TAJIKISTAN: Marco Polo & Mid Asian Ibex Dec 2024

[Altitude sickness]

Great hunt and recap.
Can you go into more detail on the scope and ballistics. Were you able to dial that atmospheric pressure into the scope. Did it read for that altitude. Or did you have to do the math.

Driving to 14,500 without acclimatizing is no joke. Heck of a story.

I would be all in for the mountain portion. but that 23 Hour Drive in a Toyota would be a 2 ambien trip for me.

 

[TheGrayRider]

Congratulations on your trophies. Thank you for your honest review of the hunt.

Good information for prospective hunters to know before booking a similar trip.

Happy hunting, TheGrayRider a/k/a Tom.

 

[smp005]

Great hunt and recap.
Can you go into more detail on the scope and ballistics. Were you able to dial that atmospheric pressure into the scope. Did it read for that altitude. Or did you have to do the math.

Driving to 14,500 without acclimatizing is no joke. Heck of a story.

I would be all in for the mountain portion. but that 23 Hour Drive in a Toyota would be a 2 ambien trip for me.

Swarovski provides an app for your phone (naturally LOL) which connects to the scope via bluetooth. You zero the rifle at whatever distance you want (I zeroed mine to be dead on at 100 meters) then you enter all your ballistic data into the app and upload it to the scope. Elevation and temp are two of the environmental variables you enter. I set mine for 14,000 feet and zero degrees before I left the states and then adjusted it upon arrival for the -20 temp. Once loaded, the app is not needed to use the scope, only if you want to make ballistic adjustments. The scope has a black reticle and when you hit the button to range the target it drops in the red reticle adjusted by the ballistic calculations, so your math is done. The key is to not forget to use the RED reticle and not the BLACK reticle !!! My first hunt with the DS scope I missed a trophy coues buck at 500yds because (out of habit) I used the BLACK crosshairs :-(

I had no issues with battery life even in the extreme cold although that worried me and I kept a spare battery warm in my pocket just in case!!

Its a great scope - big and heavy but a great scope for long range work....

The drive was rough for sure.... It isn't normally a straight thru drive but because we were a day behind due to the late flight arrival of the second hunter the drivers seemed in a hurry to get there..