HUNT DATES: 5 Jan-21 Jan

HUNT LOCATION: Faro River northern Cameroon

ANIMALS TAKEN: Giant eland, western kob, harnessed bushbuck and western hartebeest

ANIMALS HUNTED BUT NOT TAKEN: West African savannah buffalo and red flanked duiker

GAME PRESENT BUT NOT HUNTED: lion, elephant, baboon, waterbuck, bohor reedbuck, warthog, oribi

PH: Charles Dugas

BOOKING AGENT: Adam Clements Safari Trackers

Cameroon had always been in my mind as a place I really wanted to hunt but the expense of hunting there had kept it on the back burner. When Adam called in November and told me a client had cancelled for Jan '07 and would I like to pick up the discounted hunt for Giant eland I was all over it.

We started our travel on 1 Jan and arrived Douala Cameroon on the 3rd. The airport is a bustling place but Emile master of the meet and greet rounded up the luggage and guns and we were on our way to the Meridian hotel in about an hour. After a night's rest we chartered out to Garoua where Charles my PH and Pierre Guerrini the safari operator met us for the 2.5 hour drive to the hunting area.

That first Afternoon we just got settled into our very comfortable accommodations and checked the rifle's zero. They had a real benchrest, sandbags and printed targets which was a very nice touch.

Sadie and I were sharing the camp with another hunter and his friend who hunted with Pierre. This guy amazingly shot all the animals on license and was out of the camp on day 5. My hunt did not go quite the same.

We tracked eland everyday over some of the most challenging walking I've ever experienced. The trackers as always were phenominal at following the tracks under any conditions but we just could not catch a break. Everyday even if we caught the eland the wind would swirl, the bull would be not quite what we were looking for or something would happen to blow the stalk. Once we did get up on a huge bull but Charles was trying to show me the eland behind the other white tree that I was not looking at.

We did take a nice kob followed by a huge hartebeest and an ancient bushbuck but it was day 10 before it came together for the eland. As luck would have it after daily marches of upto 15 or more km we drove into some open grassland and there was a beautiful eland nibbling on some particularly tasty leaves on a litte tree about 300 yards out. On the other side of the tree are 3 other bulls who are already sliding into the bush but my eland wanted to finish his lunch which was lucky for me. I slipped out of the Land Cruiser got a good rest and let a 270 gr. TSX fly. The eland bolted but by the time I got back on him for a follow up shot he was down in a cloud of dust. There had been some long faces on the truck as time went on but now everybody was all smiles and singing.

We finished out the hunt by unsuccessfully chasing buffalo and those damn duikers around. We saw plenty of both but once again luck was not with us.

All in all this was a great safari not just because of the trophies but because we really hunted for everything and that was what I wanted. Also Faro West has all the bases covered. Transit in and out of the country is flawless, the camp is very comfortable, well run with truly excellent food and all the equipment is top condition.

The area itself surprised the heck out of me. I had no idea the eland would be so plentiful. I was told by people other than Adam that Pierre had the best eland area in Cameroon and I have to believe it. Even though we hunted hard we were on eland everyday and saw some almost on a daily basis. We saw 9 shootable bulls during the hunt with 3 being larger than miine. If you need a giant eland it would be hard for me imagine there is a better place.

A couple of things we found interesting there were the number of lions and the PH's lack of knowledge of flowers, trees, birds etc. We identified 13 seperate lions while on our hunt. They regularly came into camp and could be heard roaring most nights. I hadn't expected that. As for the PH he was not required to know all flora and fauna to get his license. Charlie was a very talented, hard working PH and I hope to hunt with him again but he only knew the most common birds and had not a clue on the flowers.

One final note for the gun nuts. I shot everything with a 375 H&H using the 270 gr TSX going right at 2700 fps. Seems to be an excellent all around bullet. I did not get full penetration on the eland with the bullet stopping in the off shoulder but I didn't expect to. Even at the extended range the TSX opened nicely and retained all its petals.

Oh! Air France was fine. No gun hassles, good service, on time flights, everyone was very friendly and helpful.

We laid over in Paris with our guns and only needed our 4457 to pack the artillery right to the hotel. How cool is that? And nobody blinked an eye aswe walked around with the gun case.


Western kob and the most common game. You can see hundreds each day.


Ancient harnessed bushbuck and an important trophy to me since I have 3 other varieties. I chose this old guy because his broken horn gives him great character.


Western hartebeest and the largest of the hartebeest family. This one will rank very high in the record books.


Giant or Lord Derby eland. This is a good one but larger are definitely there.

Mark:
Congrats on your hunt. Looks like a great LDE. Can't wait for the story to go along with the pictures.

It's about time you slacker. I assume you are whetting our appetite for the report!!!

Nice pictures -- now we just need a little story!

Congratulations Mark,

I talked to Pierre for a long time on the phone last Sunday. He told me you were impressed with the number of eland. We both are amazed at the increase in the number, it just gets better and better!

Like I tell everyone this is the BEST Lord Derby operation in the world.

Mike

Thanks for the story Mark. Sounds like a fine time had by all. The LDE is truly gorgeous. Sorry we missed connecting with you in Cody before you left. I hope your closing went fine.
Gary

Good stuff, Mark. Congrats!

Congratulations! I'm going to have to go after a LDE some day.

Congratulations, Mark. Nice trophies and a true adventure in west central Africa.

Kudos, Mark, on your successful central African safari!

Thanks for posting - and great photos, BTW!

Thanks for the story -- sounds like a good time indeed, even if the buff and duiker did not cooperate.

Also sounds like a good place for a lion hunt!

Congratulations! Great trophy and great report.

