Adventure Planner
Ibex and Sheep Hunting in Iran
Please note Iran is currently closed to hunting.
Iran’s wide array of wildlife and unsurpassed historic and natural beauty makes it a perfect destination for your next hunting adventure. From hunting the magnificent Trans Caspian Urial to numerous mouflon subspecies, here you can collect eight separate sheep along with two different ibex subspecies. Very few countries in Asia, if any, provide hunters with as many species of mountain game as Iran does.
Although there are two principle species of wild sheep in Iran, Ovis vignei (urial) and Ovis gmelini (mouflon,) various hybrid populations are spread all across the mountainous habitats of the country. Morphological variety among different populations and even between individuals of the same population has been one of the most controversial biological topics in scientific classification of wild sheep population in Iran. Many of these populations are now isolated due to human development and are considered to be different subspecies for record keeping purposes.
Sheep and Ibex have a wide distribution in the country and are hunted in many areas throughout. Most sheep in Iran live in hilly terrain at not very high elevations. Most hunts are carried out at the altitudes between 6000-10,500 feet (2,000-3,500m) with the majority being at about 8,200 feet (2,500m). Therefore, altitude has never been an issue while hunting mouflon and urial species. As with all other sheep hunting, a spot and stalking type of hunt is the main method. Some short drives on a 4×4 vehicle can be applicable in order to locate the animals.
Armenian Mouflon: Found in northwestern Iran east to Tabriz and south to the central Zagros mountain.
Red Sheep: Northern Iran in the Albroz Mountains, along with an isolated population in the Kavir Desert of north-central Iran. Boundaries with the Armenian mouflon to the west and the TCU to the east are unclear.
Trans Caspian Urial: Kosh-Yeylagh and Heydari Wildlife Reserve in the northeast.
Esfahan Mouflon: Found only in the mountains near the city of Esfehan. R.Valdez restricts it to sheep with cervical horns that inhabit the Tange-Sayad and Kolah-Gazi Wildlife refuges southwest and southeast of Esfehan. However GSCO also accepts sheep from the Mooteh Reserve as Esfehan sheep.
Shiraz Mouflon: The boundary for Shiraz sheep is somewhat controversial. GSCO and SCI record book accept that Shiraz mouflon is found in the reserve near the city of Shiraz and south and east to the cities of Jahrom and Darab.
Kerman Sheep: Kerman province of Iran in the Kar-va-Rouchon Wildlife refuge and Bafgh wildlife refuge eastward also southward. It’s boundaries with Shiraz and Laristan is unclear.
Laristan Mouflon: Southern Iran in Fars and Laristan provinces.
Afghan Urial: North and south of Birjand. Northernmost boundary is the city of Gonabad while the southernmost is Nehbandan.
Kavir (Persian Desert) Ibex: Desert regions east of the cties of Qom, Yazd,Kerman and Bandar-e’Abbas.
