Hunter: Ahmed Sultan
Booking Agent: Club Faune
Outfitter: Idongo Safaris
PH: Francois De Grossouvre
Area : Idongo, Central African Republic
Date : 13th to 19 January.
Rifle : 375 H&H Mag with 300gr RWS Bullets.

Back Ground: I was always fascinated with the Giant Eland Trophy and when I finally decided to hunt one, my options were Cameroon and CAR. Cameroon seems to be a more steady choice with some reputable outfitters offering 100% success on LDE hunts. CAR is politically much more volatile and there were reports of Sudanese Poachers operating at free will in CAR. However, on average CAR LDE trophies were bigger than the Cameroon ones and that was the only factor that made me to decide to go to CAR. There are some good outfitters operating in CAR and I chose Club Faune for this hunt.

Club Faune handled all the tiny details of the hunt very well and everything went very smoothly. Cyrus at Club Faune was excellent in giving all the answers to my thousand questions and I found everything on ground as I was told.



Travel: There are not too many international flights servicing the Bangui Airport, I found that via Nairobi is the best option for me. However, there were reports of hunter loosing their firearms at the Nairobi Airport so I decided not to take my rifle instead the plan was to use the camp .375. Emirates airline was good as always and the trip until Nairobi was very pleasant, there was a 13 hour layover at the Nairobi airport and their policy did not allow me to go outside the airport. The business class lounge was also closed at 11:30 at the night that left me to spend 6 hours on waiting chair. Next morning the 2 and a half hour connecting flight to Bangui was pleasant. Bangui airport is small but I had no problem and I was met by Idongo Safari representative and soon I was transferred to the charter plan, I was also accompanied by my PH on flight to the hunting area. We flew over some very interesting bush where the Savannah land was infiltrated by fingers of deep forest. On arrival at the bush strip we were met by the owner of Idongo Safari Matthew Laboureur and our hunting team.





Camp: The main camp was very comfortable and practical.



My hut.





I stayed in two different camps, the second camp was situated near mountains and had one of the best settings of any camp that I have been to.





The swimming pool in camp was built on a fast flowing river thus giving it a natural water circulation keeping the water always fresh.













PH: Francois is a young and very talented French PH. He is very ethical and there is a quality in everything that he does. He is very good with tracks and can also call buffalo and lion. Hunting buffalo by calling is a very different and fun experience and requires a lot of nerves. After tracking to about 100 yards, Francois called two buffalo groups to about 10 yards but unfortunately there were no good bulls.



Hunt

The objective of the 14 days hunt was to get the Giant Eland and all other trophies available will be a bonus. If after 14 days I only shoot a good representative of LDE and nothing else I will be very happy. With this objective I started my hunt. From the information I gathered on CAR hunting condition, I expected a lot of bugs specially Tsetse and Mopani flies and this is how I started my hunt.



But soon I realized that there are very few of those two flies present and it was a lot better than the areas I hunted in Zambia and Tanzania so it was back to normal gear for the rest of the hunt.

Day 1: Due to the nature of bush the main method of hunting here is by driving and finding tracks fresh enough to follow.



Once the tracks are found you follow them until you reach the query and then decide from there.



On the first morning we checked the rifle which was shooting slightly high and to the left, a slight adjustment and it was perfect. We started to drive around to check for tracks and fifteen minutes later saw two Eland female running away, even the female LDE is an impressive sight in the bush. We quickly got off the car and herd some other Elands running through the bush as well. We followed the group for a couple of hour but we could not find good male tracks among them so we abandoned our pursuit and came back to the car. We drove different parts of the concession but didn’t find any fresh enough tracks of eland to follow, we did saw two male tracks from previous day and also two days old group tracks that also contain a bull. We saw some Hartebeest and a group of Buffalo that was resting 100 yards from the road under a tree. Francois switched off the engine and waited for 10 minutes before starting to call, the herd was unsure but the bull was very upset and wanted to challenge the intruder. He brought the whole group with him and they came as close as 15 yards from us. Francois said that he is a good bull but we can do better than him so we didn’t shoot and at 10 yards the bull realized what we were and decided for a flight, it was very impressive to see the whole herd up close. On return to camp another American hunter brought in a fine old Eland Bull he has been hunting 9 days to get his old boy. Earlier in his hunt, the same hunter also got a very good Bongo after three days of hunting.

Day 2: We started driving from camp well before sunrise and after two hours we found fresh tracks of Eland heard which contained at least one decent set of tracks.



We started to follow and after 3 hours saw a female eland trotting away from 60 yards. The maximum visibility in this kind of bush is around 50 to 70 yards. We continued to follow and approximately 2 hours latter again saw a female Eland run away. Francois told me that the group usually leaves two to three female behind to check if some one is following them.



