Dates: 9th – 24th May 2016 and 28thJanuary – 14th February 2017

Area: Cameroon ZICGC Voko-Bantadje

Operator: Reinhardt Visse Safaris

Guide: Dennis Rollinger

Booking Agent: Dennis Rollinger

Species Hunted: Lord Derby Eland, Western Roan, Deffasa Waterbuck, Nigerian Bohor Reedbuck, Oribi, Red Flanked Duiker, Bubal Hartebeest, Red River Hog, Spoted Hyena, Patas Monkey, Baboon, Cob DeBuffon, Harnessed Bushbuck.

Species Taken: Lord Derby Eland, Western Roan, Cob DeBuffon, Nigerian Bohor Reedbuck, Oribi, Red Flanked Duiker, Bubal Hartebeest, Deffasa Waterbuck, Red River Hog, Spoted Hyena, Patas Monkey, Baboon.

Rifle: .338WM Blaser (Borrowed!)



I Have been a bit lax of late posting hunt reports so am combining my 2016 and 2017 hunts into one report.

Originally, I was scheduled to do this hunt in February 2016 but due to unforeseen circumstances I had to postpone it until May.

Yaoundé was my point of arrival into Cameroon, and just like every other West African city I have traveled to was complete chaos!

The Air France flight gets in in the evening so I spent the night in Yaoundé flying on to Garoua the following morning.

CamAir the national carrier runs a sporadic service at best, and you never really know where you will end up! What I thought was a direct flight to Garoua made two unscheduled stops in Douala and Maroua before eventually reaching our destination.

Reinhardt Visse the outfitter was waiting at the airport in Garoua and drove us the six hours to the concession. The drive took us on poor tar roads and then on to dirt tracks. As we headed south west the terrain changed from dry and arid to green and mountainous.

The local villages we passed through appeared to lead a subsistence lifestyle and seemed reliant upon cotton production as their only source of income.



Eland was my priority on this hunt and it took us no time at all to find fresh tracks. The early rains had made the tracking very easy so much so that even I could follow the tracks unaided by the trackers.



I had previously hunted for Lord Derby Eland although unsuccessfully on a Chasse Libre hunt some two years prior so I had some knowledge of how the hunt was to be conducted.

Our team consisted of three trackers and a water boy, Dennis was the PH. The concession covered some 70,000 Ha and had a good road network which we would drive until fresh tracks were found upon which we would follow on foot.

The daytime temperatures were in the mid 30’s (96’F) with humidity close to 100% which made the going quite tough. Large areas of ground were covered in ankle breaking worm casts which became even more treacherous when wet.

Game in west Africa in general is much scarcer and flightier than in southern and eastern parts of the continent; that being said the daily eland sightings continued to amaze me. We tracked eland on nine consecutive days but due to the thick vegetation it was very difficult to pick out a mature bull.



Talking to Reinhardt revealed that the eland move in and out of the area depending on the browsing available. The new shoots brought on by the recent rains had drawn large numbers of eland into the concession.

The herds consisted of female and young animals numbering up to fifty. The mixed herds having split up as the rut has already taken place. The bulls having lost condition and the distinctive black dewlap that’s so prominent during the rut form smaller batchelor groups.

By far the most abundant species seen was Cob DeBuffon the ones found in Cameroon are both larger in body and horn than those I have previously seen in Burkina Faso and Benin. I ended up taking a decent trophy early in the hunt.



During the heat of the day we would often return to camp as the wind would swirl and spook game. If we were on tracks before the wind started being uncooperative we would return later in the afternoon to take up the tracks again.

Another hunter in camp took very nice harnessed bushbuck along with a 4.6m (15ft) Python one morning.






The bushbuck peaked my interest so we spent a few mornings and evenings walking the river in hope of seeing a decent male. The river and surrounding riverine forest also held a healthy population of red flanked duiker and after looking over a few I took a very nice trophy one morning.


The riverine forest also held large numbers of Colobus monkeys but they haven’t been on quota in Cameroon for some time.



The mountains are home to Defassa waterbuck. They are quite scarce in the concession so I feel lucky that I had the opportunity at a good male.



Oribi are common and after looking a quite a few this one was by far the biggest one we had seen. Back at camp Reinhardt showed me the skull of one he had taken earlier in the season it measured over 7” a truly exeptional trophy.



