***Just spoke to DC who has been hunting hard and has taken Buffalo, Kob, Harnessed bushbuck, Duiker, Oribi and daily guinea fowls and of course the lion. Two more days to go on his safari, which hopefully will be enough time for a good Roan!****
I just got the satellite phone call I have been waiting for, for the last 6 days! My good client and friend DC has just shot today a great lion in Burkina Faso. From what I could gather on the poor phone line it is a typical huge, big bodied mature Burkina lion. The lion has been the main focus of the safari and they have spent the last 6 days tracking lion in 104 degree heat (this is the best time to hunt lion in Burkina) and they have been into lions everyday with some very close encounters, some of them measured in feet! It all ended a few hours ago (isn't modern communication amazing), with a great lion being taken on foot.

My client has hunted extensively all over Africa and says that to his mind the West african trackers are among the very best he has seen. He normally has a pretty itchy trigger finger but has shown great restraint so far and has only shot one duiker and one warthog for meat, as they have been very focused on the lion! He reported seeing lots of other game including, Roan and Buffalo and now that the pressure is off they will focus on these species.

On a side note I asked him how he felt, as shooting a lion has been his dream for many years and he told me that while he was thrilled he felt a real moment of sadness on shooting such a great beast. I will request him to post a full hunt report and photos when he returns.

To each his own, but to my mind this is the ultimate lion hunt, it's not for everyone and from a trophy perspective alone Burkina Lions do not have big manes but the hunter grows the mane after such a hunt!!! At (2010 rates of) $23,000 (14 days) + $2025 trophy fee, this is also the cheapest wild lion hunt that I know of! The trophy is also importable into the US. We only get two permits a year and both have been taken for our area this year. There is however a great one off opportunity that I have just been informed about for one lion to be hunted next month, in a superb private area which has a lot of lion as where there has been no hunting allowed there for the last 3 years!

I will be posting details shortly.

Thanks for your time.

Arjun Reddy
www.huntersnetworks.com
Tel: 914 310 4902 (NY)

DC congratulations on a cat well earned.

Mike

Kick Ass!

Excellent!

Arjun,

Contrats to your client on a great trophy and a unique hunt.

When does the season open in BF?

Mark

Thanks Mark. The season is from December to May but the best time to go is Jan-March. The temp today was 104 F, and it keeps getting hotter going into March, water starts drying up as well. All good for tracking lions but one has to be able to do it.