Hunting Area: Porga Concession of the Pendjari National Park
Hunt Dates: January 13-26, 2008
Booking Agent: San Miguel Outdoors Russell Selle and Oliva Angelloz
Travel Agent: Gracy Travel/Susan Hill
Airline: AirFrance
Outfitter: Club Faune
PH: Yann le Bouvier
Trackers: Daniel, Diyah, Quaggo and Matthew
Temps: 50's to upper 90's
Rifle: Dane Burns/Mike Kizler custom 9.3x62
Ammunition: Factory Lapua 270 grain Naturalis bullet

I became interested in hunting western Africa a number of years ago after reading an article in Hatari Times about the opportunities for hunters there. I've always wanted a roan antelope since seeing one in a trophy collection 25 years ago. Free-ranging roan are tough to find and very expensive when you do find them... a 21 day animal in Tanzania or 14 day animal in Zambia with high trophy fees attached to them to boot. Benin and Burkina Faso both looked like reasonable choices to take this royal antelope without having to pay a king's ransom! And I could add a savanna buffalo in the deal.

I talked to Harald Wolf, pm'ed Aziz who hunted in B-F last year and exchanged e-mails with Toufic in Paris about opportunities he had. But it is tough communicating with a Parisian outfitter. Their English is fair but my French is sorely lacking. I decided to see if the US booking agents represented a western African hunt. In the end I found only a handful of US booking agents that offered outfitters in Benin and only one in B-F.

Both booking agents that offered Benin hunts offered me the same outfitter... Club Faune. But only one agent had actually hunted with them in their Porga camp and so I booked my hunt through Russell Selle and Olivia Angelloz of San Miguel Outdoors. Olivia had hunted there not once but twice and had taken all of the game species offered in Benin. She was an excellent resource and I must admit, I have never had better service from an agent in my hunting career. In fact, she called three different times while I was in camp to check on my progress.

Hunt booked, I turned to Gracy for travel arrangements and as usual, Susan Hill came through for me. I flew AirFrance direct from Houston to Paris on the "red-eye" flight and overnighted in Paris before flying into Contonou, Benin the next day. AirFrance had great service and I had preregistered my firearm and ammo and had no problems at all with check-in in the US or Paris. The only thing they asked was to weigh my ammo each time I boarded.

Club Faune has a man on the ground who meets you at the airport, collects your luggage and clears your firearm for you before whisking you away to the Marina Benin Hotel for a good nights rest. This is a very good thing because, as those of you who have hunted Central and West Africa know, French is the lingua franca and chaos in the airport is the name of the game....

At 8:00 the next morning we packed the car and headed across the country, literally, to the concession. We drove from Contonou in the south to the Pendjari National Park on the border of Burkina Faso, a seven hour drive!

Camp was nice and comfortable. The accomadations were built for PM Giscard of France in the 70's and featured individual rooms with double beds, en suite bathroom and air conditioning. The AC is very important in the March/April hunts when the daytime temps soar to 115 to 120 degrees F.


Porga Encampment


Home, sweet home


Our chef working his magic!

The food was great. Breakfast was croissants and coffee with fresh squeezed oj, lunch was usually a chef salad with ham and cheese, tuna or anchovies and dinner a french delight... beef with bleu cheese, buffalo kabobs, fresh fish in a delectable creamy butter sauce... too darn good.

My PH on this hunt was Yann le Bouvier, a French PH with 25 years experience under his belt. He has been guiding across west, central, eastern and southern Africa. He starts in Benin in January and finishes the year in Mozambique in October. Yann is an excellent tracker and has the most incredible ability to spot game of almost any PH I have hunted with. The last day of our hunt he actually spotted a bushbuck asleep behind a log 60 meters in front of us by noticing only the horntips. Spooky. Yann is intense and emotional and enjoys trying to get you the very best trophies he can find. He has a few habits that take getting used to but he is an exceptional hunter and after a few days in the bush we got used to each others "styles".



Yann, Daniel and Diyah

The first morning out we reconned a couple of areas Yann wanted to check out. I was the second hunter into the Porga concession this year. The concession is 200,000 acres and is part of the Pendjari National Park. The Parks Commision sectioned off two hunting concessions, Porga and Batia. Again, hunting pays the way for the animals as the park use fees pale in comparison to the concession and trophy fees! Here is a map of the park and hunting areas, the park being darker brown and the cocessions in tan.





