Kern is working with Matevosyan, who handled Jones' hunt, and another experienced local operator. The primary species he is offering are Armenian mouflon, bezoar ibex and mid-Eastern brown bear, but there is also hunting for roe buck, golden jackal and a limited number of Asian jungle cats. Just remember that Armenia still does not participate in CITES and cannot issue the necessary export permits for bears. Kern says his organization is working with the Armenian government to rectify this. Of course, there is no problem exporting the sheep and ibex or other non-CITES species.
At this writing, Kern's first group to Armenia had returned. Although they succeeded taking bezoar ibex measuring 44 and 45 inches, they struck out on mouflon. Kern says they were weathered out by 40 mph winds and snow. The storm engulfed the area, making it impossible to get the jeeps up the mountains. The hunt took place in early December, which Kern admits was too late in the season, and says the hunters are returning in March to try for sheep again. Perhaps they'll have better luck at that time than Jones did. We'll report on the results.
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