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Cost and Trophy Fee for a Markhor Hunt
The prices for a Markhor trophy hunt will cost between $13,000 and $17,000.
Markhor Hunting Season
All year
Hunting Trophy Markhor
The Markhor has an impressive rack of spiraled horns with large, flat flares that stand out in stark relief. These horns can be from 36 inches to 48.5 inches in length and makes a very nice trophy. World record horns on the Markhor come in around 51.5 inches when measuring straight up, and they’ve been measured out to 65 inches when taking the turns into account and using the outside curve as the basis of measurement. No other animal of this type has larger upright horns. The horns are a dull brown or gray in color. They are a bit darker than the animal’s coat. Both the female and male animals have horns, though the female horns are a lot smaller, averaging from six to 14 inches.
Physical Characteristics
Like most goats, the Markhor is a stocky animal that has legs that look a bit too short for its body, but which are excellent for climbing in rocks and moving through rough terrain. The neck is rather thick, and the back legs have a very powerful, muscular appearance. The Markhor will often perch on the edge of a rock or outcropping with its feet close together, forming a solid base, and it has excellent balance.
The animals tend to weigh from 150 pounds to 250 pounds when they are mature males. The body length runs from about 4.5 feet to 6.5 feet, and the animal usually stands from 2.0 feet to 4 feet when measured to the shoulder. The tail can be anywhere from 3.2 inches to eight inches in length.
The coloration of the coat runs the gauntlet from brown to white to gray, and it often comes in with patches of different colors. Brown is most common as the main color for males, and then they turn more and more white as they age. The male also sports a long beard that is very distinctive, adding a lot of bulk to the neck and throat. This beard is darker than the hair on the back, and it is often shot through with silver. The legs also have black and white spots.
The coat changes depending on the season. It will usually be thin, short and smooth in the warm summer months, and it will then thicken as winter falls. The hair also gets longer as it gets thicker, so many hunters prefer to take these animals in the winter, when the coats are the best. Hunting is allowed all year around, but trips can be catered around the animals’ coats to get the best possible trophy or mount.
Origin, Native Habitat and Countries
The Markhor is a type of mountain goat that originated in the western portion of the Himalayan mountain range, but now lives in other regions like Astor, Kashmir, India and sometimes, Pakistan where it is the National Animal. Its typical habitat is lightly wooded mountains and grasslands with thin forests, near rocky terrain between 1,900 feet and 11,500 feet elevation.
Behavior/Social Characteristics
The Markhor stays low during the night and in the middle of the day, resting and staying out of sight of wolves, lynx, and the snow leopards. It comes out in the early morning hours and late afternoon. It is crucial for hunters to know these patterns so they can hunt the animals when they are most active.
In the spring and the summer, the Markhor tends to graze for food, focusing on grass, small plants and leaves. When leaves get less plentiful at lower levels and during the winter, a Markhor will stand up on its back legs, stretching with its neck to get leaves from higher branches.
The population densities are pretty low, as this is a fairly solitary animal. In Pakistan, the density has been estimated at 2-18 animals for every square mile. When males are forced together by rut, as they search for females, they will battle each other for the right to breed. They will lunge at one another and then lock the horns together. With this done, they’ll try to knock each other over, twisting and pushing, and the male who loses his balance loses the fight.
They do not communicate much vocally, but they do have a nasal alarm call that they’ll use from time to time. Females may communicate more, as they tend to move in herds that could have as many as 9-10 animals, while the males keep to themselves and live solitary lives.