Park entrance you enter each morning


Since I was in the concession so early, the grass was still quite high and though Yann had burned some areas with his first hunter, he needed to continue the burning to encourage new grass growth and entice animals to move into the area and stay because of the graze and browse. We burned 1000's of acres while I was there and what always fascinates me is that you can burn an area and two days later you have green shoots of grass and buff tracks in the burn!



Burning Benin



It always amazes me how the birds and animals adapt to the customs of the country. Birds would flock in to catch the insects, mice and snakes moved by the flames... bee-eaters, rollers, kites and hawks all swarmed into the fires.

The first animal I took was on day two... I saw plenty of game on the first day just nothing that excited Yann. I started out abysmally on Day 2 by missing a walking shot at a bushbuck at 140 yards or so. Just flat missed... saw the crosshairs dip off the shoulder as the trigger broke and shot low. Not an easy shot but one I could make. I redeemed myself later in the morning when we spotted two hartebeest bulls standing in a burn. We stepped out of the truck as it continued to roll forward and headed for the bulls but there was little to hide behind. They broke and we got on them twice before the biggest bull gave me a broadside at a long 250 yards. This is savanna and it reminded me alot of Masailand in Tanzania. Alot of open country with the possibility of stretching your barrel on some long shots and this was certainly one of those instances. I put the little 9.3 high on the bulls shoulder and he dropped at the shot. Redemption and a fine bull to boot!


Western Bubal Hartebeest



At around 11:00 that morning we got on buff tracks, Yann thought we could catch them and a grueling fours hours later under a killer sun with temps flirting with 100, we did just that. We ghosted the herd for 30 more minutes and couldn't locate a decent bull... so we let them go and we drug into camp, exhausted, at around 5:00 that afternoon. One tip, on a hunt in a climate like this... central or west Africa or southern Africa in September or October, powdered Gatorade can be a lifesaver! Your body needs to replenish those electrolytes!

Day three we found the buffalo!

Russell,

Did you hear me scream? I was all set for the whole tale and you only just got started. Argh!!

Mark

Thanks for the pictures.
Nice recollections of my visiting this zone in 2003.
Bushfire : they love to set bush ablaze in this place. We nearly got burnt in the car by bushfires just 5 km prior to arriving at this camp.
The restaurant : we had quite a couple of beers outside this bar, with a little flag on each table advertising for "Flag" beer. There was also "Benibra" beer. Nice recollections.
Back to Burkina, we even sustained a charge from a Ele cow along with a calf. A close shave, not good to see an ele rushing in the night to the car.
Yann le Bouvier (note Bouvier like Jacky Bouvier Kennedy) is a count or a baronnet, his full name is Yann le Bouvier de Halna. In 2003, he was just recovering from having been gored by a buffalo a couple of months previously.
Thanks for this grand report

Hey Russell, looks good so far! I am in Paris waiting for my flight to Washington. It's been a long but very exciting 18 days. Pls include lots of detail in your report so I can copy it for mine! Talk soon, Bill

Russell,

Great start! Please keep it coming. Congratulations on your trip. Hugh

Mark,
Working on it as fast as I can but you know me, details make a Hunt Report, imo.

JB,
Yann is indeed a very interesting gentlemen and I enjoyed our conversations about his growing up in Brittany, castles, how he came to be a PH, etc. His story of being gored by the buff and barely surviving is simply amazing... thank God his wife was in camp at the time!

Bill,
Great to hear from you, my friend. I have heard you had great success and look forward to our conversation and your Hunt Report!

An excellent beginning to the report -- I look forward to the rest.

Since every day is a buffalo day until you get your bull on the ground, we were up at 5:00 every morning and on the road by 5:45 to 6:00. We had been on buff tracks each morning but often times we would car track them for awhile to determine if they had headed back into the park. (No sense in following and wasting time if you could find another set of dugga boy tracks leading away from the park!)

Day 3 we started at the far end of the concession where a two track road parallels the park boundary at about 3 miles difference. Diyah takes his spot on the hood and we begin slowly driving while he looks for spoor crossing the road.

Early season has it's advantages and disadvantages. The weather is cooler and more pleasant to hunt in but the grass is still high, water plentiful in the pans and tributaries of the Pendjari River, and the game scattered. As season progresses, it gets much hotter... water dries up and game concentrates along the river. By burning his concession, Yann also ensures a supply of palatable grass and browse drawing many animals out of the park. Alas, I had to hunt the whole concession for my animals but... the best trophies are all still there if you can find them!