Day nine started off well with us picking up fresh eland tracks less than an hour out of camp, we were unable to close on them so decided to return to camp for lunch. Upon arriving at camp Reinhardt informed us that he had cut the same tracks we had been following earlier and suggested that we return as he thought the eland would be resting up nearby. We found the group of four bulls at around 2.30pm. I took the shot off sticks at the largest bull standing some 70yds away the bull was slightly quartering away looking back at us. The shot felt good and the reaction from the eland indicated a good hit. Blood was found and the trackers followed this until dark.

The following morning, we were back on the track we had left the previous evening the blood spore has stopped and all four bulls were together and headed into the hills. Trying to stay positive we continued to follow the track which we did for the next three days but to no avail.
On our decent from the mountain on the third day we came across a herd of Hartebeest. Completely unaware of our presence, we observed the herd for some time until we located and took a good bull.





We finally called off our search for the bull after a night of heavy rain washed away any sign of their tracks.

What a fuck up!!! I replayed the shot repeatedly in my head but could come up with no explanation as to what had happened. Was it a deflection from an unseen branch was it the Blaser rifle!!! (Oh, how I wish I had my Winchester .375H&H. This would never have happened with the H&H!!!) I will never know. The only consolation I can take from this is that the bull wasn’t seriously wounded and would likely recover from its ordeal.

We covered over 180km in the 12 days I hunted stalking into multiple herds and turning down shot opportunities on bulls that didn’t quite measure up to what I had in mind. The trackers were exceptional and Dennis and Reinhardt did everything possible to make the safari a success. Before leaving camp, plans were already in place to return the following season to try again.


I arrived in camp on the 29th January the weather was much milder than the previous May and humidity was almost zero.

The first morning of the hunt found us looking hard at a solitary Bull Roan some 200yards away we were hunting eland but this thing was over the magic 30” mark! Needleless to say it didn’t get that big by being stupid. We followed his track for over a kilometer but he wasn’t slowing up so we left him hoping to cut his track later in the hunt.

The bush was much more open as trees were yet to come into leaf. With better visibility, we could glass more and cover more ground. By mid-morning we had picked up eland activity from the previous night a herd around forty strong had meandered through the valley and up into the hills the trackers were confident that we would pick up there spore the next morning in the same vicinity.

On our way back to camp we spotted an exceptional Bohor reedbuck. I wasn’t able to get a shot at him before he disappeared into the long grass. We played cat and mouse with this reedbuck numerous times over the next two weeks but he always had the upper hand.

First light found us back in the valley where we had seen the eland spore the previous day. As the light improved we could see fresh tracks over the top of those from yesterday.

The trackers took up the spoor. We had been following for some twenty minutes when an eland calf started bleating giving away its position. The terrain was quite open without much cover so all we could do was stand still and hope that it returned to the herd which was hidden in the valley below some 300 yards away.

Eventually the calf moved off allowing us to slip unnoticed into a belt of cover running parallel with the valley. Trying as best we could to move quietly over the carpet of dry leaves beneath our feet we slowly edged our way forward to get a glimpse of the herd which was now coming up the side of the valley towards us.

The trackers all crouched at the sound of the approaching herd some thirty yards in front of us.

A cow was the first to crest the ridge in front of us followed by a mature male his neck was heavy and black. The cow stopped in her tracks seeing us all squatting down some 20 yards away. Dennis muttered good bull under his breath as the blaser redeemed itself with two shots in quick sucession. 80yards away the bull lay dead.






Back at camp we celebrated our success



With twelve days of hunting left our focus now turned to looking for a good roan.
The area holds a healthy population and it was normal to have multiple sightings in a day. We concentrated on trying to find loan bulls by following large solitary tracks. The huge bull we saw on the first morning never showed itself again.
After looking over several roan I ended up pulling the trigger on a very decent bull we found resting up during the heat of the day.





Whilst hunting we would cut buffalo tracks every other day the buffalo here are constantly on the move often only resting up high on the mountain. Pursuing them in this environment is much harder than what I had previously experienced in Benin and Burkina Faso.



