Mongolian Eagle Hunting Culture

AltaI, SharGobi Valley

Arrive in Ulgii where you will be met by your English-speaking guide, cook and driver at the airport. We will then drive to the Altai region, where you’ll be met with magnificent wilderness scenery, expansive rocky plains and the rugged peaks of Altai and Tavan Bogd National park. 

After a four-hour drive, we will reach SharGobi Valley where we’ll meet our hosts, an Eagle Hunter family, who will share some knowledge about their Kazakh culture over some special Kazakh milk tea.

Apprenticeship

We’ll awake on Day 2 having rested throughout the night to the lovely sound of yaks snoring, our cook will be cranking out the crepes and omelettes and have the coffee flowing. Today you will be paired off with one of our guides eagle hunting friends, and the falconry apprenticeship will begin shortly after. Today the aim will be helping you get comfortable with the eagle, hooding and unhooding and then graduating to the call where you will take turns unhooding your eagle and your eagle hunter will call her to his hand. We’ll break for lunch, then you will meet your horse and our main eagle hunter will pair you with your steed. We’ll do a little ride around the valley and help herd the yaks just before dinner. You will have time today to experience milking yaks as well. 

Learning more techniques

On day 3 we will head to the local Altai mountains, we’ll be working on “the call” from a distance and height this time. After mastering that we will get accustomed to riding whilst holding our eagles. We will break for lunch, then embark on the next stage of eagle hunting techniques. The eagle hunter will drag the fox skin for the eagle to catch—one of the main techniques used to train their eagles before an actual hunt. You will be releasing/dragging the fox skin for your eagle to catch and then make sure the eagle does not ruin the fox skin. You will learn how to create a unique bond between you and your eagle.

On the mountain, you’ll have an opportunity to hold the eagle, ask to borrow the eagle hunter’s outfits and get some nice photos of you on the mountain, before riding back to our home after successful training. We’ll finish the evening with dinner and drinks, recounting tales from the day. 

Hunt Day

For the next two days, we will experience the actual hunting process with the Golden Eagles. You will ride on a Mongolian horse with our eagle hunters on a hunting trip into the magnificent mountain country of Western Mongolia. This area is home to many rare animal species including the Snow Leopard, Lynx, Ibex and Wolverine. But you will be hunting for common foxes, marmots, rabbits and other abundant animals. We will travel through the mountain for one to two days in search of prey. Eagle hunters hood the eagles with a special hood and keep the eagles on their arms ready to remove the hood and release it when they see the prey. Sometimes, the eagles are carried without hoods to let them scan the area and release when the hunter feels any body movement or their tightening grip on his gloved hand—signalling the eagle has spotted a prey. Joining the eagle hunters for hunting will be challenging, but an authentic and unique experience. They will also teach you some techniques for hunting! With the help of your eagle hunter, you’ll be sitting on the top of the mountain spotting the animals like foxes and rabbits. It will be a truly unforgettable experience not just following the eagle hunters to see but doing the hunt yourself as well.

Nomad Games

Today we will saddle up, grab the goat hide and ride down to some nearby mountains as our crew prepares to commence our own Nomad Games! These are mounted games, where you’ll see us go toe to toe with our Kazakh friends! We will be playing goat rug pull Bushkashi games and a number of other nomad games, at the end prizes will be awarded to the champions as well! We end the day with a group feast, epic dinner and of course if one is so inclined, a bottle or two of local vodka and some dancing! 

Back to Ulgii

Today we say farewell to our new friends and start driving towards Ulgii. We will have time this day to explore the town, visit the local museum, the bazaar, handicraft shops or maybe even a local Mosque. On this day, you will stay at a hotel and enjoy a traditional Kazakh concert and dine at one of the local famous restaurants! 

Fly back to Ulaanbaatar

After breakfast, we will take you to the airport to catch your flight back to Ulaanbaatar.