Outfitter: Central African Wildlife Adventures (CAWA)

Location: Central African Republic (CAR)

Dates: April 7-27, 2011

Area Hunted: Eastern CAR, areas 39-41

Weapon: .375 RUM, with 270 gr. Barnes soft/solids - topped with a Trijicon 2.5-10 x 56 scope

Professional Hunter: Philippe Clero (French)


For me, this hunt was long-awaited and a bit of a milestone, as it was my 25th African Safari. I originally scheduled this safari for Feb/March 2010, but had some last minute scheduling conflicts come up, so I postponed the hunt until April 2011. The outfitter - Erik Mararv worked with me to change dates, and fortunately we didn't miss a beat.

Arriving in Bangui via Paris, on April 7th, I was scheduled to be one of the last two hunters of the season, and the very last Giant Eland hunter of the year. My main desire was to hunt the Giant Eland, with Bongo as my 2nd choice, and then just keep the options open on other game. Unfortunately by the time my safari had started, the Eland bulls had all lost their beautiful black manes and Bongo hunting would be tough, but as an agent/outfitter/guide, being gone for 3 weeks in January - March would mean missing alot of potential business. So I scheduled for April, knowing it was not prime time for either animal, but with little other choice.

Erik's sister, Charlotte Mararv, handles all of the meet & greet at the Bangui airport, gun permits, hotel arrangements, getting you to the charter flights, etc. WITHOUT QUESTION, the most organized and professional meet/greet I have even seen on any safari in Africa!

So, after arriving on April 6th, over-nighting at the CAWA apartment in Bangui, we were off on the charter flight at about 6am on April 7th. The flight to the hunting area is about 2.5 hrs, and was un-eventful as normal. Arriving at the air-strip, we were met by Erik and his staff, including my PH for 3 weeks, Philippe Clero.



It never hurts to see the trophies from the previous hunters, as you arrive.



Loading up, we had a 4 hr drive to CAWA's north camp - Yassa. Where we planned to start looking for the LDE. Arriving at camp by mid-day, we ate lunch, checked the rifle, and got settled into our new digs. Which considering our location, accommodations seemed pretty nice to me.



Starting the next morning, plans were pretty simple. Get up early, hit the road while it was still "cooler", which is a relative term in CAR, and start looking for tracks of the Giant Eland. Generally, the idea was to travel to each of the known salt licks in the area, looking for fresh sign, and maybe finding the same along the way. According to Philippe, we would search hard for fresh Eland sign in the morning, not passing on the opportunity to track buffalo as well, if the opportunity presented itself. By mid-day, we would stop for lunch, and if we had no luck on the Eland in the morning, we would spend the afternoons, looking for buffalo or other available CAR species. Temps in CAR in April can be unbelievable, especially for a Colorado boy. Daily, the mercury hovered around 110 - 112 degrees farenheit. With nightime temps I would have guessed in the 80's. One thing I made sure to have along with me at all times was a full water bladder (pictured below - along with my gun and fanny pack)



Adding difficulty to the hunt was the fact that we were trying to film EVERYTHING. I really didn't want to shoot, if my cameraman (Patrick Montgomery) couldn't get the shot on film. And of course, we picked the worst time of year in CAR to try and get this done. As late March and April usually brings the beginning to the rainy season, things were growing up fast, and everything had turned green. Making it twice as difficult to see/shoot, or hope for a good shot/filming opportunity on game in the relative open. Regardless, we just simply had to deal with it, and Philippe was all for it. Patrick is a VERY experienced hunter/cameraman, and I felt confident he could get the job done. Being "Johnny on the spot", for the next 3 weeks was definitely his job. A job I was glad I didn't have!

Cameraman - Patrick Montgomery


Day 1 - started out pretty un-eventful, with no fresh Eland sign but a crash course in dealing with CAR's lovely temperatures. Staying hydrated and plenty of sun-screen was obviously the order of the day. Frankly 12 hrs of beating around on the back of the truck was worse than the temps, but there's nothing you can do about either one, except shut-up and like it!

Day 2 - and another early start, except this time we were only about 30 minutes out of camp when we came upon very fresh buffalo tracks crossing the road. Philippe and the trackers determined the sign was very fresh, and suggested we follow. So I gathered up my stuff, made sure Patrick had everything he needed, and off we went. It was obvious that the tracks/spoor was very fresh, and although none of us ever said it, I think we all felt very confident that this tracking job wasn't gonna take long. Barely 40 minutes on the tracks, and I was having my first look at the Central African Savannah Buffalo. Interesting to see the variety of color variations within the same herd/species of animal. Some are all black, some are redish/black and some are quite red.

