THE KAMCHATKA PENINSULA has long been a place shrouded in mystery. Only since the disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991 have we begun to understand what lies behind its jagged North Pacific coastline – the most pristine wilderness left on Earth, chock full of fish and game.
DURING RUSSIA’S TSARIST PERIOD, Kamchatka existed in the minds of Europeans as nothing more than a blank spot on the map and rumors of a land abounding with natural resources. In 1724, curiosity, a sense of adventure and the booming European fur trade persuaded Peter the Great to commission an eastward exploratory expedition. The leader of that expedition, Vitus Bering, and his crew were to become the Lewis and Clarks of the eastern hemisphere. The results of their expedition are famous, having led to the founding of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatksy, and ultimately the discovery of Alaska by Europeans.
KAMCHATKA TODAY, while mapped, remains basically the same; wild, spectacular, inviting. But words simply don’t do Kamchatka justice – this terra incognito has to be experienced first-hand to be fully comprehended. You will see great mountains, volcanoes, hot springs, and rivers with clear water where millions of wild salmon start and end their lives. The wilderness is intact as it has always been and there is just one dirt road on the Peninsula. It is one of the few places on earth where the environment has indeed been kept pristine. The Kamchatka countryside is not unlike Alaska, dotted with volcanoes and tundra meadows separated by evergreen and birch forest that stretch to the horizon. Our part of the world is almost uninhabited except for the reindeer, moose, sheep, and the largest concentration of brown bears in the world!
THE TERRITORY OF THE KAMCHATKA PENINSULA is 472 thousand square km – more than the territory of Japan. But if compared to this southern neighbor, Kamchatka is almost uninhabited, with less than 1 person per 10 square kilometers. The whole population is just 370 thousand people, and more than half of them live in Petropavlovsk, the main city on the peninsula. Far south of the Arctic Circle, Kamchatka is blessed with a climate similar to western Canada.
THE HUNTING EXPERIENCE IN KAMCHATKA is about taking step into the past. And it’s more about yourself than you might know. It’s about hunting in a place that’s like Alaska was 100 years ago.