Beau and I are considering Bongo and Forest Buff in Cameroon for our 2017 safari.

I would like to hear from those with experience hunting this species in the rain forest. I have my own theories and a good understanding of the conditions, but would be interested in the opinions of those who have done.

We both have 500NE DRs and 458B&M rifles and lesser DG calibers available to us.

Mike when our clients where coming for forest hunts in CAR (few decades ago) wished a really shorty and handy 458b&m was available, there is chance you will be able to get only one shot ...

good luck on your hunt.

Phil

The wonderful Rainer Joesch safari DVD about Cameroon the couple use a 375 and a 500 NE.

It is the lady holding the 500 NE most of the time.

Both rifles were scoped.

They take a good variety of duikers, pigs, buffalo and a bongo with both rifles. 500 Ne would be more dramatic, but more of a pain in the ass.

I think based on my limited experience hunting sambar in the very thick regions of Australia that a scoped rifle would be preferred. As it helps to direct your eye to the target and makes apparent a branch or something in the way that would be missed with sights.

Are Bongo that hard to kill?

It might be a great place for a Marlin 18" barrel in 45-70.

In the rain forest a stainless steel, composite stock .375 H&H would work as well.

What about a 9,3x62 with 20" barrel and 320grain Woodleigh softs?

quote:

Originally posted by jaegerfrank:
What about a 9,3x62 with 20" barrel and 320grain Woodleigh softs?

Yup - make it a Blaser R8 Synthetic Stock with either a low power scope or an Aimpoint Red dot. Semi-weight or standard profile barrel.

Perfect!

.
Agree 9,3x62 or .375 with a synthetic stock! Leave the Wood at home. Plus a 12 bore for small stuff inc duikers.


My 2 cents
.

Actually I have the R8 Professionell and a Zeiss 1,5-6x42 illuminated is mounted. It is a neat package.

Thanks for the replies. Clearly, some are not familiar with the shooting conditions, which is why I asked for input from those who have hunted the Bongo in the rain forest. Here are some guidelines:

Rain daily - damp to wet always
Temp 70-80F during the day
Very thick green jungle/forest
Shots at 7-12 yards
Animals will be partially hidden in forest
Large bull Bongo may go 450-550 pounds
One shot only as they will disappear
immediately into the thick if not dropped
Heavy solids and large caliber as shooting
through brush likely and need to knock
them down is critical

I am leaning towards my SS 458B&M with synthetic or laminated stock. Short (20"bbl on mine & 19" on Beau's), light weight and maneuverable in thick bush. Considering the CEB #13 solid in either 420 or 325 grain weight. Total overall length is about same as our 500NE DR, but lighter weight I will be removing my scope and will replace it with a red dot.

A camp shotgun should be available for Duikers, or I will take my own.

I am also considering using my S&W 500 revolver for both Bongo and Forest Buff, but need to determine legality. I have taken Cape Buff with it, so know it is enough gun for the conditions.

Sounds like you are on the right track with caliber and rifle.
If rain is a concern I would take what ever red dot you choose and take it in the rain or under the sprinkler and see if water on the glass will be a problem

OP I think you would do well with the .458 B&M as medved said way back at the start. In that situation, with the close shots in thick cover, and hunting buffalo...... better off with a cartridge that has some thump. I suppose you could also run into a grumpy forest elephant from time to time as well.

With the weather conditions I just could not bring myself to use a nice double. I know others would, but I simply could not.

My choices if two guys were going would be a Searcy Stainless 470 NE DR, a stainless Marlin Guide Gun in 45/70, and a 12 ga. The Marlin would be equipped with XS ghost ring sights and an Aimpoint T1 and the DR would have a Trigi on RMR with a 3moa dot.

@ lionhunter: I think you have the 100% setup for your hunt.

The short B&M rifles seem to be made for this type of hunt. That being said, you seem to have things covered with your current rifles.

Sid, where have you been?

Rainforest is a tough environment, on the hunter too!

I would have it cerakoted (or similar) even if stainless steel. Maybe also a bore coat. And check all the parts that may not be stainless and/or coated.

Good hunting. Look forward to reading your hunt report.

Cheers, Chris

quote:

Originally posted by Biebs:
Sid, where have you been?

Life got way too busy for a while moving across the country 4 times. Shoulder surgery and some medical issues plus time overseas didn't help either. I'm just starting to work up to shooting my rifles again.

Shoulder surgery was a real downer for the rifles. The good news is I'm on the path to recovery so, I'm working back up to my favorite rifles again.

Harald Wolf built a 458 with a laminate stock for a rainforest hunt. I don't have a copy of the Hatari Times, but it is featured a couple of times in other issues.

I can't imagine a better rifle. A double rifle from 9.3 to 500 would be a great option if it had short barrels, and was more portable.

my choice is a 9.3x74 double

quote:

my choice is a 9.3x74 double

Does Mossberg make double rifles? :-)

Bongo are hard to kill I suppose, but mostly they are hard to hunt, and need to be put down quick, shots can be long in thick brusy mountain country as you often have to shoot from one side of a canyon to the other and on occasion right up close at a fleeing Bongo..Of course it depends on where your hunting them.