Buffalo Herd at Salt Lick


As we were trying to look em over at about 80 yards through the trees/scrub, they magically started moving left, back towards the open meadow from which they had previously passed. What good fortune, and a great opportunity to get a good look, plus some great footage for Patrick. Slowly we followed off to the side of them, and moved in closer as they all filtered into the open. Off to the right, 3 bulls were feeding by themselves and Philippe whispered to me that the red one in the middle, was a very nice bull. Quickly we moved another 10 yards forward, closing the distance to about 90 yards. Philippe set up the sticks, I waited a brief second for Patrick to confirm he had the bull on film, and let one fly. The bull was slightly quartering away, so the first shot was just behind the right shoulder. Frantically they all fled to our left, my bull in the back, and I let him have another one as he ran, trying to keep up with the herd. Unfortunately for him, he only made it about 50 yards and piled up dead. Everything went as planned, including some great footage, and I had my first Savannah Buffalo.

Philippe and I with my Savannah Buffalo


Did I mention that Earnest & Spike were along for the hunt too???


Philippe and the guys were back with the truck by 9:30am, so we quickly skinned, quartered and loaded the buffalo. As it was obviously getting pretty hot, we needed to get the meat/cape back to camp. 10 minutes later, we rounded the corner and just at the edge of the forest gallery (Philippe's term for the forest/jungle) stood a beautiful Harnessed Bushbuck. We immediately jumped off the truck, grabbed the sticks, and tried to move closer. Obviously he was onto us, but let us get to about 220 yards. Just as I was lining up for the shot, he turned from a broadside position, to facing me head on. An awfully small target at 220 yards, but I shot just the same. At the report, he bucked about 3 feet in the air and bolted for the jungle? Normally with a .375 RUM and a little Bushbuck, they don't go far, but this one just didn't look good. After 5 minutes of searching we found blood, and of course he went straight for the thickest, swampiest place, he could find. After an hour of tracking, and very little sign, the PH decided we needed to get the buffalo back to camp asap, and we would have to come back later for the Bushbuck. Sometimes over-confidence is just as bad as no confidence when it comes to shooting, and it appeared I was guilty of that. In hind-sight I should not have taken a front-on shot, at that distance, on such a small animal. Philippe decided to wait until the following morning to send the trackers back to look for the bushbuck, as we reviewed the footage, and it appeared I had hit him through the tip of his left shoulder. Likely entering and exiting in a matter of 6-8 inches. So I would have to wait a bit to see the outcome of this one?

Late in the afternoon Philippe decided he wanted us to go to an area close to camp that can be very good for Red River Hog and Giant Forest Hog, ya right! The plan was to walk into this lake/forest area, in hopes of finding one of these 2 elusive critters. Well, seeing as we had little else to do I figured what the heck. I guess Philippe knew what he was talking about, as not more than 15 minutes into the walk, we were looking at a group of Giant Forest Hog!! Wow, what an amazing animal, and what good fortune that we actually found some. Luck for us, their eye-sight is poor, but hearing and smell is great. So as long as we were quiet and stayed down wind, we were fine. They were only about 40-50 yards away, as we looked patiently for a good male. Then, from behind us, one of the trackers was excitedly pointing about 50 yards left of the group. Sure enough, there he was! Quickly we moved left, and got to less than 50 yards from the big male. Again I confirmed with Patrick that he had him on film, and touched one off. He was quartering towards us, so the first shot took him right on the point of the shoulder. He lunged backwards, then stood perfectly broadside, as I shot him again just behind the front shoulder. He took about 3 steps forward, and fell over! Holy cow, I actually got the unique and highly sought after, Giant Forest Hog. Not to mention, that I have never seen one taken before on film. I have seen one shot, but the only thing you saw was the bushes, and then heard the shot. This one was clearly in the view-finder, and will make for a rare opportunity caught on camera. A pretty good end to the day.

Giant Forest Hog - My guess, he weighed about 300lbs.


Day 3 - another uneventful morning looking for LDE tracks and we were back in camp by 11am. Imagine our good fortune upon our return, one of the trackers had found my bushbuck! In fact, he said he had only gone a short distance from where we had stopped looking the day before, and there he was, piled up in the jungle. I was quite thankful that he was recovered, as there's nothing worse than losing a wounded animal. Philippe's idea to wait til the following morning was obviously the right call, as tracking/jumping him in that tangled mess, was almost impossible.