Pendjari River

After 45 minutes we cut smoking hot spoor headed toward the park. The truck stops and Yann and the trackers look things over. 75 yards from the cruiser, they drop to the ground and Yann furiously waves to get Matthew to kill the engine. They slink back and everyone gears up. Yann tells me that while the herd has already moved away, they spotted a group of 11 dugga boys ghosting the main herd with one really good bull in it and they are only minutes ahead.


Porga sunrise on Day 3

We take up the tracks and in 10 minutes have the bulls in sight, approximately 300 yards ahead of us. Easy, I thought, real easy. However, you know the story, if you hunt Africa you've been there. 500 yards later we accidently spook a roan and it runs right through the bulls! They break into a run and the trackers utter "tsk, tsk". Everyone is spooked now and for the next mile or so the tracks show the roan stays with the bulls pushing them ahead.

At first we think all is lost as the bulls will head to the park but we got a lucky break. The bull sensing a threat, lion or otherwise, move to get the wind at their backs. This pushes them west and away from the park. 2.5 hours later we catch up to them. The roan moved out a mile or two ago and they are back to moving to bed, grazing as they go. We manuver for a shot, and are foiled once as the buff shift. We move quietly ahead and reset. The buff begin to file by. No. No. No. No. Yes, the bull under the tree. He stands out immediately! I put the crosshairs on the buff's shoulder and the 9.3 barks. The bull collapsed where he stood unaware of our presence, both shoulders broken from the Naturalis bullet. He begins to bellow and we move up for a finisher.


Benin Buff and the 9.3

Yann explained to me before that these buffalo have a bad attitude, in his opinion, even worse than their bigger cousin, Syncerus caffer. As we approached, the group of bulls came crashing back up, noses in the air, to see what happened to their fallen comrade. Yann urged me to put a bullet through the withers of the bull breaking his spine and then we beat a hasty retreat. Our trackers had already taken to the only other climbable tree in this area. By yelling and working to give the buff our scent we eventually moved them off!



What a fine buff, Yann was pleased and I am estatic. All animals are measured for the Park's records using the SCI scoring method and my bull came in at a respectable 71 inches putting him in the top 25 in the "book". These buff are about 1300 pounds vs 1800 pounds for the cape and built like an angus bull. They are found in black and red coloration and have that unique horn formation that sets them apart from the cape buffalo. If you look closely, you can see a hint of red in my bull's hindquarters.


Red Western Savanna Buffalo cow


Buff at waterhole

We want more !
Excelelnt that buff as got some character on it super trophy

Excellent report so far. The hartebeest looks rather horse-like in the face, unusual!

Great stuff!

By the time we hacked a road into the bush, took photos, and cut the bull in half and loaded him, it was 12:30. We piled into the cruiser for the 2 hour drive back to camp. As we drove along the sun began to bear down on us and temps begin to rise toward the century mark. Yann remarked to me that we should see some roan on the way in and might even find an old bull worthy of taking. I chuckled, yea right wouldn't they be active when it is cooler... Yann explained late morning to mid-day the roan move to water so it is not uncommon to run across them as they travel. I jokingly asked what we would do with a 700 lb. antelope if we shot one seeing the car was loaded down with a buff and 7 people. Yann replied "tie him to the hood, of course".

Fifteen minutes out of camp, I was roused from my semi-stupor by the guys excitedly pointing and whispering to Yann. A herd of roan had crossed the road in front of us and the bull in back looked impressive. To keep the roan from getting suspicious we slowed but traveled on by them and they walked over a slight rise in elevation and disappeared. 100 yards down the road we stopped and Yann, Daniel and I bailed off with the sticks and crept back. Sure enough, when the roan dropped out of sight they settled and were slowly grazing and making their way back to a distant treeline.

Too easy, what will happen next. For once, ol' Murphy was nowhere to be found. The cows became nervous as we appeared on the horizon but were being harassed by 2 young bulls. The old bull was watching his competitors and had no idea we were in the vicinity. We set up the sticks and I got ready. It was picture book perfect... the old bull walked out from behind a small motte of trees and when he did he stopped broadside at 110 yards. Yann whispered "shoot" and I had the animal I had come to west Africa for. He was a weathered old warrior with thick broomed horns and a black face with gray starting to show... a wonderful trophy! I will never forget the sight of that bull broadside in my crosshairs... the culmination of a 25 year dream!



