Thinking about hunting forest for bongo and dwarf forest elephant. Timeframe May 16 to June 1 with Mayo Oldiri Safaris. Any advice or comments? Had a great elephant hunt in Botswana and everyone says I'll get ivory back.

I hope you do from Botswana, but I don't think there's a chance in hell you'd get the ivory back from a forest elephant. Defer to those who know more about it than I do, but just my take. Good luck with the hunt. Sounds awesome.

I'm well aware of no ivory importation from Cameroon. I'm just after bongo and dwarf forest buffalo. Maybe a duiker or two. Want to try some fishing if I'm successful early. The outfit seems to be top notch but I do a lot of pre trip checking.

Tough hunt. We saw ele's on ours but was not hunting them. I would plan for 3 weeks if ele is your primary. Bongo is relatively straight forward if you get plenty of rain. Hunt duikers as the pygmies do a great job of calling them. Very fun.
Sitatunga is very hard. Forest hog is hard. Forest buff is hard but if you are hunting ele's you may bump into them.
May want to watch Peter Flack's DVD on this type of hunt. It is an eye opener.

This is a tough hunt mentally. Lots of green and not a lot animals to see.
Pick a calm outfitter and PH. Mayo Oldiri has a good reputation.

Sorry, your initial post said forest elephant.

Mike Jines and I did this hunt a couple of years ago with Mayo Oldiri and PH Herve Houbedine. It was a neat experience and like others said before, compared to hunting the plains in Africa, the forest hunting is unique in that you won't see a lot of game, but some interesting animals like chimps and gorillas. Humid, not really hot, but little breeze and 80 degree temps kept it sweaty. We were hunting bongo and Forest Elephant. Hunting with the pygmies and their dogs ups the odds to get a bongo. The bongo came on the third day, which left eleven days for elephant. We got close several times. In the thick of them once, but never connected on a bull. Still the jungle didn't disappoint for adventure. Book and have fun...

I can’t speak specifically to Cameroon or Mayo Oldiri. But as for a forest safari…I highly recommend it!

My forest safari was just across the border in the north of Congo-Brazzaville a few years back. I was lucky enough to take bongo and forest sitatunga. We had a blast calling in duikers despite my poor shotgunning performance. As others have said, do not go there expecting to see abundant game. Rather, go there open minded for the adventure. Take in the sights, sounds, and the pygmies. The ant bites, scratches, and constant state of dampness are all part of it too. The constellation of all these factors make a forest safari a most wonderful experience!

I was a little slow on booking with Mayo Oldiri so I booked with Club Faune for Bongo and Dwarf Forest Buffalo for May 15

If I were going to hunt in Cameroon again, whether in the savanna or the forest, there is only one outfitter I would consider.

Club Faune.

NOT Mayo Oldiri.

You made the right choice, even though it was forced upon you.

Congrats on booking your forest safari! It will be an adventure for sure. Enjoy and good luck!