Vashper

I was born in Moscow, in a military family. My father was a simple villager before the war, but after the war he remained in the army. My older brother and sister were mathematicians, I was interested in biology and could have gone, perhaps, to science, but at the request of my father I received an engineering education and later became a professional military man. Since childhood, I was fond of hunting and weapons, I probably read all the hunting literature in Russian. My father, by the way, did not approve of this hobby, although at one time he was engaged in hunting and fishing as an economic activity. The opportunity to hunt in the largest city in Europe is somewhat limited, and I bought my own shotgun only at the age of 25. Rifled weapons were allowed for my 40th birthday, at the same time the first rifle appeared – the surplusmauser from Oberndorf. Military service gives little time for Hobbies; on the other hand, service trips across the country (and Russia is a large country, more than half of Africa) sometimes gave the opportunity to hunt a little, but in very different landscapes.
After the service, I worked for some time in magazines as an editor and author, writing about weapons, photographic equipment, and hunting optics. Back then, the job paid well, and I was preparing for my first African Safari. But glossy magazines have been hit hard by the modern crisis, and, since 2008, advertising budgets have not allowed them to exist. So hunting in Africa has remained a dream. I mostly hunt birds with my dog in the European part of the country, and occasionally participate in collective hunts for elk, wild boar, and ROE deer.
While I was serving, I could not contact foreigners. After my retirement, I spent a long time communicating on huntamerica.com, and when the crisis hit this forum, I switched to AR. Then, after a break, on the advice of colleagues from the Russian resource guns.ru (I moderate a couple of sections there) came here. Everywhere was under the current nickname.