Warning! to Hunters Contemplating a Russian Hunt

Many of you have heard about bad hunts, bad food, shortages of plane and helicopter fuel, perpetual add-on costs, and other horror stories coming out of Russia. Seems that everybody knows somebody that had a friend, who had a cousin, whose brother hunted in Russia who said his hunt was a nightmare. Over the years I have questioned people who relate these stories and ask them: “Who did they book with?”

Many of these stories are, of course, just that, “Stories” or “Rumors”.  Some, of course, are true as even the best of operations has a hunt that doesn’t turn out well from time to time because of bad weather, mechanical problems, etc. But, I have found that 9 times out of 10 the real problem occurred when a hunter tried to save a few bucks by booking directly with a Russian Outfitter over the internet, via a sport show, through the mail, etc. That is a definite “No, No”!

Then, when something goes wrong they have absolutely no recourse. At least when you book with an American booking agent you have some leverage in that the Russians treat them well because they want to continue to do business with them. If you book directly with a Russian outfitter, on the other hand, he could care less about your problem and whether he ever sees you again or not. And, yes, whenever you book with a Russian outfitter you can expect numerous add on costs as they – like many American Outfitters  - part their hunts out. That is, they give you a basic cost that doesn’t include, domestic travel, food, lodging, permits, tag fees, etc., etc., etc. All of our hunts do!

I had a hunter tell me recently that he could book a Kamchatka bear hunt for $8,900 through another outfitter. I asked him to check and see if this outfitter included everything we do in our packages. The hunter called me back in a few days and told me that the other outfitter did not include the helicopter flight to camp, the license, the CITES permit, or the trophy fee. These hidden charges added up to another $6,000.

Bottom line; never ever book directly through a Russian Outfitter. If you do, you are asking for trouble. And when you have problems because you didn’t heed this warning please don’t blame anyone else but yourself. It’s going to cost you at least twice as much – if you’re lucky – as the price they quote you. And, when comparing prices with other American Outfitters please compare apples to apples. Compare the whole package price, not just the base price.

A word to the wise . . .