Harnessed Bushbuck


Again, the afternoon was spent looking for other critters and the PH decided it was Waterbuck time. I'm not really sure how he does it, but it seemed whatever he decided to target, that's exactly what we would find. Roughly 90 minutes before dark, we were looking at an exceptional Sing-Sing Waterbuck, standing in the open meadow. We had been walking for about 30 minutes, along the edges of these open areas, in hopes of finding just such a specimen. As we were trying to get around a large palm tree for a shot, the waterbuck noticed our pressence. Quickly the PH jumped out in the open, threw up the sticks and got out of the way. I too quickly got into the sticks, just as the waterbuck started sprinting to his left at about 120 yards. I fired, immediately he spun 90 degrees to his right and bolted for cover. The 2nd shot was a quartering away angle, and at the report he piled up in a heap. Flipping head over heals, I hoped he did not break his horns, luckily he had not.

Sing-Sing Waterbuck


The Trouble Makers!


Day 4 - Philippe decided we needed to move camp locations. We were seeing no fresh eland sign in the north, so we headed south to main camp. Along the way, we did find tracks of a group of eland numbering about 20, but not fresh enough to follow. Roughly 5 hrs later we arrived, had lunch, and went out for an afternoon drive. Same routine, saw little game, and spent time looking for eland tracks. But, we were in a very nice camp, and had high hopes the eland would appear.

View from my main camp Chalet


Dining Table at main camp


Bar at main camp


Photo inside Chalet


Day 5 - more searching for the LDE. We did locate sign of a small herd (roughly 4), but the tracks were about 24 hrs old. Obviously the PH decided not to follow, but he was very intent on finding this group again, as the bull amongst them had a huge track.

Day 6 - early start, and back to the same area from yesterday afternoon. Philippe keep talking about the size of the bull track from the day before, and how much the edges were worn down, etc. He was 100% confident this was a very old bull, one obviously booted from the herd by a younger, stronger male, thus he was now relagated to this group of 2 females and 1 baby, that were his only traveling companions. By 6:30am we came to the first saltlick, but no eland, at least not right on the lick! As Aru, the head tracker fanned out about 50 yards from the lick, he found fresh eland spoor. So fresh in fact, that just another 100 yards away, we found where they started running. No doubt, freightened by the approaching vehicle. And wouldn't ya know it, the same 4 eland from yesterday, and the big bull track that had Philippe so excited. Man, is this guy lucky or what I thought to myself. We went back to the truck, got all geared up, and proceeded after the Savannah Giant.

Luckily it was still early, so temps were not bad yet and even I could see the sign was smoking hot! Having done this before 4 yrs earlier, and having hunted eland elsehwere, I knew they could walk huge distances. But again, I felt relatively confident this one wouldn't take long. 2 hours later we were immediately halted by Aru, as he pointed right at a female eland. She was obviously aware of something, as she was intently staring at her back trail. I think she heard us, but did not see or smell us, as she literally stood there for 15 minutes, trying to see what was approaching from behind. As I mentioned earlier, everything was long since turning green, so the added foliage made seeing/spotting game very difficult. But all the while, the PH and I intently glassed all around hoping to see the big bull. I did manage to see the other female and her baby, but not the bull, and finally they all turned tail and trotted off.

Another hour later, and again Aru was pointing directly in front of us. This time, it was the lone female again, but without any idea we were there. As her and the other female/young milled through the trees, we all were frantically searching for the big bull. Then, Fernot, the number 2 tracker hissed, and pointed at a 45 degree angle, to our right. Unlike any animal I had seen before, save maybe my beloved lion. The Savannah Giant was striding in all his majesty, towards his traveling companions, and like them, unaware of our pressence. As quickly as we saw him, he disappeared. So again, we moved quickly but cautiously ahead and a bit to the right. Then, at the same time we all saw them standing directly in front of us at 123 meters. Immediately the bull was again, easy to recognize. But the entire front half of his body/head was mostly obscured by brush. We were all kneeling on the ground, Patrick was on him with the camera, and I was waiting for Philippe to give the OK to shoot. Philippe was simply confirming the bull had both horns intact, and within 2 seconds was telling me to shoot. At a slight quartering away angle, the opportunity was great, but my big concern was ALL the brush I was gonna have to shoot through first. Regardless, I wasn't letting the opportunity get away, as I placed the illuminated Trijicon dot the best I could through the bush, and fired. Instantly, just as the Giant Forest Hog, he buckled backwards at the shot, and immediately took off running directly to our left (parallel) to us. We all bolted forwards and left, moving about 25 yards, and again we spotted him trotting quickly in front of us and on the same parallel course. Philippe dropped the sticks, I picked an opening about twice the body length of the bull, 15 yards in front of him, and put the green dot right in the middle. The instant I saw him appear in my scope, I instinctively followed him onto his shoulder, pulled the trigger, and he crashed into a heap in dramatic fashion. Immediately I turned to see Patrick directly behind me, and confirming he got it all on film. What an incredible animal, and what an incredible experience! He was just the animal Philippe thought he was. Old, huge, gnarly and all worn down. With 44" horns, and almost 16" bases that were worn smooth, I truly had the Savannah Giant I had come for. Erik & Philippe both estimated him at 10 yrs plus, and figured he had maybe 1-2 more yrs left.

