The area is in far eastern Russia in the Koryak Mountains that run from northeastern Kamchatka to southeastern Chukotka. The species available include Chukotka moose, Siberian caribou and Koryak snow sheep (Ovis nivicola koriakorum). Simpson tells us he hunted here with four others this past September through Bob Kern of the Hunting Consortium.
Simpson says his group collected seven large Chukotka moose, all of which are expected to qualify for the SCI top 10. He describes them as old, heavy-beamed bulls that apparently had never been hunted before. Simpson says they shot the moose in the river bottoms after glassing and spotting them from the surrounding hillsides. He says the moose here were so abundant that each hunter was able to pass on five to six bulls before shooting one.
He also reports taking a Koryak snow sheep, for which there are only a limited number of licenses available. The Koryak snow sheep is one of six recognized subspecies of snow sheep. It is not listed in the SCI Record Book, but Simpson says an effort is under way to add this category to the listing. He says the four sheep his group took were nine to 11 years old and measured 34 to 36 inches in horn length.
In addition to sheep and moose, Simpson says they also got to hunt Siberian caribou, which he says were not as plentiful as the other animals. In fact, he says there are currently only about 300 caribou here, but that the population is on the rise due to new wolf control efforts.
Simpson says hunting in the Koryaks was not difficult. Elevations are not very high and the mountains are low and rolling. He says there are no trees, except along the river bottoms.........(continued)
