Why would an American hunter want to hunt Iran? The answer: adventure, exotic places, new friends and, most of all, animals that can’t be hunted in their native habitat anywhere else. Iran also offers Americans a most delicious element of perceived danger, although my experience indicates that Iran is perfectly safe as long as your documentation is in order and your intentions are pure.
Ludo Wurfbain of Safari Press, publisher of my best-selling book, One Man, One Rifle, One Land, first suggested I needed to hunt Iran to complete my forthcoming book, Another Rifle, Another Land. Following that discussion, I had a hard time getting a hunt in Iran out of my mind.
It is no wonder Americans want to hunt Iran. With Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan closed to Trans- caspian urial hunting, Iran is the only place to obtain this trophy. Iran also has several species of mouflon found only here. Moreover, the record books show that though most of the resident species are also found elsewhere, the largest and best still come from Iran. As a legacy from its past, Iran also has the best infrastructure in central Asia. Its interstate highway system and its hotels rival those of Western countries, making both travel and necessary overnights a pleasure.
Due to current economic sanctions, I initially feared it might be illegal to book a hunt in Iran through an American agency, since funds must be transferred to pay for the hunt. I talked with agents from Canada and Europe, but still couldn’t make up my mind. But when recent decisions by the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) made it possible for American agencies to book hunts in Iran, I decided to work with my old friend and frequent hunting partner, Bob Kern of The Hunting Consortium (540-955-0090; www. huntingconsortium.com). Bob did a superb job from start to finish, and my time in Iran couldn’t have been smoother or more organized. Bob joined me for the start of my hunt, but soon left to tour other hunting areas and eventually investigated all the major game species and hunting reserves in Iran.....
