Dates- 23 March- 10 April

Outfitter: Cam Greig
Rifle: Weartherby in .375 H%H
location: northern Cameroon near Ngaoundere( hereafter called NG)- i think it was zone 10

WARNING: this is NOT your usual body count hunt report because this was not your usual safari.i will be somewhat detailed in the description of day to day happenings simply because that is what made this more of an adventure and less of a "got there- shot this" narrative. if you only want pure hunt details, scroll down and look for a picture of something dead. also because ii am the world's slowest typist, this report will be filed over several days. if this all intrigues you, by all means read on and hopefully enjoy.

Day 1-2 off on time from home but things quickly went south. my flight from SLC was 3 hours late leaving( Delta=Delay Every Last Time- ALWAYS).it meant i had to overnight in Paris, then catch a flight on Air France( hereafter known as Aw F--ked) to Yaounde via Bangui, CAR. so i have already 1 day of the trip.

Day 3- i was the first person in line early AM and checked my 2 bags- which contained literally EVERYTHING need for a DIY hunt- food, hammock, first aid, plate, cup, knife, clothes. you get the picture. 2 hours out of Bangui i happened to look at my luggage claim checks. imagine my surprise when i see someone else's name and a Bangui destination!. i immediately talked to the head cabin steward and showed him the problem. i asked that hue radio ahead and be sure my bags DID NOT LEAVE THE PLANE! oiu, monsieur, i will that it iix done. 30 minutes out i went back to the same jerk and asked if he had made the call. oui monsieur, i have personally seen to it . no problem. well, you can guess the rest. no luggage/gear for the entire hunt( and it is still MIA 3 weeks later). merci Aw Fu-ked. as an aside, the safety issue of hunting CAR was raised a while back and several people here seemed to indicate that it might be OK. trust me, from what i saw flying into Bangui( heavy UN peacekeeper presence and huge refugee camps all around the airport), i wouldn't go there if they paid me.
on arrival in Yaounde(hereafter NSI- airport code), it took over an hour to file a lost luggage report- in French of course, which i don't speak. went to the hotel and met Brian in the bar , then collapsed. Brian had arrived on time the day before and hung out in NSI waiting for me to catch up.thanks again DELAY and Aw F--ked
view from hotel bar of downtown.



Day4. shopped for a few clothes. luckily i wore my hunting boots and a pair of kaki pants, so i bought another pair of pants( way too big) and a tan shirt( marked XXL but actually a small- i wear a medium). this 3 items and a borrowed Texas Tech Red Raiders T shirt were my wardrobe for the next 12 days. off to the train station about 4 PM to catch the 6 PM train north. we sat in a little bar/shabeen across from the station drinking warm Castle with all the locals until departure. train left on time and we( myself, Brian, and Daniel Sodea-Cam's in country trail boss) shared a 4 bed sleeper with a stranger. dinner early in the restaurant/bar( which sold no alcohol), then tried to get some sleep. not easy to do during a 16+ hour train ride that stops about every 30-45 minutes.
Day 5- we arrive about 11AM and go to Daniel's house for a few hours of R&R. leave again about 2, make a few stops for supplies, then head to the jumping off point in the mountains. 1 hour out of town, the Hilux looses it's brakes. 2 hours later after much morning with the master cylinder, only partial success. Daniel hitchhiked back to town and returned after dark with Land Cruiser SUV. reloaded all the gear, then drove 4 hours to the village. pitched a temp camp and prepared for early AM departure on foot into the mountains.
loaded down truck just prior to departure. you can see where Cameroon gets some of it's fuel




Day 6. up early, the porter drift over and the load packing began. each guy( and the cook- Daniel's wife, Howa) each carried about 50 lbs of stuff.



it was about a 6 mile uphill walk that took about 6 hours to get to campsite- frequent rest stops for the tired white dudes...the guys set things up quickly( wasn't much to do- just string up 2 hammocks and spread a few tarps). Daniel loaned me an old hammock. no mosquito net but beggars can
t be choosers. my 2 trackers( Jonas and Remi) were keen to start hunting so about 3 PM, off we went- straight up more mountains. the altitude was low( 3500 at camp and topping out at 4200') but the gradients were steep- 10-45+ degrees, very rocky and fairly heavily forested. we covered about 3-4 miles in a large circle. saw an eland bull about 125 yards away but we spotted each other at the same time and he ran off through the trees. no shot. back in camp at dark, quick supper, off to "bed". i had severe leg cramps all night and spent most of it in and out of the hammock trying to walk them off.all my electrolyte replacement was in mmy lost bags. even though i was drinking 1 1/2-2 gallons of water a day, without salt replacement( especially K+), i had such leg and arm cramps for the first 5 days that i got a total of maybe 8-9 hours sleep.
our hammocks under the plastic. it showered a few times but mostly was hot( 92-95F) and dry