Me and the LDE, with my goofy sun hat!!


The Twins - Just Hanging Out


Patrick - Cameraman


Day 7 - It was time to head for the Bongo Camp. With the #1 Priority in the salt, it was time for priority #2 - Bongo! Again, we had a 5 hr drive from main camp to the Bongo camp, but of course along the way we were still hunting. Good fortune, and the 58th time we tried to get one to stand still long enough for a good shot/good footage, we had the darty but numerous, Red-Flanked Duiker.

Red Flanked Duiker


Days 8 thru 18 - well, I guess sooner or later our good fortune had to run out, and it did. For the next 12 days/10 nights we spent every evening & morning trying to get the elusive Bongo. In fact, we are very certain I had to have set some sort of record when it comes to Bongo hunting. I actually saw 31 Bongos over that 12 day period, but never a big/mature male that we were looking for. How in the world can you actually see 31 Bongos, much less not see one big/old enough to shoot? Ya, we don't know either, but it happened. I was the ONLY CAWA - Bongo hunter of the year to leave without one, including the hunter who was in camp with me, and saw only two, but shot a beautiful 31.5" monster.

Bongo Camp


We spent 12 days and 10 nights, ALL NIGHT, sleeping in Machans, roasting to death, in what we termed as "Bongo Jail". This was the real live jungle, with soaring temperatures, 100% humidity, and non-stop pouring sweat. Mosquitos, ants, no-see-ums and every other creepy crawler known to man, proceeded to bite, sting and harass the hell out of you, all night long. Oh, did I mention the 5 nights that it poured rain on us all night, in our non waterproof machans, and one moron - me! Who forgot his raingear??

Patrick in Bongo camp, sorting tapes/gear, etc.


During the day, Patrick did some fishing and caught a few good fish, including this Tiger


View from Bongo Jail (Machan), over looking salt lick.


Patrick & Philippe in the Machan


More Buffalo at a different lick (view from Machan)


Day 19 & 20 - headed back to main camp, finished all of our interviews, additional filming that was needed, and spent a few hrs with Erik at camp. We did track some more buffalo, as I could shoot 2 of them. After only 20 minutes of tracking we did come onto the herd with a tremendous bull, but unfortunately he was still soft, so we passed him.

Photo from main camp lounge area


Lounge Area - Main Camp



Summary: Without question, this was one of the single best safari/hunts I have ever had in Africa. The conditions are tough in CAR, and this is certainly not a hunt for everyone. Days are long, although the area has lots of game, the bush is so thick that rarely do you see anything. Roads are rough, and long hrs are spent driving, often going hrs with seeing little to no game. Except for the Red-Flanked Duiker, of which Erik's areas must have millions, cause you see them frequently. Temps are high, and nightime brings little relief. Tracking can be long and difficult, but we were fortunate to have it fairly easy. As a hunter, you must be physically/mentally prepared for the rigors of the hunt. Frankly, I don't personally find this type of hunting hard, but rather I refer to it as grueling. As the conditions simply never get better, until you leave. Certainly a strong mind, and good physical preparation are important. Although my figure ain't quite what it used to be. Training has been a part of my everyday life for 20 yrs. I still spend 45 minutes to and hour a day, 6 days a week, doing cardio. And I still hit the weights pretty hard, 3-4 days per week. At 38 yrs old, its getting harder to do it every day, but its better than the alterntative.

