Dates: 5/28-6/17
Location: Cameroon
Outfitter: Mayo Oldiri
Camp: Lognia
PH: Mike Currie
Travel: Susan Hill of Gracey Travel
Target: Bongo

Cant do photos yet.

My wife and I flew from Idaho to Seattle then direct to Paris (CDG). I can sum up all my problems with Air France and France as follows: NONE ZERO ZIP ZILCH. We spent 2 nights in Paris and did the tourist thing. On May 31 we flew to Douala, Cameroon on Air France. The airport reminded me of the Christopher Walken movie, "The Dogs of War". Or the old soviet airport at Dushanbe. Very exciting really, only had to fend off a couple panhandlers/crooks. Not as many really as you find in most US citys frankly. Mayo's people got us through it and safely to our hotel. 230 euro a night and your own security guard on every floor. Next day we were taken to our charter and off to Kika.
WE were met by our PH there and spoke to the outgoing hunters, a Texan a New Yorker and a guy from Argentina. We went into metropolitan Kika and bought supplies Everything seems to come from China including NANFANG motorcycles and an enormous selection of hair extensions. Then it was about 3 hours to camp over what I would call average Idaho roads. I just marveled at the forest all the way.
Lognia camp is where Peter Flack shot a video and Tracks Accross Africa did as well. It is a Bongo rich environment. The camp has been substantially redone so clients now have indoor plumbing screened windows etc. Very nice.
Everything is alien compared to north america or southern africa. Plants bugs and night noises are very different except for crickets. At night you have to get used to screaming tree hyraxes and bats also. They have cicadas and moths you could hunt with a 410. If they had lions you could not have heard them roar.

The hunting is done in several ways, you drive looking for suitable tracks or you hike into diferrent salt licks or open wet areas to search for tracks. Once a suitable track is found you track it slowly until they find its warm bed then they release the dogs. These are old lady type dogs, you have to bend down to pet them. They are small, about one size bigger than a jack (daniels) russell. But they must be tough to live where they do. If you are lucky they catch a bongo that wants to kill them. If not they will never catch the bongo. They can only hold them for so long so if you do not get to the bay up quick the bongo may well take off and never stop.

It is scary how many elephant inhabit this area. I believe it is accurate to say that we saw more elephant sign then all other game combined. Mike had never seen so many elephant in a area. There are also many birds including palm nut vultures, hornbills and gray parrots. (For you parents, they say if you boil the grays head in soup it will make your kids smarter. A word to the wise.)

The first day we trailed a big bongo track and caught one. We let it go but got some brief video and had a practice run to catch up to the dogs.
Fun hunting in stuff so thick it makes Zambezi Jess look like Kansas. You get scratched up good but man is it exciting. Many times, in fact at least once or twice a day you are sneeking along after something and some animal explodes next to you, sometimes ten feet sometimes 30. Elephant? Buffalo? Bongo? Duiker? Gorilla? or a bunch of monkeys? You are constantly full of fresh squeezed adrenaline. It is fantastic.
We tried to follow 2 other bongo that first day but no luck. We took a tour on the way back to the truck to check out a salt lick. Old tracks only and one big silverback Gorrila dead face down in a stream. I rubbed its head for luck.

After lunch and a shower we headed out for Duikers, That was fun. You chop and hike until the Pygmies find an open spot to call. An open spot is somewhere where you could probably see a bongo at 30 yards IF it was moving. I sit with my shot gun between Mike and my wife while 6 pygmies sit right behind us. One or the other calls to replecate a wounded or injured Duiker. This causes othe duikers to come in to investigate and that is how poachers slaughter them. Poachers set snares say 50 or so all in one small area. When a duiker is caught more rush in and start screaming when they get caught. Bastards anyway.

I did manage to get a Bay that evening.