Day 7. up and out at 6AM. found a lot of fresh eland tracks and dung and followed them. saw a number of red and green duikers which the trackers said i could shoot for camp meat free but i didn't want to disturb the area. saw 2 bushbuck rams( 1 a shooter) but again i passed. we took a 4 hour mid day break by a mountain spring( it was way too hot for game to be moving), then cranked up again about 2:30. an hour later while moving along a ridge we saw 2 eland cows coming down the opposite hill into a ravine below us. we hunkered down, they crossed, through the brush and stopped about 40 yards from us in the open. a minute later, a massive bull with a thick black neck/face and huge horns comes down the hill following the cows. he was just about to break out of the brushy ravine 50 yards away when the cows finally spooked and ran, taking him with the. if the damned cows had waited even 5 seconds, i would have had an easy 40 yard shot. oh well..... i have to say though, that bull was maybe the most magnificent, regal animal i have ever seen.
some of the terrain



Day 8-same routine. off at 6 AM, make a 3-4 mile hike out, rest, then hike back. about 9 this AM, while tracking an eland bull( screaming fresh sign) we bumped a lone young buffalo bull. forget the eland, a new game is afoot. we tracked him back to his herd and slipped up to about 75 yards away with them heading peacefully in a brush ravine at a steep angle below us. as they were feeding uphill towards us, we just sat and waited, while picking out the best bull. they decided to bed down for a while, so we pulled back off the ridge and dropped down to come out at a level closer to them. again we picked out the best bull. luckily he was 2 toned in color- black on the front and red behind the ribs. as we sat, i watched 1 old solid black cow turn and look me right in the eye. i tapped Remi and pointed. he nodded and we figured things were about to et interesting- and they did. she jumped off and took off running down the ravine, taking the herd of 12-14 with her.luckily the bull was well below her and somewhat in the clear. finding him in the scope was made easier because of his color. a snap shot at a steep down hill angle going away took him high through the left lung and exited his right lower neck in front of his R shoulder. big dust cloud beyond him was encouraging. we baled off down the 30 degree slope on a dead run trying to catch him in a opening in the trees. how i didn't break my neck i will never know. i pulled up at a spot where i had a slight opening in the trees. sure enough in a few seconds he came barreling through. another snap shot at a going away target broke his left hip and continued forward. another mad dash 75 yards downhill and pull up again. this time when he passed through the opening he was going much slower. another raking shot, this time from the R and another lung down and exit the neck. another dash to the bottom of the ravine. we looked for blood where he had to have exited the brush and found none. OKEY DOKEY!! the old boy was somewhere above. a quick walk up the ravine found him stone dead, laying in a rock pile. i love it when a plan comes together. as the pictures show he was an old bull but in good condition. hardest trophy i ever got and i feel it was well earned. we caped him, completely cut him up and hung all the meat in trees, except for the backstraps and loins. by then it was 11AM and smoking hot, so found a shady spring, waited for 4 hours, then headed back to camp carrying the head, cape, and backstraps/loins. there were some REALLY happy porters when we showed up with fresh meat. Brian and i ate part of the fillets with pasta- delicious.
where we found him. you can see the frothy entrance wound from the first shot



the crew- Teodure( water carrier), Remi and Jonas


the old white guy





More to come but it has taken me 3 hours to get to here and that's enough for now. ENJOY,I hope

Big congrats on a well-deserved buff. Well done! Must have been an incredible adventure

You are the man Jerry, congrats on an amazing accomplishment.

One word Jerry....R-E-S-P-E-C-T.....EXCELLENT sir

Wow - Jerry this is amazing stuff.

Mike

Jerry fantastic! When one hunts by one's self a trophy harvested is really earned.
Looking forward to more.

Thanks,

Mike

I'm glued to my iPad! The detail is great.

I have questions but I'll hold them.

Looking forward to the next installment!

i will be happy to answer questions- i just didn't feel like spending another 3 hours getting the whole thing done at 1 sitting.

