06 March 2014, 07:35
AndreCBurkina Faso with Arjun Reddy of Hunters Networks
TO BE UPDATED OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS…Outfitter: Arjun Reddy of Hunters Networks
Rifle Used: 416 Rem Mag, 338 Win Mag
Animals Hunted: Buffalo, Roan, Waterbuck, Bushbuck, Cob, Oribi, Francolin
Animals Seen but not hunted: Elephant, lion, hyena, cob, Hartebeest, warthog, duiker, baboon
I have been home approximately a week now after spending a glorious nine days in Burkina Faso. The whole experience surpassed all my expectations and I’m so glad that I made the trip. I had a lot going on at home and work and it took me several days to get into the groove, but once I did I enjoyed myself thoroughly. The one thing that amazed me was the amount of game we saw on a daily basis. The hunting concession is only 10 minutes out of camp and we saw, elephant, lion, buffalo and hyena tracks just outside camp daily. On the first night we heard a lion roaring very close to camp and that’s when I knew I was in wild Africa. We often bumped into herds of elephants while tracking buffalo which required us to carefully and quietly retreat or change direction. Most of these herds were made up of cows with calves and they are known to be very cheeky.
The Camp was extremely comfortable as you’ll see from the following pictures. Each hunter had their own traditional thatched roof rondavel with AC and attached bathroom. The common area was made up of the bar, dining room and pool. This is where we relaxed after our hunt to sip cocktails and to have our meals. Speaking of meals…the food was fantastic and I went home four pounds heavier. The highlight as it relates to food was the buffalo fondue and buffalo fillet with mashed potatoes. I’m not sure what the Chef Pierre did with those potatoes but it was magical.
Do you recognize any AR members?
My hunting crew was made up of a driver, forest department game scout, interpreter, and PH. Since French is one of the main languages spoken in camp and I only speak English having an interpreter was essential to good communication while hunting. The PH’s in Burkina Faso aren’t up to the caliber you’d find in places like in Zimbabwe, Namibia, Tanzania, etc. but they are excellent at getting you on the animals you are hunting. They are also fantastic trackers and I was blown away at their ability to follow and track game. I was especially impressed with the work ethic of all the staff and found them to be very eager to meet the hunters’ needs.
There is one major landmark in the hunting concession which is a huge rocky outcropping called Pagou. This is some sort of sacred place where the local villagers come to sacrifice chickens on Sundays. Pagou seemed to bring me luck, because it was in the shadow of Pagou that I was successful in harvesting several of my trophies. The first was my Roan which was shot on the evening of day three. He was a very old bull with worn down horns and solid mass. The second was a very nice waterbuck which was shot towards the end of the safari very close to where I shot the roan.
The harnessed bushbuck is one of the most spectacular animals in western Africa and I was lucky to have come across this guy that measured 12.5”.
My buffalo experience was the only slight disappointment. On day two we followed some fresh tracks and after following the herd for several hours and one busted stalk we managed to catch up to the herd. It all came together very quickly and the sticks were thrown up and I was instructed to shoot the first buffalo in the herd. I was using a Sako 416 Rem Mag and made a solid heart shot and the animal made the typical rear leg kick. The heard took of and it wasn’t long before the dust settled and we saw my buffalo standing looking very sick about 100 yards from the initial shot. I made two more shots and the buff was down. However, when we walked up there seemed to be some unhappy expressions on the PH’s face…the bull was actually a cow. It appears that as I got ready to shoot another animal moved ahead of the bull and I shot the wrong animal. I wish I could have taken my time to make sure I had the right shot but in the end I had my first buffalo. When we got the buff to the skinning shed none of the Swift A Frame’s had exited and all the bullets were recovered.
After I was finished hunting I had a few days to enjoy hunting with a few other hunters in camp and partake in the hunting experience as an observer. I just enjoy the hunting experience and sometimes it’s just as much fun to be in the background as it is to be the hunter. One morning we hunted buffalo and after following some fresh tracks we were able to catch up to a very large herd. The herd split into two groups, the first moved away quickly while the second group decided to take a nap 100 yards away from us. We patiently waited to find a good bull and found this beautiful red Burkina bull.
On the second to last evening I along with Arjun Reddy decided to join one of the hunters in camp that was hunting lion at the fly camp that was located about 40K from camp. We had a very relaxing evening under the stars. The one thing that still sticks out in my mind was the fact that we still had salad and an amazing dinner served on regular china. I’m still not sure how the chef prepared that meal…it was awesome. The next morning while returning to camp we cam across a very nice roan which Arjun decided he couldn’t pass up and after a short stalk made a great shot.
I was able to test my shotgun skills on petit chasse (birds) a few time during the safari which was a nice relaxing way to spend an afternoon.
Here are a few pic's of the local Burkina countryside.
