Got this via e-mail since I buy some stuff from Holland from time to time.

Holland's ON TARGET Newsletter

In our last issue we introduced to you Dennis Hirschfeld from Texas. Dennis came out for a few days of private shooting lessons prior to heading to Tajikistan in search of a Marco Polo Ram. Shown below is a beautiful ram Dennis shot a 510 yards. The ram measured 63 1/2 inches with great mass. According to Dennis the conditions were tough, 15,000 feet elevation ( where do you go in North American to train for that?) and hiking several hours to get into Marco Polo territory. Endurance and patience paid off with a nice trophy!

Well Done Dennis!!!!



Dennis Hirschfeld with a GREAT Marco Polo ram. It measured 63 1/2 inches. Note the broomed ends of the horn on the left. This was indeed the "Monarch of the Mountain". I hope to take a nice ram like this one day, perhaps one of my "widgets" will sell like the hoola- hoop and I can make it a reality.

What a beast.

id shoot it in a heartbeat.

great ram. i read that this is the most expensive hunt one can take these days. upward of 55-60k.

That's an awesome ram for sure and certain

Please enlighten an old fool...
Where on the globe do these hide?
Asia, I presume...?

The two destinations Marco polo hunters head to is either Tajikistan or Kyrgyzstan,with the biggest found in Tajikistan.

A fellow that lives just south of me has taken three Marco polos.
they are one of the greatest game animals on earth.

The world record holder is held by a fellow named Soudy Golabchi from Georgia.
He has held the world record twice and has both rams mounted lifesize.
Impressive to say the least.

Unbelievably cool animals. Wild sheep.....doesn't get any better than that.

I have hunted at 13,000 ft several times, To say the air is thin is a colossal understatement.

I cant imagine 15,000 ft.

Bullets would shoot flatter up there, less air to get in the way. Beautiful sheep.

Yea that is a very very nice Marco Polo Ram. 15000 feet to give you an idea of what that is, in not pressurized airplanes. Pilots have to under FAR part 91 have to go on O2, at 12500 feet or higher for the flight more that 30 min duration at that altitude. From 15000 feet and up pilot has to be on O2 100 % of the time, Pass the rules are a little different. Not much. I don't have a copy of the rule at hand. I almost never fly that high. The tell me that hunters get into altitude sickness on this hunts. I am 56 year old or will be shortly. There is no way I could go and do such a hunt, physcially that is. They sure are something. The country looks like the far side of the moon. Guys that have the mountain sheep hunting bug are a doomed lot, both in time money and the physical price one pays for that persuit.

Just have a new turret built for that altitude, everything will be fine. (grin)

I am glad they survived all the troubles in Afghanistan. They were reputedly never very common; I wondered if the wars did them in. Good to see they are found elsewhere. Maybe the greatest trophy of all.

Yeah, I have hunted elk at 10,000 ft and that was bad enough. I think he was shooting a custom 280 Remington. Darrell Holland builds and sells custom Model 700 parts and rifles. He is a big proponent of the 280 Remington and 168 Berger bullets. I got this e-mail while doing some maintenance work on one of my business servers in the early AM hours. A quick Google confirmed this to be a $50K+ hunt. Out of my price range at the moment.

One wonders how those rams can tote all that headgear.

Here is a photo of Soudy Golobchi's two world record rams mounted lifesize along side another of his giants.
He is the undisputed king of Marco Polo sheep hunting.

http://www.animalartistry.com/pb/sheep/16_sheep.php

I think $50K might be on the cheap side.

I have walked through that studio in Reno several times...... some great work in there...

Yep.
I've been checkin it out since they started.
Some of the world's greatest trophies have come through their doors.

You goooooootta be kidding?! He is as big as a head board!

Hi Jane!

damn there's days it would be handy to be wealthy. i'd love to hunt those mp sheep!

At that price, one Marco Polo or two Stone's sheep. Take your pick.

They are (or were) also found in Iran. Used to start to be found just north of Kabul.

Or one Mexican desert sheep hunt, almost forgot.

Pamir argali was always a dream hunt for me, but age, belly, and holes in my wallet have dimmed it a bit.

I was raised at 5,000 feet, spent much of my life at 5,000 to 12,000 feet and have a slow pulse...about mid 50's...and good lungs still. Blood pressure is around 115/74 average.

It is probably a blessing that house prices are so low. My paid-for little home in MT might end up as a trip to the Altay.