Outstanding so far!

well written and great adventure.

always a lovely taste of Africa with Mpoko airport, never changed ...

Ok...was your original flight via Bangui, or was this due to the delay, and perhaps infrequent flights from Paris to Cameroon? Did you happen to notice if Air Cameroon was still flying?

Why did you fly into Yaounde and not Garoua which is in northern Cameroon, is this where Cam's hunts originate from?

Did you use a loaner rifle, or did yours make it? If a loaner, was it a good setup? Ammo? If yours, how did the layover in Paris go and what was it like getting it through CAR?

Shame about the lost gear, you probably spent months getting it organized. What was in your carry-on?

Again, awesome adventure, looking fwd to the rest!

quote:

Originally posted by Bill C:
Ok...was your original flight via Bangui, or was this due to the delay, and perhaps infrequent flights from Paris to Cameroon? Did you happen to notice if Air Cameroon was still flying?

Why did you fly into Yaounde and not Garoua which is in northern Cameroon, is this where Cam's hunts originate from?

Did you use a loaner rifle, or did yours make it? If a loaner, was it a good setup? Ammo? If yours, how did the layover in Paris go and what was it like getting it through CAR?

Shame about the lost gear, you probably spent months getting it organized. What was in your carry-on?

Again, awesome adventure, looking fwd to the rest!

original flight was direct CDG to NSI. the next day, all that was available was via Bangui.Air Cameroon ( AKA Air Cancellation) is a joke. on the departure board at NSI the night we flew home, all the Air Cam flights were cancelled( which seems to be the norm).as far as i know, there are no international flights from Europe into Garoua. its Duoala or Yaounde only. i used a loaner rifle( Cam has several, all in .375) with a Leopold 1.5x6 scope. it is difficult to get a rifle import permit( and expensive). i quit taking my own rifle 7 safaris ago. makes life easier. i have no idea what the ammo was except it was 300 gr softs( Brian brought the ammo, i brought the food- that certainly worked well, eh...). i am really pissed about the $1500+ worth of lost luggage/equipment. hell, i didn't even have a hat. i wore my boots( thank God) and carried a change of travel clothes(blue and white Hathaway shirts really don't work for hunting) my binocs, cameras, and malaria meds, all in a small backpack.thanks again Aw Fu--ed for gross negligence, stupidity and incompetence.

Awesome pics, looks like it was a lot of fun even with all the craziness

Reading this with much interest...sounds like you had quite the adventure, so far, which is why we do these types of hunts...love the buff, terrific bull.

Incredible with the eland, so close, i wonder if it was one of the big bulls we tried very hard to find fresh marks of...you didn't happen to grab my tc off the tree over the buffalo wallow did you?

Well done, on surviving and living it..its a bumpy ride, but who would want it any other way..

b

Dang I am jealous! Seeing Remi with that big smile brings back memories. I have said that he is one of my favorite people, and seeing that photo reminds me why.

I'm sorry about your luttgage. That is the pits.

As to Bills question about the rifle: It is a SS weatherby in 375H&H with a 1.5x5 Leupold in (very solid) Warne mounts. I actually had the opportunity to load for and shoot the rifle here in the states. It is a solid rifle and functioned perfectly when I used it in Cameroon two years ago. Cam is not a rifle nut, but he deffinetly keeps a few solid hunting rifles "in stock". You really can't immagine the lengths he goes to to keep good hunting rifles available.

thats a old warrior! Lovely

More! more!

Dam Jerry you are hardcore.

As you stated, travelling in your hunting boots really saved you ass.

Cant wait to read the rest of the story.

Great adventure. Congratulations on an excellent hunt. Can't wait to read the rest.

Jerry,

This is a great report and I don't mind admitting this would not be my cup of tea. I second that "You the man".

Since you were hunting on foot it would seem there was quite a bit of game where you were. Considering the buff you shot and the eland you described there also seemed to be some very nice trophies there.

I felt your pain about loosing all your gear. In this circumstance it had to be particularly bad.

Mark

Well done Jerry and in Africa we call that hunting.

Great buff and refreshing report.

Awesome first installment!

Nice first installment!

Very good. I just love those western buffalo


Good hunting
cf

Wow!!

Well done Jerry!!!

Love that bushbuck! Reading your report sure brings back memories of my adventure in Northern Cameroon. For that I thank you.

Life is about collecting stories, and you have a good one. My hat is off to you...Congrats.