And, yes, we did indeed eventually load him on the hood of the cruiser. I say "eventually" because even with 7 people it was quite an undertaking to get a 700 pound roan bull over the winch and brushguard and onto the hood! My back still aches thinking about it. But when in Rome...

You're killing me Russell! Please, for the love of God, finish the fricken report!

I've been trying to convince Ozhunter to consider Benin as a safari destination for sometime now, without success. Maybe your report will intice him? I can tell you, I don't need any further convincing. Cheers, Jim

Bon travail, Russell!

Great roan and buffalo. Thanks for the details.

Your buff seems to have an extra-wide face--hope you can get him mounted with that apparent!
Congratulations--again!

After Day 3 the pressure was off. We were now hunting for the sheer joy of trying to find some of the other species indigenous to this area that I haven't been privileged to hunt before. Mornings were much more leisurely. Up at 6:30, hunting around 7:15... I mentioned to Yann I would really like to take a red buffalo bull and though he didn't have one on quota in Porga, he pulled out all the stops trying to find some unused quota in neighboring concessions, but alas on Day 5 we got the news, no buffalo available anywhere. Another disadvantage of arriving early in the season.

My next animal was a western buffon kob. They were plentiful and we looked at a number of rams before I got the OK to shoot. They reminded me of puku, the Zambian variety of kob, but were a deeper hue of red and had shorter hair. Early one morning we found this ram and I took him through the lungs at 170 yards.




Kob Rams near the Pendjari

A couple of days later we happened upon this oribi. we saw oribi almost every day but when they start running they hardly ever stop and look back. We caught this ram early one morning going about the business of whatever oribi do and I shot him when he stopped in the thick grass. Unfortunately my bullet must have tumbled because I made a mess of things I'm afraid... even if we didn't have to track him far!



One of the animals I really wanted was a Nagor Reedbuck... not many US hunters have these in their collections and Yann had taken the number 1 SCI reedbuck here a couple of years before plus 4 other "top ten" reedbuck in Porga. Let me say here, I do not hunt for the record books, never have, never will. I haven't entered any animals in the book because it hasn't been important to me or the reason I hunt. But we all admit to wanting to shoot old males and nice trophies.

We were having bad reedbuck luck and had been stalking the long grass for 4 fruitless days. We found small rams and ewes but the big rams were putting the pants on us! We must have averaged several miles a stalk as we covered all of the areas Yann thought the rams preferred. We were always a step too slow or slightly out of position when a big ram broke. Often we burned as we walked along and it was sometimes disheartening to hear the trackers tell us that as they were burning they walked right up on nice reedbuck and bushbuck rams. Oh well, sometimes when you pay your dues, good things happen.

We were driving through an area we burned a few days before that wound around a tributary of the Pendjari River, when we saw several reedbuck run out of the riverine brush and into the open. Just like the roan once more a female was the male's downfall! He and a rival were intent on winning her over. Yann immediately had Matthew kill the engine and just started commanding me to shoot the one on the left. Shoot now! I usually don't shoot from the truck but his insistence and tone told me I needed to kill this ram. The gun came up and with a dead rest and a 125 yard shot... the ram went down. When we walked up to him I knew he looked big and said so. Yann just kept muttering to himself. We took a number of pictures and I noticed the crew was especially jovial about this trophy but we had hunted reedbuck hard for 4 days so I thought that was it.

After loading the ram and starting for camp Yann looked and me and said that this ram might be bigger than any he has taken before. I was dumbstruck. Back at camp we ran a tape over the horns and calculated the SCI score. Yann disappeared in his room for awhile and when he came out he wanted to go back and remeasure the horns with the cape off. Afterwards he smiled and shook my hand. 7/10's of an inch larger than the current number 1. Don't know if it will hold nor do I care... it may be the best scoring trophy I've taken in the 90 or so African animals I've been fortunate to have hunted....

Enjoying the report Russell. Congratulations on a great trip.

Excellent report and pictures -- congratulations on a great hunt in an out-of-the-ordinary area.

Thanks to everyone for their compliments... I promise I will wrap this up tomorrow!

quote:

Originally posted by bwanamrm:
The old bull was watching his competitors and had no idea we were in the vicinity. We set up the sticks and I got ready. It was picture book perfect... the old bull walked out from behind a small motte of trees and when he did he stopped broadside at 110 yards. Yann whispered "shoot" and I had the animal I had come to west Africa for. He was a weathered old warrior with thick broomed horns and a black face with gray starting to show... a wonderful trophy! I will never forget the sight of that bull broadside in my crosshairs... the culmination of a 25 year dream!