We tried to cut them from side but the herd always kept out of sight. Another couple of hours later we lost track in an area that had very dense bush and high grass, we tried hard but it was impossible to track. We set fire to the grass and headed back to the vehicle, it is amazing how quickly the fire spread and soon the whole hill was on fire emitting huge amount of smoke. We headed back to camp, on the way back I discussed with Francois how we are going to proceed on this Eland hunt. He said that he is not worried as we have seen tracks and we will follow them until the Eland gets tired or they make a mistake, if we push them hard sooner or later they will make a mistake. We will tire the elands by walking after them! OK I said.

That night I was thinking in bed how we are going to get to these Elands, they are extremely wary and as hard as we try it is impossible to move in the bush without making noise and then Elands have an excellent sense of smell and vision as well. I have done extensive mountain hunting, I have also done Elephant and Buffalo hunting but never have I felt so challenged by any query and this will be a real test of all my mental strength.

Day 3: We again started before sunrise and went straight to the area were we left the tracks yesterday. There was good network of roads in the area and we drove them searching for tracks. About one and half hour later we found the fresh tracks of the same herd crossing the road. The wind was good and the bush thick, we could only see about 30 to 40 yards maximum. We started our tracking and after one hour of following we heard a commotion ahead and there was lots of dust flying in the air about 100 yards away. Francois said that it seems that the male are fighting and this may give us an opportunity and we must rush in. We went running in and at about 40 yards saw two eland bulls fight with lots of dust flying, it was hard to clearly see. Francois said that one of the bull is very long and if he separates we must shoot him, he told me to be absolutely ready. The two bulls oblivious to our presence continued to fight until one of the bull somehow got out of the dirt and François asked me to shoot it, for a moment he presented the broad side shot which I took then the Eland started to run, I put another shot from the back. I saw the other male also running he was also impressive but with shorter horns. We followed the tracks and found the Eland 100 yards away down and taking its last breath. He was a good male with 53” horns. François was right, the Elands did made a mistake and we were lucky to be present there to take advantage of it. I simply couldn’t believe my luck and was very pleased with the out come.











Wound from the fight.




Day 4: We changed to Idongo’s second camp which was near a mountain. It was now relaxed affair, we droved around trying to find Buffalo or hartebeest we saw some groups of both the animals but noting shootable. CAR has some of the most scenic bush that I have seen, it is very unique how the fingers of forest infringe the savannah country making it a very diverse landscape.



We also saw lots of Duikers both the Bush Duiker and the Red Flanged Duiker but couldn’t get a shooting opportunity. In the afternoon we saw a group of buffalo from the car and they crashed away. After giving them five minutes we started to track them and about half and hour later we reached about 100 yards from the group but due to thickness of bush we couldn’t make out if there was a good bull or not. Francois decided to call the heard and we positioned behind a tree, on the call buffalo started to come in a bit unsure at first then trotting in. They came within 15 yards but there was no bull amongst them, finally they realized what we were and run away. It is such a different experience to see the buffalo coming to you and it require some nerves to shoot them this way.



Day 5: We started at day break and drove around saw some good game at 7 o’clock we saw tracks of buffalo, really fresh. We started to follow tracks thinking that we will get to the heard in about 10 to 15 minutes. We followed and saw a part of heard at 11 o’clock, however, we got busted and the whole heard ran away. We had to chase them one more hour before we saw them again but we got busted again and the heard ran away. We gave up and returned to vehicle, had a light lunch of canned fish and bread. While driving further we saw a bull from the car about 150 yards ahead crossing the road. Francois killed the engine and we were sure that the buff hadn’t seen us. The wind was good and we followed his tracks after about 15 minutes we saw the bull and by crawling in some really thick bush we managed to get 30 yards from the bull. Francois somehow saw the bull and told me that he is very good and I must shoot him. I got up stood there waiting to make something in the bush in front, Francois told me that he is facing us and will run any moment. I waited long around 2 mins for the bull to move slightly so that I can make something but the bull never moved and maybe I got tired waiting in that position and I fired at the middle of the black shadow in the bush.



The bull turned and started to run away but in the thick bush there was no chance for the second shot. In the few glimpses of the fleeing bull, I noticed that he was tumbling in the few steps that I saw, Francois also confirmed this. He asked me what I thought of the shot, I said no idea, I couldn’t make out anything, I fired in the middle but I don’t know where I hit him. Francois said that it should be good and we followed the tracks after about 80 yards we found two drops of blood. We followed at a very slow pace as the bush was thick but the bull tracks lead us into an open area. The tracks showed that the right leg print was a bit wayward. We followed and about 15 minutes later the tracks lead us in some really tall grass. The grass was so tall and thick that it was not possible to see the rifle’s barrel end when walking in normal position, it was a very dangerous situation. Francois said that it is impossible to see the buffalo in this grass from two yards and it is too dangerous to go on foot, he said that lets bring the cruiser in and see until where can we go on the vehicle. The ground's water table was quite high and I thought that we are going to get stuck here but we went into the high grass on vehicle with the tracker in front trying to find the tracks in that sea of green.