Well done Jerry!! I've been eying up this hunt for some time and this makes me want to do it even more.

I will echo the "hardcore" comment Jerry. No equipment on a DIY hunt and you have to improvise... bloody tough going! And I see why you called that a forest buff at first. He has a classic bush cow look to him. Those savannah buff come in various horn configurations and colors. Really like that one. A true trophy!

I was waiting for this report. Sound like quite the adventure. Looks like a great old bull.

Hunt Report- Part 2
Day 9 the porters and Jonas left early to go to the kill site and retrieve the meat. they didn't return until about 3 PM and i just took it easy in camp. they seemed to be gone longer than i expected but when they got back, i saw why. they had completely cut up the meat and partially smoked and dried it on the spot to lighten their loads coming home. the entire buff was in small lots, which they had strapped together with bark ropes and carried on their heads. they even saved all the hide and feet/hooves. as soon as they got in they built drying racks over several fires and proceeded to Finnish the smoking. i figured Jonas would be tired and done for the day. no such luck for the old man. he asked Remi( who stayed in camp) when were we leaving for the afternoon hunt?? bear in mind it was about a 7 mile round trip to the kill site over steep terrain. i couldn't very well let these 2 keen hunters down, so off we went. we covered about 4 miles in a big circle through an area we hand
t hunted before but all we saw were female duikers and bushbuck, plus lots of fresh eland tracks but no eland. this is what the guys brought back and the way it was prepared to take out the next day





Day 10- up early to break camp and start the trek back to the village- about 6-7 miles


we arrived back about 11AM and the meat distribution and tipping process was concluded. or ride to the next hunting destination picked us up about 3PM. this is an old poachers handmade muzzle loader they showed us in the village


it was about a 5+ hour drive over the worst dirt roads i have ever seen to the river camp near King City. we arrived well after dark, threw our stuff in the huts( yes we actually had individual huts, beds, toilet and shower), ate a bit of supper and crashed. it was like being in heaven although hot enough to be in hell. infact, the next day we had the guys move our beds outside and rig mosquito nets over them.
view from the eating area to the river



Day11- out early. we had the truck take us about a mile from camp and drop us- then we simply walked into the bush looking for game. found a lot of fresh roan and a few buffalo tracks but never could close on them. it was easy walking here ( flat to slightly rolling terrain) but much hotter and more humid than in the mountains. by 10:30 we were back in camp after a 4 mile walk about. we saw a number of different small stuff( red and green duikers, oribi, reedbuck, kob) but no shootable males. midday temps were 95-100F. out again about 3:30 for another 3-4 miles but same result. we found a few old poachers camps and small snares.
Day 12 stared out like the day before but today we crossed the river and headed into the low hills there. we were following some really fresh roan tacked( with dung that was still wet) when we caught a herd of kob unaware. the old bird in the hand dilemma came to mind and i elected to shoot one, realizing the roan would bugger off. i could barely see the chest of the one the trackers said was the best one but i took them at their word and let fly. he immediately disappeared and we went to where he was standing. no blood at all. we cast about and i was actually the first to spot a few drops about 10 yards away. just a tracking job now and 10 minutes later we found him, about 75 yards from were i shot. the bullet had pulverized his near shoulder and exited through a fist size hole in his offside chest. in spite of the massive wound channel, he had left VERY little blood trail.




loaded and ready for the 3 mile hike back across the river to camp.



Day 13 very interesting day. same routine( out on foot after the truck dropped us a couple miles from camp). trekking/tracking( lots of fresh roan tracks but can't catch the bugger that made them). we found a recently tripped snare/log trap that had caught a kob and proceeded to follow the poachers tracks.we topped a rise just as hue topped the same rise coming toward us- we iterally walked into each other. Remi and Ennis started screaming at him in whatever tribal language to get on the ground. e played dumb, so they proceeded to knock him down and kick him. he quickly got more cooperative. we tried to track him back to his meat cache but lost his trail. he had fresh blood on his pants and shirt, as well as the usual poachers tools- ax, spear, machete, dagger and meat sack, plus a water jug and a small bag of crushed peanuts. we tied his hands behind his back, made him carry his water jug and we carried to armament. a good 3 mile walk back to camp. once there, he was handcuffed and thrown in what amounted to a small sweat box. it had to be 115-120 in there during midday. he spent 2 full days there and was let out for several hours a day and made to drake leaves with leg cuffs on. Remi said he was looking at 2 years minimum in prison.





