Kyrgyzstan Hunt (Poaching)

Last year I went on an Ibex hunt in Kyrgyzstan. While we were moving from one camp to another we stopped at a Yurt belonging to a nomadic farmer. The guides asked him if there were many Ibex about, anyway the farmer looked really shifty. His wife came out with bread and dips for us which we ate, and in exchange the guides gave him a couple of beers. We left after a short while and one of our guides took off on his horse up along the side of a stream that ran down beside the nomad's yurt. The guide stopped at the stream, started pulling out some big rocks and then two milk churns. The milk churns were being used as a fridge in the stream but the contents looked like Ibex meat, which it later was proven to be. The lad was arrested. I happened to come across this article online about him. Unfortunately you need to subscribe to view it. The locals can buy tags for about $150 to shoot an Ibex, tourists pay about $3,500. The guides said that he would be fined about $3k. Not sure how he would pay that as he didn’t look like he had much money.
 

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A bit harsh if it’s to eat.

A lot of moonlight deer stalking goes on around these parts, if it’s for the table it doesn’t bother me too much.
 
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