quote:

Originally posted by Wink:
You guys are getting this all wrong, you're supposed to invite me. I will however pay my airfare, my bar bill (you'll be glad) and if I don't miss I will even pick up my trophy fees. It's just one of those huge cosmic coincidences that my translation and photography fees work out to precisely the same amount as Toufic's daily rates.

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Originally posted by ForrestB:

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Originally posted by Woodhits:
Question: had you been hunting lion, do you feel like you would have had an opportunity at a shootable male? I realize that's pretty hypothetical but since the two of you were there on the ground it's worth asking.

The answer is quite a bit more complicated than the question. There's no baiting allowed in Burkina so it's basicly a tracking/stalking affair. I don't know the rules or customs on calling lions there.

There was one hunter in camp, JP, who didn't get a lion in the two weeks we were there. It was a strange deal though. It was either the most lackadaisical lion hunt I've ever seen or either the client, the PH, or Toufic didn't really want a lion to be found. The client had hunted with Toufic many times before...he knew the area and the general drill but had never hunted lion before.

In simple terms, I think that if we (with Idrissa) could call the shots we could have found a shootable male in our time there. We would have had two good opportunities without really trying.

First, was the wounded roan that Wink killed. We checked on the dead roan the next day and found the tracks of one female and one very big male. The lions had eaten about half the roan and were probably sleeping within 200 yards of where we were. I think we would have better than even odds of finding them. JP and his PH knew about the roan kill and tracks but never even went to check on it.

Second, we saw vultures in a tree and went to investigate. It looked like two male lions had made a kill and the tracks were smoking hot. We didn't hang around and certainly didn't go looking for trouble but I think we could have found those lions pretty quickly. JP and Toufic knew about this find but JP and his PH never went back to check it out.

Idrissa and his #1 tracker could track a lion in that sandy soil for sure. The high grass would have complicated matters and that's why I said I would book a lion hunt to start no earlier than late January. When it's that hot and there's limited shade I don't think a lion is going to stray far from it's kill for an afternoon nap.

We saw fresh lion tracks on the road virtually every day. We only saw one live lion...a female staking out a waterhole...but we didn't go looking for them either.

Toufic gets 2 lion permits per year. They get killed every year for all I know. I don't know what the success rate is for a given hunter.

I know this answer probably raises more questions than it answers for you. I came away with a lot of puzzling questions about the lion hunt as well. This is the best response I can offer.

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Originally posted by jjbull:
Thank you for an outstanding report with great photography, gentlemen.

One question is still hanging though; What happened with Rachel and her tickets?

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Originally posted by MJines:
JB, I sent Skansen a note and suggested that he PM Wink for some background on his hunt. I am sure Wink would be happy to help. Hope all is good with you.

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Originally posted by jbderunz:
Hi William

I feel really ashame not having read this before, I just discover it. Shame as I was supposed to join You in Burkina.
A fantastic report, bringing back plenty of fond memories.
You really have a knack for racounting, and you provide an honest and very vivid report.
On the african hunting forum, Skansen is asking for help for hunting a lion in Burkina. Can You help him
Thanks

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Originally posted by GeorgeS:
This intrigues me. I may reconsider my decision to never hunt Africa again.


What languages does Toufic speak?

George