"jail" cell on the left side


we went out in the afternoon late to try to catch a red river hog in some wallows down the river. no luck with that but we did see a very fine bushbuck ram- which i proceeded to miss x2!!! ouch. he was maybe 125 yards away, broadside, and both offhand shots sailed just over his back. no excuses- just piss poor shooting. oh well, my lucky streak had to end.
my entire hunting kit. i guess it gives new meaning to traveling light



Day 14 same pattern. about 2 hours and 2 miles into the walk about we were on fresh roan tracks and things looked good. we topped a small rise and about 125 yards away stood a really nice bull. unfortunately he spotted us at the same time we spotted him and he took off on a dead run through the trees. no shot, no joy.we tried to follow but he never slowed and noway could we catch him. continued on in a big circle back to camp. it was so hot i elected not to make an afternoon hunt but instead went fishing in the rocky pools in front of camp late afternoon/evening. Remi caught a nile perch and i hung something that stripped a bunch of braided line off my reel( with the drag hammered tight) before he came off. i have no idea what it was but it was BIG! at this point i should mention an ongoing problem that had plagued us since the day we went into the mountains. Brian picked up some sort of bug that had him running off at both ends the entire hunt. this, plus heat exhaustion had him in pretty bad shape. we decided to leave the next day( 1 day early) and head back to "civilization". frankly, i was pretty damn tired, too.
Day 15. packed up early and hit the road. we took the poacher with us and turned him over to the King at his "palace". neither the King or the poacher looked very happy. no close pictures were allowed but this shows the King and his advisers deciding what to do with the poor guy. the King is the big guy sitting on his "throne" in front of the palace.


this is his parking garage out front.


this basically ends the hunting portion but there is more to come on the last installment for those interested in what is being done by American medical missionaries we met in NG on the way home. stay tuned.

quote:

Originally posted by CH:
Reading this with much interest...sounds like you had quite the adventure, so far, which is why we do these types of hunts...love the buff, terrific bull.

Incredible with the eland, so close, i wonder if it was one of the big bulls we tried very hard to find fresh marks of...you didn't happen to grab my tc off the tree over the buffalo wallow did you?

Well done, on surviving and living it..its a bumpy ride, but who would want it any other way..

b

Brad, Jonas had retrieved your trail camera prior to our arrival. he gave it to Daniel while we were packing to head into the mountains. that's the last i saw of it. i intended to get out the memory card and check the pictures with my camera but got busy and forgot to do it.

Awesome Jerry, you got the whole package. Any thoughts at this point of going back, maybe to try for a Lord Derby?

What anti-malaria med did you take? What about Brian? Wondering if some Doxy might have knocked whatever he caught out of him.

Congrats on a trip to write home about!

i took( and am still taking) Doxy. he was taking Malarone IIRC. the sad part is i had an EXTENSIVE first aid kit in my lost luggage, including local anesthetics, needles, syringes, scalpels, anti diarreals, anti emetics, narcotics, and 1 liter of D5LR with IV supplies- all gone to some thief in Bangui.i was prepared for damn near anything except stupidity on the part of Aw Fu-ked. i would go back( that eland haunts my dreams) but the soonest i could do it would be 1 1/2 years from now- and i am concerned that at age 67-68, it would be too much. who knows, though....

A few notes to clarify some of Jerry's observations.
First off Congratulations Jerry on a classic self guided hunt with all its vagrancies which you managed to surmount extremely successfully!
The King was not actually in residence when you were there, but the head of the "Dogaries" a subset of slaves that over time have become the most important group of people in the north. the poacher you caught did give them a bit of hesitation, as he was the King's chauffeur!! I informed the king of this mis-conduct after your hunt.
The home made gun is classic for the area. They take a water pipe and neat it up and bang a wooden dowel into it until it will accept the shell. Everything is hand made and costs them about $100.
camshft

Helluva trip, congratulations!!

Incredible Jerry...what an adventure

GREAT !!!
This is an true adventure.

CONGRATULATIONS !!!

b[/QUOTE]
Brad, Jonas had retrieved your trail camera prior to our arrival. he gave it to Daniel while we were packing to head into the mountains. that's the last i saw of it. i intended to get out the memory card and check the pictures with my camera but got busy and forgot to do it.[/QUOTE]

Thank you, i will follow up with Camshaft about the TC and see if we can get a look at a few pictures. Not sure where you shot your buff, but it would be cool if he was on the camera!