Kyler

Congratulations on a great hunt and thank you for an excellent report.

Regards
Aziz

just think how much more enjoyable it would have been if only your 375 had 2 barrels

Congratualtions Mark on the completion of your dream hunt, that is a fine LD Eland. Regards, Bill

Ok, you are no longer a slacker. Great report.

Just so everybody knows, Mark's Hartebeest may be number 4 or 5 in the world.

WAY TO GO MARK!!

John

Congratulations on a great hunt!! I'm off to Cameroon in about two weeks. I'm hunting in the Savannah with Mayo Oldiri for pretty much the same game as you.
Can you advise me on a couple of matters? Primarily, how was the weather? I've just now heard some horror stories about 100 degrees farenheit at noon. You guys don't appear to be sweltering which is good. Secondly, did you need a lot of bug spray and stuff? Thanks.

Finally, great report and (again) congrats! I'm even more excited now.

Gizmo

Gizmo,

It will be hot. They tell me after 15 February that there is not even a chill for the AM ride out. We were the first hunt of the season and your right it was quite comfortable with peak temps around 90 degrees and we usually did not hunt through the midday heat. Our camp was air conditioned and I could see on later hunts that this could be a real bonus. As for bugs the Faro River area has only a few tetses but something I never identified bit the Heck our of my feet. Nothing debilitating but the bites itched. I think I would take something topical just for bites if I went again. The best advise I can give you is to bring a good pair of boots with fairly stiff ankle support. Body Glide and a thin inner sock would be a good idea also. The walking is a real challenge and the terrain is much the same throughout the Cameroon savannah.

Mark

Great report, and congrats on some fine trophies.

Gizmo, I took my Derby during the month of March. My son and I had to wear a jacket during the morning ride but midday it was 115-118. We hunted several days to well past noon before taking a break. We didn't think it was very bad at all, but we are crazy.

Mike

Very nice Mark! Sorry after such a nice trip you came back a bit under the weather. Missed you in Reno, but as you know solidified things with Adam. I'll be in touch to discuss as time moves on...hope you're felling better.

Take care...and thanks for your help.

Gary
DRSS
NRA Lifer
SCI

Always enjoy the pictures. Well done and great report.

Beautiful Eland Mark. Well done.

Very nice animals and report Mark.

Mark, I am curious as to your estimation of the average time it took from death to salt for these animals. I would imagine that hair slip could be a problem with the high temperatures.

Congrats on some great trophies. Is the LDE bigger in body to the common eland found in Namibia or Zimbabwe. I believe all the others are the same species anyway!

Grafton,

I don't believe we ever were more than 1.5 hours from the time we shot the animals until they reached the skinning shed. Faro West has an excellent system of roads on the concession making it quite easy to get back with your trophies quickly. It wasn't all that hot when I was there but I imagine when it gets to 115+ that hair slippage becomes an issue.

reddy375,

I've heard different view points on eland body size. Boddington wrote that he thought a big Livingstone's eland would weigh as much as a Giant eland. The Cape eland I shot in Namibia was not as large as the Giant but I think one I saw in RSA was. Also the East African eland I took in Tanzania had to be nearly as big as the Giant. As for the different types of eland the difference between the Livingstone's and the East African is pretty fuzzy. Although I've been told the Masailand East African eland are supposed to be different.

Mark

The Lord Derby is no larger in body size than the other species. There is just individual differences. My Cape Eland from Namibia was larger than my Livingston and my Derby.

Mike

Congrats Mark! Great hunt and great report. Those LDEs really turn my crank, and yours is very nice.

Cheers,
Canuck

Mark,
Great Hunt and thanks for the report and pictures. What a pair of handle bars on your Western Kongoni. Truly a trophy animal.
Glad you are back and hopefully up to snuff.
Robert

Folks,

Thanks for all the kind words and I am feeling much better. I caught a terrific cold with laryngitis on the way home from Cameroon and was really ill in Reno. I hope I didn't infect too many folks I tried to talked to. It was pathetic as I was literally squeaking as I tried to talk to clients.

Anyway I thought of a couple of other things that might be of interest to anyone contemplating a Cameroon savannah safari. First I think a Giant eland safari offered by one operator may bear little resemblance to what is offer by another. I met a guy in Reno at SCI that had come in on the same flight with me from Paris to Douala on his way to hunt with another well known Cameroon operator. His safari had netted him a good bag but his total experience would have been a disaster in my book. Be careful when booking anything there.

The Harmattan is also an interesting phenomenon. We had it to some degree or other throughout our safari. This very fine dust blows in from Chad and can cause a very light haze in the sky to almost obscuring the sun and dropping visibilty like the equivalent of fog.

Nile perch and big tiger fish are available in the Faro River. I would next time bring my own tackle as the previous group had decimated the lure supply, trace and wrecked a rod. For a hunter finishing early this might be worth making a plan for as the perch can go over a hundred pounds and the tigers are just wild.

As this hunt was put on by Frenchmen the whole experience had a slightly differnet flavor than what my previous safaris had. Nothing was a problem but it was different. It was also interesting to have the PH relate the French and European sport hunter's view of US hunters. It's not flattering as they see us as fat, lazy, more than willing to kill everything from the truck and being more interested in SCI scores than the hunt itself. I find this a litte disturbing because regardless of whether this perception is right or wrong it is how we are seen and only we can change that.

Mark

Great full report, congrats on a Fine hunt, love the eland

What a great hunt and it is nice to see that everything, including airline experience and transit in Paris, went without a hitch. It is reassuring to me that I am not the only one who has never had a problem going through Paris airports with a rifle.