Deep in the western Góry Ałtaj, where the wind never really stops and the horizon seems to fold in on itself, a Mongolia Eagle Hunter saddles up beside a golden eagle like it’s the most ordinary errand in the world. It isn’t. It’s the living continuation of a thousand-year-old, UNESCO-honored tradition – and like every autumn in Mongolia, it takes center stage not once, but three times.
If you’ve ever wanted to see a Mongolia Eagle Hunter at work – the wrist-thick leather glove, the hooded eagle riding calm on a forearm, the sudden release into a dive – September and October in Bayan-Ölgii Province is when it happens.
Po kompletny praktyczny przewodnik po planowaniu podróży, odwiedź nasz Przewodnik turystyczny po Mongolii.
1 – Who is a Mongolia eagle hunter?
Kazakh community of Western Mongolia
A Mongolia Eagle Hunter, known locally as a berkutchi, is a member of the ethnic Kazakh community of western Mongolia who trains and hunts with golden eagles – birds with wingspans over two meters and talons strong enough to take down a fox. The relationship between a Mongolia Eagle Hunter and their eagle isn’t transactional; it’s closer to kinship. Eagles are typically taken from the nest as juveniles, raised and trained over years, and eventually released back into the wild after roughly a decade of partnership, so the population in the mountains stays healthy.
Becoming a Mongolia Eagle Hunter is not a hobby you pick up in a weekend. Skills are passed down through generations – fathers teaching sons, and increasingly daughters, how to call an eagle back from a cliff face, how to read a bird’s mood, how to hunt on horseback across terrain that would break most vehicles. UNESCO recognized this practice as part of humanity’s Intangible Cultural Heritage, and Kazakh communities across Mongolia and Kazakhstan have worked hard to keep it alive rather than let it fade into folklore. That effort is exactly what these three festivals celebrate.
2 – 3 unique events about Mongolia Eagle Hunter
Altai Nomads Games: September 12 and 13, Altai Village
The season opens with the Altai Nomads Game, a homegrown, community-rooted celebration that feels less like a tourist spectacle and more like a village get-together that happens to include golden eagles. Expect eagle showcases where a Mongolia Eagle Hunter demonstrates the call-and-release technique up close, alongside camel races kicking up dust across the plain and archery contests that will absolutely make you want to pick up a bow yourself. It’s an intimate, low-key introduction to the culture — a good first stop if you’re building an itinerary around Mongolia Eagle Hunter traditions before heading to the bigger festivals later in the season.
Sagsai Golden Eagle Festival: September 17 and 18, Sagsai Village
A few days later, the action shifts to Sagsai Village, perched right on the road to Altai Tavan Bogd National Park – making it an easy add-on if you’re already trekking toward the glaciers. This festival leans more formal: eagles are judged on speed, accuracy, and the bond visible between bird and handler, giving spectators a real sense of what separates a good Mongolia Eagle Hunter from a great one. Between rounds, Kazakh feasts spread out on long tables and music carries across the valley late into the evening – this is where the cultural side of the tradition, not just the hunting skill, really shines.
The Golden Eagle Festival: October 3 and 4, Bayan-Ölgii Province
Then comes the big one. Up to 80 falconers and more than 1,500 spectators converge on Bayan-Ölgii for a full-blown parade of horses, camels, and eagles that genuinely looks like it was staged for a film – because, in a way, it was. This is the very festival that starred in 2016’s The Eagle Huntress, the documentary that introduced the world to a young Mongolia Eagle Hunter named Aisholpan and, with her, introduced global audiences to the tradition itself. Competitions here cover eagle speed and agility, traditional costume, and horseback games, all set against the golden light of an Altai autumn. If you only have time for one festival, this is the one people fly in for.
Sleep, hunt and live alongside a Mongolia eagle hunter family
The festivals are only the surface. If you really want to understand what it means to be a Mongolia Eagle Hunter, the deeper experience happens away from the crowds, inside a ger, sharing a fire, waking up before dawn to head into the mountains with the family that’s been doing this for generations.
Many Kazakh families open their homes to travelers during the autumn season, and staying with them is less “homestay” and more full immersion. You sleep under thick wool blankets in a traditional ger, eat what the family eats – dried curd, fresh mutton, endless bowls of milky tea – and in the mornings, if the weather cooperates, you can ride out with your host as they work their eagle across the open steppe.
Watching a Mongolia Eagle Hunter release a bird from a cliffside, then call it back across hundreds of meters of open air, hits differently when you’ve spent the night in the same ger as the eagle itself, hooded and perched quietly by the door. It’s not a performance staged for visitors; it’s daily life, and you’re simply lucky enough to be let in.
These stays are usually arranged through companies, and booking ahead is essential, especially around festival dates, when families balance hosting guests with preparing their own eagles for competition.
