 5 with 2 stickers off his burrs.
He came in and Len made a beautiful shot at 60 yards, right through the heart, the deer ran about 70 yards and tipped over. Great video, Len is ecstatic and Dad, well, it's hard to say how Hal feels because they had a $20 bet on who got the biggest deer. Hal hasn't gotten his yet, but we're getting snow now, so that's good! Back out tomorrow!
I'm standing on the island of Atka, halfway between Alaska and Siberia, off the Aleutian Island chain. North of me is the Bering Sea and south is the Pacific Ocean. We left Anchorage this morning on a charter plane and landed in Dutch Harbor, and that's where all of the "Deadliest Catch" boats dump all their catch. Then we continued farther on. So if you put your finger in the middle of the Pacific Ocean where the Bering Sea and Pacific Ocean meet, that's where we are.
Amazing country. It's blowing hard, about 40 miles per hour. We were lucky to get in on the airplane today. The island, there are no trees at all, just grass and big, giant hills. I'm really excited about this hunt.
These are basically European caribou that were transplanted here in 1922. They were classified as caribou up until 1980 when the natives were given control of the island, then they were called reindeer again. I haven't seen any yet, but tomorrow we're headed out to hunt.
Nasty, ugly, foggy ... just exactly the kind of weather you would expect out here; and cold, but no snow. Looking forward to it, should be fun. Can't wait to get out there and see one of these caribou. The biggest bulls have racks that score over 500 points ... which is huge!