A gut pile was established behind camp and a trail cam set up. It didn’t take long for the hyena to start feeding and we soon had a pattern of their movements established.The bait was replenished with a baboon




We sat for a few evenings as the moon was bright but the hyena was uncooperative. The blind was set high up next to the camp water tower the setup seemed perfect but as the moon rose we became silhouetted the slightest movement highlighted by the moon light. We set up the next night in a rondval close by taking a large female hyena within half an hour.



We spent a good deal of time looking for the large reedbuck we had seen on the first day of the hunt but couldn’t make it happen we saw quite a few eventually taking a fine buck.





As we were driving back to camp with the reedbuck we spotted a group of Red River Hogs foraging in a clearing, they moved off towards some tall grass on hearing the vehicle. A quick sprint and offhand shot took the boar out from the group.



To Sum up both hunts were a great success even though I didn't get my eland the first time round. To me the success of the hunt is measured in the overall experiance and not in the number of trophies in the salt. I would have struggled to have pulled the trigger on that eland on the morning of day two last year as I wouldn't have felt that I had fully experienced eland hunting.

Both Dennis and Reinhard knew what my expectations were for this hunt and they both worked hard to accommodate them, as did the their fine team of trackers although at times they were somewhat perplexed as to why we turned down yet another fine trophy!

Well done Faisal.

Fantastic trip and great animals. That harnessed bushbuck is legendary.

Well done!

Very nice Eland!

It's the hard ones we value the most. Too bad about last years try, but I would hunk this one made up for it.

Congrats on a hard hunt well done!

Well done Faisal on your hard one LDE and you have taken some great trophies out of West Africa.

Good photos and report.

Congrats again Faisal.

I would very much like to see a picture of the worm casts if you happen to have one. I have heard others mention them as well. I am interested on what they look like.

It was nice meeting you in Anchorage. I am headed back in August.

Sounds like a couple of great hunts. Some beautiful trophies. You did well. Congrats Bruce

Well Done Sir!! That's a gd, mature eland bull, well earned. A fine collection of trophies altogether. That bushbuck is unreal!! Especially for a Harnessed. Any idea what it measured?

Well done.
Makes me want to go back and take Thierry with me. However, I doubt my bride would do it again.....

Two great reports Faisal. Beautiful trophies!!!
Congratulations.

Best regards, D. Nelson

Great LDE, that pig is a beauty, nice set of trophies all around. I have to wonder about the python, is that kind of European deal?

I need to get a date with Thierry in Cameroon!!

quote:

Originally posted by larryshores:
Congrats again Faisal.

I would very much like to see a picture of the worm casts if you happen to have one. I have heard others mention them as well. I am interested on what they look like.

It was nice meeting you in Anchorage. I am headed back in August.

Hi Larry, Great meeting you last year in Anchorage. I don't have any photos of the worm casts I'm afraid. They varied quite considerably from marble sized mounds on the surface right up to what looked like mole hills. the larger ones were treacherous when wet as the surface would turn to mud with very little grip when walking.
Best of luck in Alaska, what are you hunting? are you going with Riley again?
Regards
Faisal

quote:

Originally posted by Thierry Labat:
Well Done Sir!! That's a gd, mature eland bull, well earned. A fine collection of trophies altogether. That bushbuck is unreal!! Especially for a Harnessed. Any idea what it measured?

Thanks Thierry, the Eland was really old the ridges on the front of the horns were worn down smooth it measured 45" would have probably gone a few inches more in its prime.

I think the bushbuck went 16" it wasn't taken by me but by a German huntress who was also in camp.

Faisal

quote:

Originally posted by Gale Johnson:
Great LDE, that pig is a beauty, nice set of trophies all around. I have to wonder about the python, is that kind of European deal?

I need to get a date with Thierry in Cameroon!!

Thanks Gale I was really lucky with the Red river hog, they are purely a target of opportunity,I think that you could probably bait for them as with bush pigs but thats not something they seem to do in Cameroon. The Python was taken my another hunter not me.
Cheers
Faisal

quote:

Originally posted by fairgame:
Well done Faisal on your hard one LDE and you have taken some great trophies out of West Africa.

Good photos and report.

Cheers Mate

quote:

Originally posted by D. Nelson:
Two great reports Faisal. Beautiful trophies!!!
Congratulations.

Best regards, D. Nelson

Thanks Darin

Best of luck to you with this years hunt!

quote:

Originally posted by faisal:

quote:

Originally posted by larryshores:
Congrats again Faisal.

