As for Kyrgyzstan, when we spoke with Carpenter on September 1, he said he had finally received the survey report he requested from wildlife officials there. You'll recall, US Fish & Wildlife did not issue permits for Kyrgyzstan last year because wildlife authorities there did not provide the required population information. For a while, it appeared this season would be a repeat of last season, as the information submitted earlier this year was not what Carpenter was looking for.
Actually, there is still a chance, as this is written, that this year may still be a repeat of last year, as Carpenter has been completely out of touch for some time. We simply don't know if he has decided to issue Kyrgyz permits or not. No one we have spoken to in the hunting business knows either. For sure, we will issue an E-Mail Extra bulletin as soon as more in known.
In the meantime, if you are waiting for a permit, be aware that Carpenter is not expected to issue many permits for Kyrgyzstan, probably fewer than 20. Furthermore, Carpenter has told us that Kyrgyz authorities still have to send him a list of approved hunters. That could result in significant delays for the 25 US hunters who have applied for Kyrgyz permits. We'll let you know next month what finally happened.
An important side note to all of this is a report we have received about some booking agents encouraging clients........(continued)
