THE GUN AT HOME AND ABROAD 
On every high ridge 
“ There are a few ibex to be found — i.e. if you can spy them. They 
are never in herds, like the Tian Shan ibex (except, of course, the 
females), and the most I have ever seen together was five. But they 
are most difficult game to hunt as they hide in holes in inaccessible 
precipices all day and only come out in the evening. To hunt them 
you have to climb up to the top of the mountain at night and look 
out for them at dawn when they come back to lay up for the day. You 
may get a shot at them, or mark the place where they have lain up 
and then stalk them; the rest of the day you may spend in searching 
likely places on the chance (very remote) of coming across one. What 
usually happens is that while you are laboriously climbing about the 
crags, they hear or smell you coming and clear off to the next mountain, 
some miles off, before you can get near them. The mountains are 
very high, 8,000 to 12,000 feet, and very rugged and precipitous. 
You must be a strong and fearless climber, as the male ibex only 
frequent the highest and most inaccessible places. Personally I love 
the stalking and the climbing, and exploring the mountains and the 
scenery, so that if I make a journey of four days to a place, spend 
four days hunting, then four days back, I should consider it successful 
if I got one or two ibex.”* 
These are the first-hand opinions of a keen hunter, and they give a very 
good idea of what ibex hunting is in these romantic highlands of Kurdistan. 
Besides the rough hill -climbing, which such stalking entails, there is 
the easier and almost luxurious hunting of the mouflon, for one can often 
ride over the grassy downlands which they generally frequent, and, on 
finding them, dismount for the stalk. They are much more numerous and 
easier to stalk than the ibex, and as they do not hide during the daytime 
they can be hunted without so much waste of time. The sheep of the 
region between Lake Urmi and Van may be of two varieties, namely, the 
Persian (Ovis orientalis erskinii) and the Armenian (Ovis orientalis gmelini), 
for this area forms the junction of their respective ranges. No heads 
having been brought home we are in the dark as to these details. They 
are not always easy to find. One traveller records them on a certain range 
and the next visitor is disappointed at finding nothing there. It is certain 
that they change their quarters and migrate at fixed seasons, one of 
the most important influences in forcing their movements being the 
* From letters written to Mr P. B. Van der Byl, who kindly allows me to quote from them. 
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