KAAN KARAKAYA’S SHIKAR SAFARIS

Thirty years ago, the great booking agent Bev Wunderlich, sadly recently deceased, set up my buddy Joe Bishop and me on an ibex hunt in Turkey. Our local outfitter was a young Turkish fellow named Kaan Karakaya. At that time, Turkey wasn’t known as a destination for ibex; Bezoar goat permits were just becoming available. The Taurus Mountains were steep; it was a tougher hunt than I’d expected, but I got a good ibex with little difficulty. Joe had a tougher hunt. His went down to the last day, but a smiling and extremely competent Kaan Karakaya refused to give up. Afternoon of the last day Joe took the largest Bezoar goat to be taken in Turkey.

Within the year, Kaan launched his outfit as Shikar-Safaris. Based in Antalya, on Turkey’sbeautiful Mediterranean coast, it’s been a great pleasure to watch Shikar-Safaris develop into a powerhouse in Eurasian hunting. Naturally, Shikar-Safaris remains a leader in Turkish hunting, with excellent areas and permits for all available species, but they’ve expanded far beyond that, now offering hunts from Spain to Siberia, some 17 different countries. Shikar-Safaris first became involved the famous community-based Torghar Hills Project in Pakistan in 1999, resulting in the recovery, reopening, and eventual downlisting of the Suleiman markhor. With Torghar Hills as a model, Shikar-Safaris is currently working with community-based conservation projects in Mongolia, Turkey, and elsewhere in Pakistan.Since that first hunt, I’ve hunted with Shikar-Safaris several more times in Turkey, plus Azerbaijan, Mongolia, Pakistan, and more. In far-flung locations, Shikar-Safaris relies on local operators, but I’ve always had competent guides and English-fluent interpreters. I credit Kaan Karakaya and his excellent Shikar-Safaris team with some of my very best hunting experiences and most memorable animals. Last spring, Donna traveled to Turkey alone, had a wonderful hunt, and took a marvelous old ibex. We are proud to have Kaan Karakaya and Shikar-Safaris as part of our CBEO family, and look forward to many more great shikars.

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