The second day we saw old tracks and monkeys, the strange forest porcupine and enjoyed some fun four wheeling. The third day despite no rain we decided to hike into various salt licks to see if we could pick up a bongo track.
So we are driving down a 2 track at a decent clip and the tracker stops the vehicle because he saw out the window a bitten off plant. I kid you not. Like seeing a needle in a hay stack as you drive by. The pygmies poke around and find a big bongo has been there. I nod since they are pointing it out to me like any idiot should see it. I photographed the plants they pointed out and a track then we start to follow it. The tracker leads then Mike then me then my gun bearer Mombato then my wife then the rest of the team. Its not bad when you go slow, its hot its Muggy all the plants stab or stick you so you wear leather gloves. Occasionally you run and jump over ant armys hopefully without some plant poking your eye out. You cross fresh elephant tracks and can smell them. Finally we and by we I mean Vallers our tracker finds where the bongo was just bedded. He feels the bed and it is warm. the dogs are moved up while I feel the warm bed and smell a urine covered leaf. Smells like dilluted cow elk urine. The dogs take off silent and we stand straining our ears. Suddenly a pygmie hears a bark then we here it and Vallers takes off with Mike me and Mombato right behind him. Dodging ducking twisting and crawling we go. When you finally build up some speed a vine trips you or catches you accross the stomach or chest and you stop like a fighter landing on an aircraft carrier. You get over or under it and start again. Even the pygmies occassionally have trouble but what do you expect some are wearing flip flops for pete's sake. Mombato hisses and we all stop with varying degrees of grace, to listen. The barking is faint and now way to the left of our line of flight. Off we run towards them. If possible its actually getting thicker. Some times I can't see Mike and sometimes I run into him or his rifle. We start to be able to here the dogs while we are running. Through one thick wall and there he is. Vallers is thumbs up and Mike says get your gun. Mombato has it in my hand instantly. The Bongo is 10 to 20 yards away in the open. By that I mean I can see at least 50% of him sometimes. Mike says shoot him. My gun goes up as I look at the horns good mass lenth and kick. I successfully burn his image into my mind as I shoulder my gun. I notice there are no pygmies anywhere. Mike stands by me gun up and says watch the dogs. No dog behind the bongo most are out front dodging horns, but one stands with the top of his head right where the bottom of the bongos heart should be. Six inches above the dogs head and bang I don't feel the 416 recoil at all. I reload as the bongo lurches forward gains his balance and runs a tight circle now aiming at me. Mike is yelling shoot it again. I aim right between his horns (don't hit the horns!) and bang he drops with a shot through the spine were the neck meets the shoulder. We recovered it on the back ribs. Horns are fine. I reload frantically as my bongo lays just 4 steps from me. Mike says don't shoot you got him. Suddenly there are pygmies again all wanting to shake my hand. Everyone is talking and reliving the hunt from their perspective, trying to burn off the adrenaline. My wife and the rest of the team shows up and preparation is made for photos and butchering. The Bongo has 3 snare marks one on each front foot and one on a back foot. Everything is packaged up and hauled back to the truck and the waiting sweat bee army.

Pygmies sing all the way home while I am all smiles reliving this moment again and again. I am sure I looked silly.

Mike and I saw to the trophy care while the whole camp was out to congratulate us and start getting ready for the party. People were sent to town about 6 hours to get UNGULLUGULLU their word for booze. That night they had a big party and even Likkabow the forest God showed up. The bongo meat was consumed that day and the next. During the party the pygmies reenact the hunt with different people playing us. The reenactment of the charging bongo was quite a hit with the crowd.
The next day was called on account of rain and hangovers in Baka city.

The rest of the hunt was chasing buffalo and we did get a blue duiker also. On one day we were driving the main road and spotted a backpack. The truck stops and the pygmies swarm into the forest. The come out with poachers loot, gear smoked meat and snares. We tracked many buffalo and saw a half dozen, but I wanted a old bull so I came home without having to pay a buffalo trophy fee, but I got every bit of value out of the hunt. We would track this buffalo then that one then small groups with a big bull in it. It was great. We had gorillas go nuts at 15 feet on one buffalo hunt and nobodys guns were on safe. We got video of a baby gorilla and got to watch the pygmies get a silverback all worked up by calling to it.
One day we spent a few hours tracking 3 buffalo one they believed was a bull. finally we came upon them bedded and spent 5 minutes trying to determine if there was a bull and how old. We never did figure it out and when the wind changed they bolted out of their beds 10-15 yards from us. WAY TO COOL. We spent one afternoon testing our engineering skill against a formidable mud hole. After a lengthy battle we escaped. Coming back from another close encounter with buffalo the pygmies recovered a huge stash of poaching gear snares and meat. This haul was at least twice as big as any other haul they got when we were there:
1 Chimp
1 Giant Pangolin
8 Blue Duiker
26 Peters Duiker
4 Water Chevrotain
8 Porcupines
1 Mongoose
1 Red River Hog

That evening we tracked giant forest hog but no luck although we spotted and got photos and video of a big silverback gorilla, a live one this time.
One buffalo hunt we tried the dogs but the stopped a big old cow in a watery opening about 20 yards by 20 yards. God was she grumpy she kept trying to run us down or get away from the dogs. She came within 10 yards several times as we backed out of there. That was the only buffalo I saw clearly in the open. They are maybe 1/3 the size of a big cape buffalo and can go through a tangle of jungle that I would have bet real money would have stopped a rabbit. Many times on there tracks I thought how did it get through here and they must be tiny.

In sum, Great people, great land, and great adventure.

Nice report, please send me the photos so i can put them in.
anton810922@hotmail.com

Great report. Sounds like a helluva an adventure. Looking forward to seeing the pictures.

Excellent report. 'Look forward to the pictures. Congratulations on your bongo. What killed the silverback?