My choice would be a .338 Win., 300 Wby, or my 300 H&H with 200 gr.Noslers or Woodleighs at 3000 FPS. A .375 would be another good bet with the 250 gr. monolithic GS Customs or Barnes bullets or even a 270 gr. cup and core.

Dunno for sure.

I am doing this next year, and I have a complex against stainless and synthetic.

Right now it's a .375 H&H Dakota, a .416 Rigby Dakota, a .470 NE double in the mix.

The only stainless guns I have is a .300 win mag M70 and a JP CTR 02 .223 AR type.

Maybe I should borrow Butch's 9.3 so I don't have to worry about cleaning it?

Ray, that may be true in Kenya, but in Cameroon there are no cross canyon shots.

quote:

Originally posted by crbutler:
Ray, that may be true in Kenya, but in Cameroon there are no cross canyon shots.

when was the last bongo taken in Kenya ...?

quote:

Originally posted by medved:

quote:

Originally posted by crbutler:
Ray, that may be true in Kenya, but in Cameroon there are no cross canyon shots.

when was the last bongo taken in Kenya ...?

In the 70's.

Mike,
I've changed my mind. Just take a knife and while wearing a loin cloth, stab it to death!!!

quote:

Originally posted by Idaho Sharpshooter:
Are Bongo that hard to kill?

It might be a great place for a Marlin 18" barrel in 45-70.

My question as well. It's a rotund antelope and critically endangered but if I had a need to shoot one, seems a SS lever gun would be ideal. That's what we carry on a Myakka stalk down south.

quote:

Originally posted by crbutler:

quote:

Originally posted by medved:

quote:

Originally posted by crbutler:
Ray, that may be true in Kenya, but in Cameroon there are no cross canyon shots.

when was the last bongo taken in Kenya ...?

In the 70's.

thanks a lot.

well a good reason hunting evolved ... lol

for sure mountain bongo and forest bongo has not that much to share on hunting conditions ....

quote:

Originally posted by pagosawingnut:
Mike,
I've changed my mind. Just take a knife and while wearing a loin cloth, stab it to death!!!

dont laugh: be sure you tell the staff you do it that way ... you will love the work done by the dogs ....

M

I believe a short barreled lever-action in 45/70 that could handle full powered loads would work.

Mjines and I are headed over to Cameroon to hunt bongo and forest elephant with Mayo Oldiri in April of 2017. We are planning on taking our .404 Jeffrey's. Mine is a Hill Country Rifles gun built on a M70 action, 22" PacNor barrel, McMillan stock with all of the metal cerakoted and a 2.5x8 Zeiss scope in Talley detachables. That way we can both use the same ammo, have weatherproofed rifles, and pull scopes if needed in the thick stuff.

Sounds like weatherproof, handy and heavy firepower are the name of the game in the jungle.

. . . mine is built on a M70 action with a McMillan synthetic stock, NECG front and rear sights with Talley bases and rings. Stainless barrel with blued hardware.

The older style Ruger Alaskan in stainless with the Hogue stock in 375 Ruger might be just the ticket, with its 20" barrel and a red dot or Holo sight. .

One of the sadly neglected rifles I brought home from Kenya Bunduki, a prominent gun store in Nairobi, was a commercial Mauser sporter, which I believe was chambered for 9.3X62. At any rate, the bore was beyond rescue, so I sent the barreled action to Bill Atkinson in Phoenex and had it rebored to .458 and chambered for the .458 Winchester Magnum. Years later I started playing with the rifle again and noticed problems with the cartridge feed, so I sent the rifle to Lon Paul and asked him to try to correct it. Unfortunately, it was in Lon's safe when his shop burned and the barrel is a total loss. Whether the action can be saved is a matter of conjecture.

At any rate, the rifle resembled superficially another Mauser sporter by Westley Richards, which illustrates what I think would be an ideal rifle for the conditions in Cameroon. When I obtained is some years ago it was an 8X57 with an iffy bore. I had it rebored to .358 and chambered for the 9X57 cartridge. I then sent the rifle to Lon Paul for a rehabilitation, which he carried out to perfection. Here is the rifle, after the stock had been refinished, but before the barrel and action had been blued:



The rifle was subsequently fitted with a Lyman 35 receiver sight and so equipped sits in my gun case. In virtually all respects, except for caliber, it represents my idea of the ideal rifle for the conditions in a rain forest.

xausa- You sure do have some interesting rifles and stories to go with them. Thanks for sharing.

Mike,

I don't think you have a rifle that will be suited to that application. I think you may have to buy a new one.

Russ & Mike J,

You are certainly thinking correctly in your weapon selection, especially choosing the same caliber. Beau and I will be doing the same with our 458B&M carbines built on M70 WSM actions. Going for the heavier CEB #13 450gr. solids, which have performed very well for each of us in the past. We will be replacing our Leupold 1-6x scopes with the Vortex Venom 3MOA red-dots.

Even though mine is SS, I plan on applying a decent coat of wax before we depart. It is possible that we will be hunting with Mayo Oldiri immediately prior to the start of your hunt, and perhaps from the same two camps. Much to discuss with MO at SCI.

Thanks for your input and best of luck for your hunt.