CAWA's OPERATION - Started in the 2006/2007 hunting season, Erik has developed one of the most incredible and unique hunting operations I have personally ever seen in Africa. His areas comprise roughly 5 million acres of COMPLETELY un-touched and un-inhabited wilderness. Un-inhabited by anyone, including the natives! Prior to his arrival, very little of the area had EVER been hunted or developed before, period! And still to this day, he is roughly only hunting about 20% of the area. Although, they are all the time, open new roads, moving further into the bush, etc. His under-taking is huge, but his devotion to the area has paid off big-time! Everything from beginning to end was perfectly executed by his staff, his PH, and everyone in between, I could not have been happier.

CAWA's GAME - My PH for this hunt, Philippe Clero. Has spent 11 yrs guiding throughout the CAR, and he personally told me that he has never seen areas as good as the one's owned/operated by CAWA. Along with the game I took, I saw plenty others, including some I had taken on my previous trip to the CAR in 2007, and was not interested in shooting again. I saw Roan, LDE, Lewell's Hartebeest, Warthog, Red River Hog, lots of buffalo, GFH, bushbuck, Oribi, Bush Duiker, Weyne's Duiker, Blue Duiker, Bongo, Sing-Sing waterbuck, Red Flanked Duiker, and others. It truly was full of game, way more so than I would have ever imagined. Fact is, out of the roughly 25-30 GFH shot in ALL of Africa each year, Erik shoots over 50% of them. My GFH was the 18th he had shot in 2010/2011 alone. He has one of, if not the best place for Yellow-Back duiker in all of Africa. CAWA was 100% on LDE this year, with mine being the 30th Eland shot for 30 hunters. Fact is, I just did not get time to hunt some of the other interesting species, as the bongo took up the rest of the hunt. Each year he shoots tremendous Leopard, unfortunately not importable into the U.S. And his lion hunting is quite good too, but again, we simply did not have time as we spent it all on the Bongo.

Bottom line for me, I simply could not have hoped for more. Except for maybe some better luck on the Bongo. I was so impressed with the possibility and likelihood of getting the forest duikers, like the yellow-back, the Weynes's, the Bay's and the Blue, that Erik and I have already made a tentative plan for me to return in December 2011. For another 2 week hunt, in hopes of getting my Bongo, plus spending some time on the forest duikers, and I am hoping like heck that he gets the Forest Sitatunga area totally developed by then too!

I had a great hunt and all went well. The footage is surprisingly good considering the filming conditions, and we hope to really make a great video and a couple of good TV episodes too. Hopefully I will be back in December, and hopefully my luck on Bongo swings the other way.


Thank you

Congrats on the superb trophies and the adventures. Excellent report!!

Super LDE !
Cant belive the shoot 30 Elands per season....

Great Report. Well done !

Have been wondering about your trip Aaron. Congrats! Great animals and a very enjoyable report and photos for us! Hope you get that Bongo on the next trip...

Great trip.

Wonderful safari and report. Thanks for sharing!

Very nice eland and welcome home.

Did I see Thierry at the airstrip getting on the charter?

quote:

Originally posted by safari-lawyer:
Very nice eland and welcome home.

Did I see Thierry at the airstrip getting on the charter?

Thanks Will.

No, Thierry wasn't at the air-strip, but the night before I had dinner with him and Dave Rademeyer in Bangui. They were leaving the CAR, on the same day I was flying out to camp. We had a couple of beers together, talked LDE, and they gave me some advice.

Arron,

Good show! I envy you the buffalo and waterbuck as I did not get those in Cameroon AND a GFH! I have to get back out there.

Mark

Wow Aaron, that is definately old Africa. Fantastic report and pictures.

quote:

Originally posted by MARK H. YOUNG:
Arron,

Good show! I envy you the buffalo and waterbuck as I did not get those in Cameroon AND a GFH! I have to get back out there.

Mark

Mark - The areas are LOADED with buffalo, getting one would not be a problem. I saw numerous shooter waterbuck, and the GFH was one of three big males I could have easily shot! The other hunter in camp with me saw 24 GFH!

Great pictures and sounds like an amazing time! Thanks for sharing

Definitely been on my list for a while. Spoken to a number of outfitters, but haven't found one just right, yet.

D

Congrats. Great report and photos. I would love to hunt that area some day.

Congrats on a superb safari... very nice trophies and an excellent report.

Congrats on a wonderful trip to an amazing place, Aaron. Excellent report and pics.

Love that Harnessed Bushbuck! in addition to your other trophies.

Great report buddy!

Congratulations on a wonderful trip. Look at it this way, not getting the bongo gives you the perfect reason to go back.

Congrats on a great hunt Aaron! Glad you took your LDE and the other great trophies!