It was slow progress, the trackers did their job and we provided them cover from the vehicle as we could see better from this elevated position. They found a place where the bull had laid down with some blood on ground that gave us some hope as it confirmed that the bull is sick. We continued and after about ten minutes me and Francois spotted the bull lying 5 yards from the car, Francois told me that he is not dead and asked me to shoot, I shot the bull just behind the shoulder on which the bull jumped up and ran Francois also shot him while running and the bull could only go about 25 yards before collapsing and giving away the final death bellow. The grass was so thick that the driver and the trackers on ground never saw the bull even though at one point trackers were only 5 yards from it. The first bullet hit the bull in horn and then it went in going through the neck, it was not a shot that I should have taken and could have resulted in injury or worst to a member of the party. Thanks to the professionalism of Francois we successfully tackled a very tough situation.











On the way back we found a bush duiker feeding in a burnt patch where new green grass shoots have came out, we made a short stalk and shot it at 50 yards.



Day 6: I decided that with the main objective of the hunt achieved I will leave early and made the necessary arrangements through travel agent. With two days left I told Francois to lets try for the heartebeest as I wanted to collect one. We drove to slightly open area and climbed a mountain to glass, we saw a lone hartebeest from about 500 yards, the wind was good and we made an excellent stalk to about 40 yards of the animal but Francois said that he is just not good enough. We also checked some salt licks in the area.



We head back to the vehicle and drove further. After 30 mins, we saw a group of hartebeest run away from the road. We got off and tracked them for about an hour before finding them in a very beautiful and open valley. They were about 400 yards away and we crawled about 200 yards to get into shooting position. The group was scattered and started to feed towards us. We saw the male on the far side of the group and Francois said that he is a good one and we will shoot him. The male went behind some tree and bushes and we couldn’t see him for a long time. The female in front was getting close but the male was no where to be seen, when the male finally stepped out the lead female was only 30 yards from us and she had seen us. She took off giving warning whistles that alerted the whole group. This got males attention and he came forward presenting a 120 yards quartering shot which I took. On shot the whole group ran away, the male stood for about three to four seconds before running away there was no chance of a second shot. We walked up to where the bull stood and started tracking, we found some blood after 20 yards, we tracked about 200 yards when the trackers spotted the bull lying down, I fired one shot the bull struggled to get to its feet and tried to run but I put another shot to finish him, he was a nice Lewel Hartebeest.





Day 7:

This was the last day of my hunt and we decided to walk the forest on the banks of the small fast flowing river for Bushbuck and the red or blue duiker. We tried hard and walked for quite long but no luck, we did saw all the animals that we were lookimg for but it is hard hunting in the true forest and we couldn’t get a shot. We headed back to the camp for lunch and packed to head back to main camp as the transfer charter was early nest morning. On the way back to the main camp we saw lots of hartebeest and just before dark a pair of bushbuck! One look at the male and Francois said that it is a huge male but one of the horns is slightly broken. We let the pair go past a ridge then made a short stalk from the other side keeping the wind in our favor. As we crossed the ridge we the pair feeding at about 100 yards, the light was fading fast and the front end of the male was in a bush, I shot him high in the spine as that was the only part that I could see, he went straight down. I had the fifth trophy of the hunt and I was really pleased and this concluded my hunting for this trip.






The sun setting on the last day of my hunt.


Overall CAR is a very beautiful and remote part of the dark continent, it involves some real hunting but it is not for everyone.



You don’t see much game from the car but there is good animal population here and tracking is the order of the day. The operator and the PH told that there is a great poaching problem in CAR but I didn’t saw any evidence of poaching during my stay. Overall I will rate this safari very high, right up there with the best hunts that I have done.

Ahmed,

Another outstanding hunt. Thank you for posting - your pics and story transported me from the office and into Africa for a short time.

Thanks!

Alright - nice - congratulations!

Looks like you were shooting RWS 300gr factory loaded TUG's (UNI'S) and they worked? My favourite soft bullet in 9,3 - nice to see it worked at .375H&H velocity?

Truely stunning photos, One day I hope to hunt there. Thanks for sharing.

Ahmed, Your report is outstanding,and Congratulations on the LDE and the other trophies..WOW!

Great report Ahmed, Thanks.

Very nice. Congratulations. I really liked the pictures.

I have never heard of anyone calling buffalo. I would love to see that. It must be very exciting.

