Hey guys, just got back in last night and it is good to be home in the good ol' USA. Had a great hunt in Benin... excellent buffalo, massive hartebeest, old roan bull, a super Nagor reedbuck... probably the new #1 SCI (if your into that), oribi and warthog. Damned bushbuck drove us crazy and I was never in the right place at the right time. Ditto for red-flanked duiker, if they were sitting in the open, posing, they were female! The males were always haulin a$$... but "c'est la chasse", eh?

Will post some pics in a few days and a hunt report in a week or two, right now I have a ton of work staring me in the face... oh well, you play...

Hope the Show season went well and Dallas and Reno were good to everyone! Cheers.

Russell

Congratulations, I look forward to your full report and photos.

The SCI show was good but there were less people and prices through the ceiling.

Regards
Aziz

Welcome back! I look forward to the full report and pictures. It sounds like congratulations are in order.

Russ welcome home and catch up on sleep...

Mike

Hi Bwanamrm

Congratulations.Especially for Your trophy reedbuck.
Were You hunting along the Pendjari National Park with Club Faune, PH Yann le Bouvier?
or Atakora range.........with? Coatmelec ?

According to ErikD, Nyamey is one of the "less attractive" towns in Africa. Your opinion?

Jean-Bernard, I'm going to guess he went through Cotonou, not Niamey. Neither are destination resorts of course.

quote:

Congratulations.Especially for Your trophy reedbuck.
Were You hunting along the Pendjari National Park with Club Faune, PH Yann le Bouvier?
or Atakora range.........with? Coatmelec ?

Jean-Bernard,
I did indeed hunt with Yann and Club Faune in the Porga concession of Pendjari National Park. Yann is a super PH, very intense and passionate about the sport and his areas. C-F has made great strides in developing the Porga concession into an excellent hunting concession with lion, buffalo and elephant seen regularly. Contonou and most of Benin is, how would one phrase it, less than attractive? But it was a very interesting adventure!

Russell,

Welcome back. Congrats on your trophies. I am VERY interested in your full report.

Mark

Welcome home.

It's great to have you back safe and sound Russell. We're all looking forward to your hunt report and pics.

Russell,

Glad you made it home. I Look forward to the report and photos.

I'm glad you decided to venture to a part of Africa that is not the usual course. It's hard to believe, but Dakar (maybe even Benin)is closer to Moscow than Capetown (or somebody told me that?).... anyway, Africa is Africa, but parts are amazingly intriguing in wonderfully different ways. I can't wait to get a full report. I've been to Burkina Faso, but am looking at a Benin hunt as a possibility.

BTW, I must have killed your bushbuck for you. When I shot mine in Burkina, we walked over and found two dead. The game scout just smiled, took fifty euros from me, gutted the smaller, cut the legs and head off, put the whole thing in a large duffle and we never mentioned it again.... I guess he had a good supper? Would you like to have me see if I could get someone to look for the head? It had good horns.....

Congratulations Russell, looking forward to the full report. Good luck digging out from under the email at work.

Okay Russell, take a day off then let's read some hunt stories!! Welcome back!

John

welcome home ....

I can't wait for your photos and story. Get some sleep and then get busy!

Russell Glad you're home.
e

Glad your adventure was a good one and looking forward to the story.

thanks Wink and bwanamrm

I made a slip of the tongue, of course Cotonnou seems to be not a very attractive place. Niamey is in Niger and in the past has got a real fame but...........concerning 2 legged not this wild game.
I am glad You'd fun with Yann l B. I made a hop there to have a couple of beers and refueling and the area looked like a game paradise. Not so with elephants. The few we saw had me got the jitters. Really wicked.
Congs again
jb

Welcome home Russell. Sounds like a very nice bag. Tell us about it when you've taken care of business.

contratulations. I'm very curious to see the report

Welcome back Russell.

West Africa is not a hot destination for Americans. I know little about it and am very interested in your impressions.

Just be sure to start at the beninning, okay?

i saw this and it made me laugh out loud... hope you enjoy the humor in it too!



"I swear guys, it wasn't me, I just lifted the wartie's tail and..."



On a slightly more serious note, my Benin buffalo.

Russell, why are you and the warty the only ones smiling??
That is one heck of a buffalo---congratulations--I didn't know they got that big!!

The "pisteurs" aren't smiling perhaps because they are Muslims and dislike handle a pig?

A nice bull buffalo indeed. Why don't You shoot a red one instead? I suppose You could have shoot either a red or black one?

JB,
I saw red buff on the trip, in fact I saw lots of buffalo of every hue, but none as big as the bull I shot. A red buff cow.


Thanks Steve... where are you hunting in '08?

Wow! What a hunt. Can't wait to read the hunt report. Congratulations Russell.

Welcome back Russell, sounds like you had a great hunt and adventure.

The non smiling staff was also the first thing I noticed. Was that the norm or just in that photo?

quote:

Was that the norm or just in that photo?

Just that photo... that's why i found it so funny. Think everyone but me got caught unaware by the camera's click!

Thanks for the pictures -- it looks like you did quite well.