Great story, sounds like a great exsperance. Bill

Fantastic Hunt! Wish I was back there. Geoffroy protected that area like his home,but the poachers are getting worse and worse.

Mike

Great story. Sign me up.
What did your wife think of the entire adventure? I do not hunt without a family member with me, so my wife is likely going to get to go when I go. I have been hesitant of heading to the jungle with her due to bugs. She is fearless of poachers and animals but bugs rile her up.

Here is my attempt at posting photos!

Here is a key to the photos.
1.Left to right Mombato, Vallers Mike Currie and the Boss.
2. Me, Bay Duiker and Mike.
3. First poachers loot we confiscated.
4. The obvious sign where my bongo had chewed this plant.
5. Bongo
6. same
7. same
8. Front foot snare mark.
9. My second shot.
10. Working up the bongo.
11. Hauling it out.
12. Waiting for Likkabow.
13. Colobus monkey "the magistrate".
14. Mombato and kids.
15. Tracking buffalo.
16. Hot and humid grows big trees.
17. Blue duiker.
18. Road used to look for tracks.
19. Live silverback. Do not know what killed the other one.
20. One of 2 open spots in all of Cameroon I think. Tracking a buffalo.
21. Rubber tree. Its not sticky until it is dried
22. Our second take of poachers loot. I listed the animals here, above.
23. Third poacher take and a bag of charcoal we found. The pygmies smelled this meat as we drove by at 30 mph.
24. Gorilla track and my finger.

My wife loved it. She was the one who talked me into going in the first place. She is not a bug fan either but they are not as bad as you might think. You sleep under a net, you shake out your cloths and boots in the morning. The ants dont hurt as much as you might think, proper clothing and fast feet keep most at bay. I did get nailed a few times but it is part of the adventure. Better than hunting in the southern US with chiggars in my opinion.

SG,

Outstanding....what a super bongo and lifetime trophy... memories always there...

Mike

Hello SG

Congratulations on your successful bongo hunt, and a great adventure, what an experience! Thank you for sharing it.

Regards
Aziz

Wow, neat adventure. Thanks for the hunt report on the rain forests of Cameroon, an area not many of us will get to hunt! Super trophies and well hunted. Congrats!

Congratulations. This is a dream hunt for me.

Great hunt and report. Thanks for sharing your story and congratulations on a terrific bongo.

Thanks for the kind words it really was better than my report indicates.

If you look at photo 7 of the bongo, Vicki, me and Mike you can see the entrance wound of my second shot that stopped the bongo. It is a small blackish spot on the spine where the neck meets the shoulder.

Beautiful bongo! I'm jealous and happy for you.

Brett

I can only dream of this hunt.

Very interesting report. It sounds like a fantastic time and you have a good sense of humor...necessary on some of these hunts!

I'm not able to load all of your photos. Are some of them not working? I would be happy to help if needed. Email is in my profile.

Did you see some of the forest elephant or just their sign?

Yukon,

I do not understand the photo problem? I will check if you can let me know exactly what might be the problem. they are all showing up on this thread as I look at it.

We only saw clearly one elephant but we flushed a couple coveys of them at 10-15 feet visability.

That is truely a wonderful wonderful trophy well done.I hope that one day my lotto numbers will come up and allow me to hunt such a great trophy

Great report and a fantastic bongo! That's a super trophy.

Congratulations on a great hunt and a spectacular bongo. Do you plan a full body mount? To me, bongo is the most striking trophy from Africa.

Thanks for posting the report - you need to submit this for publication. You have an excellent writing style!! The description of the flora and fauna is quite vivid. Your line "...They have cicadas and moths you could hunt with a 410..." is a classic!

Great job!


Phil

What a great adventure! Thats a super bongo and a couple of nice forest duikers as well.. Congrats!
How are you gonna have the bongo mounted?

nice report and lovable trophy, bongo is a dream and duikers are rare trophy!
Have you some pics of the dead gorilla?
Can you post tem?
and maybe some more live gorillas pics!

I plan to do a life size mount of the Bongo if the skin makes it. Not ideal weather to preserve the skin. I knew that going into this and I am not horribly concerned. I can see that bongo whenever I want, I just close my eyes.

The live silverback is the only one I got any pictures and video of. I have video of the dead silverback and the encounter with the gorilla family which includes video of a young gorilla crossing the road just in front of the truck. The little one was 15 to 20 inches tall and looked like he swallowed a bowling ball.

Thanks for a great report and for the pics!! I am headed there in 2010 and this makes me look forward to it even more.

Doug

Great report

What rifle did you use?

TerryR

TerryR

H-S Precision 416 rigby.

Outstanding.

Incredible hunt and report!!!

Congrats on a nice safe trip...

Super Bongo....

Anyone interested in more photos here is the site.

http://s338.photobucket.com/albums/n436/vaolds66/