The Legend Award was presented for only the tenth time at this the 2016 convention. Longevity and accomplishments are only two of the criteria for this award.

The very first recipient was an outfitter, as was the second (Alex Van Bibber, 2005 and Albert Cooper, 2006). However, in 2007 it was time to recognize Francis Bouchard, who was a hunter and conservationist. After that, the stage was set and outfitters and individuals have been among the honorees ever since.

Baranz (Galaa) Galbadrakh of Mongolia was actually chosen to be honored in 2015, but just before the convention he had a heart issue and was literally having that corrected while the convention was going on. So many who knew about it in advance were disappointed, but health issues always take precedence. GSCO decided to wait for Galaa, so postponed his award to 2016.

There are so many who have come to hunt with, know and love this Legend known as Galaa. Quite a number of them were able to join us in 2016 for this special moment to honor him. Of special note is Bob Patton (to Galaa’s immediate left), who was his partner for many years.

Galaa is, in fact, one of the greatest outfitters of all time. His accomplishments are pretty phenomenal. He was born in Mongolia under very austere conditions within a Communist-controlled system. He was one of the very first to begin working with the state-run hunting operation (Juulchin) in the late 1970s. He rose within the ranks to take complete charge of the hunting. He saw thousands of clients take the elk that were so numerous in his country, but Galaa’s love was for the mountain argalis. He has been responsible, either directly or indirectly, for hundreds of mountain sheep hunts in Mongolia. In the SCI record book, you will find his name or company listed among the top Altay, Hangay and Gobi argalis. His clients hold Top 10 spots for Altay and Gobi rams, and five of the Top 10 spots for Hangay argalis, including #1 and #2. This man is no doubt a Legend in the mountain hunting world.