14 April 2015, 03:49
bwanamrmSafaris Chelet - Cameroon Lord Derby Eland - March 2015
Dates: March 4 - 15, 2015Outfitter: Safaris Chelet
Agent: Adventures Unlimited
Airline: Air France
Location: Block 24, Kourouk Eland Camp
Rifle: Borrowed Ruger .416 Ruger
Ammunition: Factory Hormady 400 grain DGX and DGS loads
Professional Hunter: Hancke Hudson
I set off on Saturday, February 28th for a hunt that I have had planned for over two years and a "bucket list" trip for me. I have always wanted to hunt Cameroon and Lord Derby Eland so after talking to a number of outfitters I made the choice to do so with Jose "Pepe" Chelet's Safari Chelet in Block 24, Kourouk Eland Camp in the savannah.
I flew Business Class on Air France from Bush International in Houston direct to CDG in Paris and after a short two hour layover, on to Douala. I traveled without a firearm which made both the travel and customs process pain-free. Both the trip to and from Cameroon were as easy as any I have made to Africa. The beauty of west Africa is you can be there in 16 hours flight time!
My only surprise during my travels was a missing driver at the airport, but with a number of safaris under my belt, I didn't let it rattle me and asked around until I found a guy to get me to my hotel, the Meridian in Douala. A quick e-mail to Merrona at Adventures Unlimited and within an hour I had my pick-up sorted for the next morning.
I flew CamAir at 11:00 the following morning to Ngaoundere with no issues and was picked up there around 1:30 by Ximo Chelet, Pepe's nephew, for the 4.5 hour drive to camp after picking up some needed supplies in town.
Arriving around 7:00 pm, I met Hancke and the camp staff, had a great meal prepared by the chef Stephan and hit the rack after a bit of strategizing about the upcoming hunt with Hancke and Ximo.
I am going to spare everyone the day by day and get down to the facilities, hunting, game and conditions.
Camp was comfortable if a bit rustic, hot showers, a comfortable bed and electricity as long as the generators are running. The camp was built a couple of concession holders ago and is well maintained. Before the Chelet's, who are Spanish, took over the block, an Italian had it who mostly bird hunted the area and before him a French company who hunted Europeans so not many Americans have hunted this camp.
The food was the best I have had on safari in Africa. Stephan, our chef, was from Germany but had worked in kitchens in Spain from an early age and the Chelet's had brought him over the previous two years to head the kitchen. From fresh bread everyday to game meat he actually wet aged in the refrigerator, the meals were simply stunning.
Stephan and the gang
Every morning starts with a 5:00 a.m. wake up call. Temperatures in early March were low to mid 60's F in the mornings and begin to warm by 10:00. In mid March, temperatures rose earlier and by 8:00 you could feel the sun begin to bear down. Most days we would hunt until 12:00 or 12:30 then head back to camp for lunch, a shower to beat the heat and a nap or lounge time until 3:00 or 3:30. Several days, if we were on tracks, we stayed out all day. Daytime temps ranged from the mid 90's early to low 100's as the safari neared it's end. We had the Harmatten the first couple of days of the safari which kept things a bit cooler as the dust blocks the direct sunlight. However after several days of breathing the fine dust you begin to wish for the upper air currents to move the Sahara sands out of the concession. Strangely, the Harmatten reappeared the last five days of the hunt and almost appeared fog-like limiting visibility to several hundred yards.
The terrain was what I expected with one difference... I did not expect as many hills in the savannah as I witnessed in Block 24. Both eland and the buffalo will take to them quite readily as well.
We also saw more game while driving and looking for tracks than I expected. I thought game sightings would resemble a safari in the Zambezi Valley however we saw hartebeest, kob, baboons and waterbuck with regularity.
It was only fitting then that my first trophy on Day 3 was a nice western hartebeest bull.
My next trophy on the fifth day was a sing sing waterbuck bull. I apologize for this photo but it is the only one I have of him. Hancke took some better trophy shots of me with the bull with him posed and clean. When I get them I will substitute them for this coarser photo.