That's it. You've made up my mind for me.
Wink, I hope you're reading this because you're coming with me.

Great report Russel congratulations on all the trophies whether you took them with your rifle or camera or just captured them in your memories.

Forrest, go for it.

Congrats on the reedbuck. Fantastic roan. Lots of character in the face and horns. I love the unique shape of a roans ears. That map of the park painted on the wall is a great piece of African folk art!

The next 5 days we hunted red flanked duiker and harnessed bushbuck hard. We drove the river roads, stalked tributaries at dawn and dusk, and hiked over hill and dale trying to find a shootable male of either or both species. We saw duiker everyday but if we had one that was shootable... it was a female. Same with bushbuck. We were oh so close a couple of times but when a bushbuck was caught in the open, it was a female or smaller male. So it goes and that is hunting... the miss from Day 2 was beginning to haunt me.

On day 12, Yann had Matthew stop the car at the edge of a huge burn. Two warthogs were rooting about 250 yards out in the middle. We had seen quite a few warties, but the Benin version has considerably smaller tusks than his southern brethren. An 8"er is a definite shooter, 9"s is exceptional and 10"s is a "top ten" in most of western Africa.

We needed something to take the edge off. We had hunted hard for 3 days with no game taken and everyone was getting fatigued. So Yann thought both of these boars deserved a closer luck. The wind betrayed us early in the stalk. As in most of Africa, as the sun warms the savanna, the winds grow fickle and for the last 5 days the Harmatten winds had blown hard from the Sahara to the north limiting game movement and creating the most spectacular dust devils I had ever seen!

The warthogs picked up a faint whiff of human and began to trot off. Yann was determined to take the biggest and watched them in his binos, then turned to me and gave me a "thumbs up". 30 minutes and a wide looping stalk later we ended up overlooking a dry pan filled with newly sprouted grass. There was the most warthogs I have ever seen congregated somewhere other than a Nambian waterhole. 8 warties were rooting around including our 2 boars. We eased up to them, usually not difficult due to the wartie's only fair eyesight, but complicated by 16 eyes!

After a thorough evaluation we decided which pig we would take and as usual, he was the far boar with his rear pointed toward us. So we leopard crawled (shows you how serious we were) 30 yards closer and I got a steady rest on the sticks and a burned out tree and waited. Several minutes later he moved to a slightly more delectable patch of dirt and I took him through the shoulders. 2 kicks and kufa!



The last days we worked hard but it just wasn't to be. I struck out on bushbuck and r-f duiker, but again, that is fair chase hunting. Yann took it hard, he really wanted me to go home with everything. Hunting is not like going to the market and picking up a loaf of bread and a gallon of milk. Rare is the safari where I have returned with everything I would have liked. I remember the Cookson Wildebeest bull I passed in Zambia as an example. Sometimes it doesn't happen and the more I hunt, the less the hunt becomes about "a list" and more about the experience. The sights, sounds, smell and feel of a new adventure in a new place are what I remember and cherish most in a hunt.

Final and Random thoughts on Benin

Benin and west Africa are destinations few Americans travel to. Europeans, however, hunt here frequently but a few outfitters are beginning to realize the benefit of advertising in US hunting journals, shows and utilizing US booking agents. Central Africa is slightly more popular due to glamor species like bongo and Lord Derby eland. Currently San Miguel Outdoors, Safari Consultants and John Lasalla's African Adventures are the only agents I know of that are representing Benin and Burkina Faso hunts.

Language is an issue. French is the lingua franca. Yann spoke impeccable English but he was the only person I met in Benin who did. The dollar gets you nowhere fast here... Euros and the French Franc are the currency of choice. I actually had several people turn down dollars, the first time this has ever happened to me in Africa. And, because of the dollar's decline, it is getting more expensive to hunt here. If you look back 5 or so years when Judge G hunted Burkina, he will tell you it was a very reasonable hunt. It is still the least expensive option for roan and savanna buff, IMO. However, the hunt cost me $2,500 more than I expected after the sub-prime debacle crapped out the markets and put the $ in a tailspin.