I would very much like to see a picture of the worm casts if you happen to have one. I have heard others mention them as well. I am interested on what they look like.

It was nice meeting you in Anchorage. I am headed back in August.

Hi Larry, Great meeting you last year in Anchorage. I don't have any photos of the worm casts I'm afraid. They varied quite considerably from marble sized mounds on the surface right up to what looked like mole hills. the larger ones were treacherous when wet as the surface would turn to mud with very little grip when walking.
Best of luck in Alaska, what are you hunting? are you going with Riley again?
Regards
Faisal

Yup, going back with Riley. Grizzly & caribou.

Looks like you've enjoyed another great experience.
Congratulations on a couple of interesting hunts and thanks for posting this report.
Great trophies all round but I especially love the duiker and the reedbuck.
Looking forward to reading about your next adventure.
Cheers.

.

Faisal, Great write up and superb trophies all round. Great LDE !

Congrats and well done Denny boy too !

Charlie

.

Great write up as usual and it sounds like the camp gun sucks for eland as many have been reported injured and wounded! Hard to beat the old 375 but your trophies were hard earned with a great Roan to boot!

Congrats!!

Congratulation Faisal, beautiful trophies and very well writing over hunt.
IH

Great report and photo's Faisal.
And congratulations on some magnificent trophies, looks like you had an amassing safari there.

Dear Faisal,
Thank you for hunting with me and the nice report.
You are a true hunter and it is truly a pleasure to hunt with you!
See you soon!

Regards,

Dennis

quote:

Originally posted by faisal:

quote:

Originally posted by fairgame:
Well done Faisal on your hard one LDE and you have taken some great trophies out of West Africa.

Good photos and report.

Cheers Mate

Serious Hyena by the way.

Congrats on your hunt. What type of Bullets were you using on your first hunt?

quote:

Originally posted by larryshores:
Congrats again Faisal.

I would very much like to see a picture of the worm casts if you happen to have one. I have heard others mention them as well. I am interested on what they look like.

It was nice meeting you in Anchorage. I am headed back in August.

Think black/gray balls ranging in size from tennis to golf balls. And hard as a rock, placed very close together. Makes even a slow walk an adventure in ankle twisting.

quote:

Originally posted by jdollar:

quote:

Originally posted by larryshores:
Congrats again Faisal.

I would very much like to see a picture of the worm casts if you happen to have one. I have heard others mention them as well. I am interested on what they look like.

It was nice meeting you in Anchorage. I am headed back in August.

Think black/gray balls ranging in size from tennis to golf balls. And hard as a rock, placed very close together. Makes even a slow walk an adventure in ankle twisting.

You need a good boot that supports your ankle.

Faisal,

Nice trophies and report. West Africa is very special. Love that Red river hog.

Mark

Very well done!

quote:

Originally posted by jdollar:

quote:

Originally posted by larryshores:
Congrats again Faisal.

I would very much like to see a picture of the worm casts if you happen to have one. I have heard others mention them as well. I am interested on what they look like.

It was nice meeting you in Anchorage. I am headed back in August.

Think black/gray balls ranging in size from tennis to golf balls. And hard as a rock, placed very close together. Makes even a slow walk an adventure in ankle twisting.

this is what they look like dry and hard as a rock

Interesting. Thank you sir.

Great report Faisal, thanks for posting it.

There are some really special animals there but I love that bushbuck!

Great report

Mike

Well done Faisal, and thanks for posting a very interesting report.
To me the LD Eland is the ultimate trophy in Africa.

quote:

Originally posted by samir:
Congrats on your hunt. What type of Bullets were you using on your first hunt?

Samir, the ammunition was made by LFB in Germany its what the outfitter uses. I only managed to retreive one bullet from the roan I shot it performed well on a quartering towards shot at about 120yds you can see it in the report picture just under the hide on the opposite side.
I think they were 250grain. It seemed similar to a Nosler partition in construction retaining around 70% of it weight.
The rifle was accurate with this ammo, Just can't explain what happened with the eland!
Regards
Faisal

Forgot to post a picture of the Patas Monkey taken during this years hunt.

Thanks to all of you who have commented.

Heres another picture of the eland

Best hunt ever!!! Congrats!!