However this was a trophy I wanted badly having seen only one off-quota bull on my trip to Benin in 2008. We saw several nice mature waterbuck bulls on the course of this hunt and true to their name, when we ventured close to the riverine bush, we encountered waterbuck.
I took an old and very mature harnessed bushbuck on day 6. This was another priority trophy for me. We shot this ram traveling back to camp for lunch after an unsuccessful morning on eland tracks. Your main goal everyday is eland. Until you have your bull, you take the other species as the opportunity occurs in late morning or afternoon while traveling back to the truck or camp after giving up on LDE.
This ram required a fun stalk well executed by our lead tracker, Bouba. He was really an amazing and skilled gentleman who actually thought like the particular game animal we were after.
Though this ram won't score well he is a special trophy and I will remember that particular hunt fondly for a number of reasons!
As I said, every day starts out an eland day and after being on tracks a number of times, it came together on day 7. I found anytime we got on tracks worthy a following, we would walk a minimum of a couple of hours. Several days we were out for 6 to 8 hours. Thierry Labatt told me hunting LDE is the closest thing you will get to hunting elephant. I agree and the approach is so much more difficult.
Though we tried to cut a track of a lone bull or a couple of bulls, all we seemed to find were eland herds of 8 to 40. When you consider the eyes, ears and noses available to discover you, it can seem impossible to close and get enough time to look over the herd. Hancke kept telling me we would eventually catch a break and after more than a few disappointments, day 7 provided one.
We caught a lone bull track leading away from a waterhole and saline early that morning. While trying to sort the direction the bull was taking as he meandered his way back to wherever he had his mind set, our trackers heard a group of eland making their way to the waterhole we had just left. With swirling winds, the eland became uneasy and moved away. We hastily made a plan and began to swing around ahead of them to a pinch point. If we could get them between us and a hill, we could get a good look at them as they moved off. We actually got too far in front of the herd and had to stalk back to relocate them. As hunters and quarry saw each other about the same time, Hancke put the sticks up, pointed out an eland and said "shoot".
At my shot, animals erupted everywhere and began to cross up and over the hill... I looked at them through the scope as Hancke cautioned me not to shoot again. Suddenly one of the eland going up the hill began to wobble and then fell, rolling down the incline spectacularly to catch on a tree.
It was a huge rush, all of the trackers yelling, me relieved and elated and Hancke with that "told you so" smile. A very memorable hunt.
I was pleased that Pepe had actually been in camp for a few days before heading to the rainforest to prepare their Kika camp for bongo hunting in April. He was very kind to present me with a machete as a congratulatory gift for taking my eland. The handle being wrapped in my eland hide before I left...
After the eland we had five more days to hunt buffalo or roan as my second A trophy and one more B or C trophy. While we looked over several kob that were very nice I had my heart set on a red flanked duiker. I can't tell you how many times we got close before the little bastards went scurrying away at warp speed. Finally, one very hot morning found a mature ram hiding beneath some shade and thinking he was concealed in his brushy hide out. One mistake, right Hancke?
My buffalo fell late on the morning of the last day. Again apologies but I did not have a camera with me. When Hancke gets me a picture I will try and post it but I had a successful safari in Cameroon with Safaris Chelet taking all six of the animals I had on license.
It was an excellent adventure that had me second guessing myself at times, but everything worked out better than I could have hoped. A big thank you to Hancke Hudson my PH who was a true gentleman to hunt with and share a camp! And huge debt of gratitude to all involved in making the trip a success from Ximo and Pepe Chelet, to a great team of trackers, Bouba, Blues and Dawi and of course our driver Raphael.
One last bit of advice, I flew out with Hancke from Ngaoundere to Doula as I was Hancke's last client of the season. He suggested we grab dinner when we got back to Douala at a favorite restaurant of his since my flight didn't leave until 11:55 p.m. Wow! It was one of those little gems you uncover on a trip like this that really makes a good trip into a great one! If you find yourself with several hours to kill in Douala, I heartily recommend it.