There were a few quirky issues I wasn't used to. Bring your own bottle or three of your favorite libation and packets of cystal light or Gatorade. You are charged for everything you drink except water and coffee. Every coke, beer and mixed drink is charged to you. Even a shot of that flavored syrup you always see in Africa cost you. I was surprised that, even after going through my liter of 15 year old Glenlivet and not utilzing their scotch until Day 9, that my drink tab was still 125 euros, almost $200! And I was paying over a grand a day to be there. And remember that many European hunters have different habits than Americans. Not better or worse, just different, so roll with the flow and you will click with the PHs style in a few days.

But after hunting in most of southern Africa and a trip to Tanzania, I was looking for something different. And Benin fit the bill to broaden my African hunting experience.

I would definitely recommend this hunt to the more veteran African hunters who have several trips under their belt and are looking for something different. You could start out here, but it is easier to begin your African travels in an English speaking country, IMO. It is an easy country to fly to... only 16 hours flight time from Houston! My agent made the hunt logistics a breeze and I highly recommend the services of San Miguel and Olivia Angelloz. Though I have never met her face-to-face she treated me as if I were the firm's ONLY client.

In the end, I shot the buff and roan I've longed for all these years and took some fantastic trophies on top of that, so I can give this hunt a "thumbs up". It has me thinking about the CAR and possibly the newly-opened Gabon in the future. Yann recommeded an African buff slam to me and I was intrigued... cape, northwestern buffalo, Nile buffalo, west african savanna, and forest buff... the smallest of the group. Hmmm a new Holy Grail?


Cathedral



Wild Gardenia, a Roan favorite


Darn ankle twisting worm mounds!


Old one tusker


Porga Sunset

Great report

Very very very very nice !

Russell,

Excellent report and great trophies. I know nothing of the variety of reedbuck you shot but it was one of those that you just know is really big when first look at it. Congrats! World record? Wow!!

I agree a French influenced safari is definitely a different experience than what you find in Southern Africa.

Mark

Outstanding Russell! I always look forward to your reports, they are the best.

Congratulations on a great hunt and thanks for the excellent report.

Fantastic trip. Congratulations on another great report.

Thanks for sharing! I really enjoyed reading it.

Thanks Bwanamrm - African Buff grand slam is a way to go

Tempting view of great promise...

Great report. THanks.

It was an absolute pleasure to assist you in planning this unique international hunting quest -Benin is a special destination and a wonderful challenge for the serious hunter. Thanks for sharing your story & photos!

Several times you mention the oddities or differences in hunting with PH's of European inclination.Would you be kind enough to give us some more specific details about how this might differ from what we might experience imn hunting with a typical South African PH?

Russell: What, no kudu on this trip?! Seriously, that is one fine Roan. Having shot Roan in 2007 myself, I know how truly satisfying that hunt can be. Congratulations my friend.

Russel a hearty welcome home, a dream fulfilled and future tips to come...

The best,

Mike

Russell,

Great report and pictures. Glad you had a great safari. Looks like I am heading back to Zim next year for another elephant and a leopard or sable with CMS so I will be sending money your way again soon! Congrats again on a great safari.

quote:

Several times you mention the oddities or differences in hunting with PH's of European inclination.Would you be kind enough to give us some more specific details about how this might differ from what we might experience imn hunting with a typical South African PH?

Eyedoc,

Sure. Remember in the good ol' U.S., most hunters look for inches and record book score to define "trophy" to them. Notice I said "most". Most Europeans are into the taking of a mature, past prime breeding age animal to define "trophy". Germans especially, see taking an old broken down head we would consider a cull, as the true definition of a trophy. So expectations are different. Yann expected me to be caught up in the "inches" game as some of his US clients are. When he finally realized I was there to take nice trophies but the experience meant more to me than the quality. We "clicked" and he didn't feel the pressure he had placed on himself earlier. The pace of the hunt became less frenetic and we took some great trophies... the reedbuck being an example.

Also, U.S. hunters have a laundry list of animals they want to shoot when they arrive in camp, while many Europeans want 2 maybe 3 animals and hunt for them at a more leisurely pace... not better or worse, just different.

Fjold made an excellent observation and that is I sometimes get more excited about capturing a certain animal or landscape in a great photo than I do about taking an animal...

BTW, welcome to the AR Forums Olivia... we should be the richer for having you contribute!

And thanks to all for the kind comments.

Hello Russel

Abslolutely marvelous , had to come back and check after talking too you,

And does not matter where the Marshall legs will be shorts !

See you friday