I have a trip booked for Feb 2011. Just wondering/fantasizing how great it's gonna be? What problems did you encounter? What joys are there?

Greetings to you Pancho in Roswell. My grandparents lived there for many years. C.A.R. is a delightful experience. Here are the TOP TEN THINGS you need to know about hunting there.

1) Put something down the first or second day, preferably a buffalo. Camps can be pretty primitive and low on supplies. Nothing like an extra side of beef hanging in the shed, to keep you and camp staff fed and happy. Only supplies coming in will be on the plane you charter into camp, so if you have a chance to load up on goodies before you get on charter do so. Often times though you leave about an hour after landing in Bangui.

2) Take a mosquito/bug net. I know they look kinda dorky and no safari stud like you wants to look like a beekeeper with a rifle in his hands. But I sure wish I would have had one. The unpredictable mopane flies are more pesky than the tsetses. Without a head net the mopane flies will venture deep into any opening above your neck; that means your ear canal, nostrils and eye sockets. And they're especially worse when you stop walking, put your rifle in the shooting sticks to line up for a shot. They swarm you.

3) There's this book out there called "The Royal Showdown". I can't remember who wrote it, but it's a good reference guide on what to expect while there. JMO, but it wouldn't hurt to pick up a copy of it.

4) Be careful using the outhouse in the early morning. I had a snake crawl up the shaft with his sights set on clamping down on you know what, one morning as I was answering the call.

5) Brush up on your French and it wouldn't hurt to learn a little Sangho. Parlez Vous Francais?

6) Start walking 5 miles a day now in the hunting boots you plan to wear on safari. Find one of those New Mexico desert areas to walk in and also carry an eight pound stick over your shoulder as you walk.

7) Tonight when you go to sleep turn off your air conditioning in Roswell, so you condition yourself to getting rest when the room temperature is 80 degrees at night.

8 You'll be challenged many times along the hunt to not be fatigued by the elements while trying to maintain focus on making a perfect shot. It will be unlike any other challenges you've faced on safari.

9) Don't become discouraged if you go days without even seeing a Lord Derby Eland. They're not the kind of animals that hang out just off the road which you can shoot from the vehicle.

10) And finally on the way back to your vehicle from your five mile practice walk in the NM desert, don't drink any water. You'll have to get use to not having any in C.A.R. because you'll drink it all the first two miles of the daily stalk.

Good Luck.

Very helpful Moja, this is why AR is so valuable.

Thanks. I don't think CAR will be on the list anytime soon.

I agree with MOJA. Good advice Mark. My favorite memory of CAR ? Seeing it in my rearview mirror !
Not my favorite place.

Dave,
Other than Nchila, where and what is your favorite place?

Dogcat
Love my lower Zambezi of course, but if I had to do only one more hunt in Africa, and it is for the beauty as much as the hunting, I think the Maswa area in Tanzania would be where I watched my last African sunset. A magic spot for me.

Thks Sable Trail. Sounds like all good advice. My training program is my farm work. It was 107 on the thermo in the corn field today. I didn't have access to a hygro but I'd estimate 75%+ humidity in there. I've already bought myself a headnet.
Any other tips are welcome. Hablo Espanol pero no savy Francais. Oh well.

quote:

Originally posted by Dave Fulson:
I agree with MOJA. Good advice Mark. My favorite memory of CAR ? Seeing it in my rearview mirror !
Not my favorite place.

Ya, like Dave says CAR is not the most desirable location in Africa. Hunted there in 2007, and going back April 2011. Guess I'm just a slow learner!

quote:

Originally posted by Pancho:
I have a trip booked for Feb 2011. Just wondering/fantasizing how great it's gonna be? What problems did you encounter? What joys are there?

Hi
I have hunted Cameroon twice and CAR once (last year). As Giant Eland probably will be on your list the first and most important consideration will be good boots. In CAR you will regularly be crossing thru Bakos. This is rain forest belts and more often than not with a stream or swampy part. Crossing them will invariable get your boots wet. So boots used in dryer parts of Africa might not work. Of course you need to be in moderate to good shape as daily walks of 20-40 K are not uncommon. Usually you will catch up with the GE late in the day when you are exhausted, but it is imperil to have some energy left for the final approach. And if you don´t exceed the next day and the next day again. It took me 3 trips and endless walking before I got mine.
Game in CAR seems to be much more skittish than you are used to in other parts of Africa, this is especially true for buffalo. So you need to be mentally prepared to shoot very fast and often at animals that are partly covered by vegetation.
Lastly the Butt-Butt or Mopani flies are much more abundant than other places. Halting for a rest can be pure torture and even shooting can be difficult at times as they tend to land in your eyes. Bring a net you can pull over your head.
CAR is beyond explanation – for me it has been one of my greatest experiences

Good hunting

Carl Frederik

Everything I have read above backs up what I heard and use to believe all hunting in CAR was like. Adam and our clients have not found the hunting grueling with the people we represent now in CAR. There is NO poaching there and the game densities are quite high for a true wilderness area. You do of course have to walk but not the 20 plus Ks.

If a hunter is looking for a giant eland and does not feel he has to hunt CAR Cameroon can provide a great eland hunt with minimal walking. In fact our operator is 100% for I think 13 seasons in a row. I can promise you some of those clients were not doing much if any walking. I hunted there in '07. I saw 9 shooter bulls in 14 days and most were seen from the road. Yes! I walked because I wanted to but it was not necessary to be succssful. I guess the point is that to secure a Lord Derby you don't HAVE to bust your ass or be in marathon condition.

Mark

quote:

Originally posted by MARK H. YOUNG:
If a hunter is looking for a giant eland and does not feel he has to hunt CAR Cameroon can provide a great eland hunt with minimal walking. I can promise you some of those clients were not doing much if any walking.
Mark

Well Mark anything can be hunted from a truck or by sitting on a saltlick, but a Giant Eland deserves more than any to be hunted on foot.
I would not do it any other way.

Carl Frederik

Carl,

I think you misunderstand. I'm not in any way trying to diminish the expereinces you or anyone else has had while hunting the Lord Derby eland. I do think that folks need to know that all areas of CAR do not provide the same degree of difficulty in hunting eland. I also think somone with mobility issues might want to know that busting your butt is not a prerequisite to taking an eland. In areas of the Cameroon savanah Giant eland are common game. You will see them everyday and you will have an opportunity to take a mature bull regardless of your physical condition.

This is sort of like hunting elephant in a lot of Botswana were you spot and stalk them from the road. You can see their backs and you make several short walks each day to check out the ivory. To some a true tracking hunt such as you might have in the Zambesi valley is much more satisfying even if the ivory is much smaller. Different strokes!

Mark

i have to agree with mark, i to have hunted cameroon and while it does happen with minimal walking you can also walk your tail off it is just my opionion that there are alot of eland where mark is talking about. That does not diminish your trophy at all some times you get the bear sometimes he gets you.