Today, any visitor can see the exhibition in Viktor Yartsev's store.
The creation and organization of the store were the result of many years of effort. Viktor Yartsev is a well-known sports hunter and weapons expert in Kyrgyzstan.
He was born almost 60 years ago in the Orenburg region of Russia and became interested in hunting at the age of six.
“We were sledding when I noticed a flock of partridges on a haystack. I ran home for my gun; I remember it was a single-barrel IZH-17. I settled in, aimed, and shot. The flock took off, but one stayed behind. ‘I shot low,’ I thought. That was my first hunt,” Viktor recalls.
Since 1957, the Yartsev family has lived in Kyrgyzstan. Viktor studied at the Chon-Aryk school, served in the Soviet Army, and then graduated from the journalism faculty, working in the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Kyrgyz SSR while maintaining his love for sport hunting.
When asked about his identity, he most often replies that he feels like a journalist. Yartsev is known for his articles about nature and hunting in Kyrgyzstan. This passion led him to study and collect hunting weapons, which became the foundation for creating a unique collection.
“Among the pride of my collection is a unique duck hunting gun of the 2nd or even 1st caliber. I learned about a person who had such an antique gun, and now it’s mine. Most likely, it was brought by settlers from Russia for duck hunting. Almost a pound of black powder and a handful of shot were loaded into the duck gun, and a shot was fired from a boat at the ducks. Special cushions were used to soften the recoil,” Yartsev shares.
The collection also features an Arabic musket. The spears and axe are not authentic; they were given to Viktor after the filming of the movie "Genghis Khan." A bow also made its way into the collection from the film set. Here, one can find flintlock guns and hunting samples produced a hundred years ago.
“The PPSh came from the factory, but without a barrel. The Colt was severely damaged; I cleaned its parts from rust,” Viktor Petrovich recounts.
Hunting snares, traps, original panels, and stuffed animals add atmosphere to the exhibition.
“The idea of collecting weapon artifacts came to me back in the 70s. While working in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, I saw how illegal weapons were destroyed by tractor. There were many trophy hunting weapons in those piles, all of which were sent for disposal. No one appreciated their historical value, and thus unique specimens were lost. ‘The less weapons the population has, the less ‘show-off’ we have,’ one of the police officials told me. During Soviet times, a weapons museum needed to be created in Kyrgyzstan, but it didn’t happen, and we lost an entire layer of material culture. Weapons are an important part of Kyrgyz history; it is impossible to consider the struggle for independence without taking weapons into account. Today, many historical specimens are kept in private collections or destroyed. Almost no interesting weapon artifacts are left in Kyrgyzstan. My task as a weapons expert is to preserve the material culture of the peoples of Kyrgyzstan through historical weapons to pass it on to future generations,” Yartsev says.
Unfortunately, Viktor Petrovich Yartsev passed away at the age of 73 on January 4, 2025.
