Iran is a beautiful country, reminiscent of British Columbia in terms of the difficulty of the terrain, but more like Mongolia for its desert floors and mountains. I hunted with a guide, an interpreter and a game official in several different areas. I took a Kerman sheep first near the town of Kerman on the third day of my hunt, then we drove six hours to Esfahan to hunt the species of the same name. Here, we found 12 inches of snow and got our vehicle stuck in the mountains. This area is best described as wide-open space. I saw lots of sheep here but couldn't get close enough to shoot. On the third day we climbed up the backside of the mountain to get to them. This is the toughest climb I have ever made, but I managed to take my ram in 18 inches of snow and with 50 mph winds blowing! On some days here the temperature was 0 degrees Fahrenheit.
After my Esfahan sheep, we went to Mashad where I hunted Transcaspian urial. We had been driving through the mountains for only an hour when we spotted sheep. We traveled around to the other side of the mountain, where the guide knew we would be able to intercept them. Within an hour, the sheep came right to us, and I took a very nice, symmetrical ram, better than the one I took in Turkmenistan. I also took an excellent Persian........(continued)