Great report! Contratulations on all the animals but especially on the eland. What an amazing trophy. Thanks for sharing.

George

Ahmed,

Excellenet report.... your making me green with envy! Of course in the most respectable of ways! Thanks for sharing a fine safari.

Wow! If there is such a thing as a run-of-the-mill Afrcian hunt report...then this certainly isn't it! Calling buffalo? Very interesting read.

Congratulations on the LD Eland. That is truly a magnificent animal.

John

Ahmed, my friend, great report and great hunt, I´m glad you got your LDE and all the other great trophies. I enjoyed the reading, almost feel like being there with you, thank you.

best regards and take care.

Incredible. The hunt, trophies, photos and report were all top shelf. Thanks so much for taking us with you...

Ahmed - Excellent hunt and great report. Congrats on a very successful hunt and glad you enjoyed CAR. I love hunting in that country and glad you enjoyed it as well.

Ahmed,
that is awesome!! congrats.

Ahmed,
Beautiful animals, the eland is outstanding! Thanks for the report.

Fantastic Ahmed!

An excellent report of a wonderful adventure.

I love the camp and scenery in particular, real Africa eh?

The only trouble is you inspire the rest of us to get up to no good also....

Best,

Amir

Congratulations on a remarkable safari! And thanks for your fine report.

Very Cool

Ahmed,

Great report. From the pics it must have been cooler since I didn't see anyone sweating. Both times I went, I swear we'd wake up sweating! LOL And the mopane bees were everywhere. Both times I've gone it was just off the Chinko river in the far east of CAR.

You are right in that CAR is a beautiful country. But that heat is something else. This is coming from a guy raised in Houston!

Did you try eating any of the hartebeast? I found it to be some of the best African game yet.

How do you plan to mount your eland?

Again, congratulations on a successful safari!

Oh yea, did you see any warthogs while you were there? Don't they have some of the biggest warthogs you've ever seen???

Great photos. I enjoyed them very much.

Ahmed,

Congratulations on a very special safari and some superb trophies. You photos are excellent also. I hunted Cameroon but would be very happy to hunt CAR one day.

Mark

Thanks for the great report! It sounds like you had an excellent safari.

Ahmed - Sounds like you had some fun, congrats!!!

Ahmed, congrats on a great hunt!

super trophies and report

Ahmed,

Really cool country!

Great photos, report and fantastic LDE.

Wow, have to put CAR on the list for sure.

Congrats!

"He was a good male with 53” horns."

I think you've just won the award for the understatment of the year.

Super Eland. I'm hunting CAR for LDE in Jan/Feb of 2013 and I cannot wait.

Excellent report Ahmed and some fantastic trophies! Well done...

Outstanding!

Great report and pictures. Love your understated style. Congratulations.

excellent hunt

Wonderful! Congrats on a great result!

Dear Ahmed,
Congratulations again for your hunt, and thank you very much for the nice comments you did. It was a great pleasure to hunt with you, and I hope we will share more hunting adventures. Next time we will get the buffalo by calling.
I must say that for a PH, it is easy to hunt the hard way knowing that the hunter is a great shot, and that he is always ready. Especially in CAR where the bush is thick, and animals always hard to get.
Thank you very much, and congratulations again !
François

great hunt

Congrats on another fantastic Safari mate. Really like the old Buff.
It seem the Frenchman likes the German tools.

Wonderful adventure. Excellent trophies. Congratulations.

Thanks everyone for the nice comments.

quote:

Originally posted by larryshores:
I have never heard of anyone calling buffalo. I would love to see that. It must be very exciting.

I will shortly post video of the buffalo calling.

quote:

Originally posted by lde:
From the pics it must have been cooler since I didn't see anyone sweating.

It was very cold in the nights, in fact sleeping in hut I needed two blankets for the first three days. In the morning it was also cold and it use to become pleasant at around 8. However, from 12 to half past one it was warm, you can still do tracking but during this one and a half hour you wish that you were in the camp pool.

quote:

Did you try eating any of the hartebeast?

No I didn't but I am sure it is. The food in camp was very good.

quote:

How do you plan to mount your eland?

Half life size with the legs in trotting position.

quote:

Originally posted by lde:
Oh yea, did you see any warthogs while you were there?

Yes did saw some big warthogs and lots of Roan as well but couldn't find the monster we were looking for. I have shot a very good southern Roan and honestly, apart from the name, I don't see any difference in the southern and western verity.

quote:

Originally posted by François de Grossouvre:
Congratulations again for your hunt

Francois!!!! I didn't knew that you have joined AR.

Welcome, I am sure the members will benefit from your presence here. Once again, thank you for every thing you did to make my hunt more enjoyable, much appreciated.