Congrats on an excellent safari!!! You've just experienced a hunt many of us dream about!!!

That's the way to start out a safari--great trophies and report. Look forward to watching the hunt on a future dvd ? ? Great hunt!!

well done Aaron, look forward to hearing the story from you. `nice `eland!!!!

quote:

Earnest & Spike

Earnest and Spike bud? Really? How cute


Congrats on the hunt, cant wait to hear all about it!

Drum

Thanks for the great report on a dream hunt Aaron. Bud luck on missing out on the bongo i guess you will just have to go and do it again

Aaron,

Great report and congratulations. The bongo jail sounds like a tough place to be in prison.

Regards,

Arjun
www.huntersnetworks.com

Bongo Jail? Try machan hell! LOL

Great report and some really nice pics. Looks like you stayed in the same 'lodge' I did.

Where did Patrick get that tiger fish? Was it out of the river where you hunted bongo? Surely it wasn't from the river at main camp.

Can't believe you saw that many bongo and not one was a monster. I got lucky and took a decent one but the guy before me took a huge one.

Did you get to hunt with Erik at all? Like your hunt, my first one was at the end of season just before the rains. We were hunting bongo on the side of a hill in a pup tent (no kidding!). It started to rain and it just kept coming down all night. Well, about 3AM we started to get washed down the hill along with all of the mud and everything else. We had to pack out as quick as we could and make a rather long trek through the forest just to find some shelter. I think it was after that when Erik had a BUNCH more machans built. He didn't want to have to do that again. LOL

Left a message on your phone. Hope to talk with you soon.

Again, congrats on your eland.

Congratulations Aaron on all the fantastic trophies - going home without a Bongo wasn't from "lack of trying"! You need something to back for anyway...

I am a new member to this site and really enjoy reading these in-depth reports.

Great report! Thanks for sharing!
Will we be able to see some footage?
If you're putting this into a dvd, maybe a teaser is in the plans?

Dear Aaron

Sound like what we dream about.

If you need a bag carrier in Dec give me a yell.

Well done and good luck.

Mark

Great report! Looks like a challenging hunt.

I noticed that you used 270 grain TSX's. How fast did you push them and how did they work?

Ide - I did not hunt with Erik at all, but did spend some time with him at main camp. He has got several different machans now, and will have a 2nd camp/hunt location for Bongo in 2012.

Anders - Yes, we will have all the footage on the GLOBAL HUNTER DVD series, hopefully ready by January 2012.

JohnDL - I have used the 270 gr X bullet & TSX bullets for years. I use the 270 gr on everything, including elephant (solids). Muzzle velocity is about 2,950 fps. I have always thought they performed awesome!

Thanks guys for all the kind words, greatly appreciated.

What a great adventure! Thanks for the report.

Well done, a great hunt.

Terrific report and great photos. Thanks for posting a super hunt.

Aaron beatyfull eland!!one of the best hunting reports i have seen!!

Great stuff Aaron! Man, that brings back a LOT of memories for me and was in all three of those camps as well. That adventure is one of my favorites in Africa because it is challenging and everything means so much more when you are successful. The only thing that really bothered me when there was the bloody sweat flies! Everything else was of no issue. Dec, Jan and Feb the temps are much better. You should not have any problem with the small duikers when you go back as I saw quite a few.

If it was raining why did they not track the Bongo? They had dogs there when I was there and would think it would be a slam dunk with fresh tracks?

Welcome home Aaron..

Nice bag of tropies
Congratulations on the L.D.E

Aaron,

Awesome report and fantastic adventure.

Sorry the bongo didn't work out but you can hardly complain about your luck with the other great trophies.

Now you have a good reason to go back.

Love the eland.

Cheers!

Well done!!!! Great trophies, report and photos. I'm soooo envious!

Best regards, D. Nelson

quote:

Originally posted by Adam Clements:
Great stuff Aaron! Man, that brings back a LOT of memories for me and was in all three of those camps as well. That adventure is one of my favorites in Africa because it is challenging and everything means so much more when you are successful. The only thing that really bothered me when there was the bloody sweat flies! Everything else was of no issue. Dec, Jan and Feb the temps are much better. You should not have any problem with the small duikers when you go back as I saw quite a few.

If it was raining why did they not track the Bongo? They had dogs there when I was there and would think it would be a slam dunk with fresh tracks?

Adam, surprisingly the sweat bees were only bad the day I shot the Eland, and man they were REALLY bad! Other than that, the Tsetsee flies were worse.

Nope, no Bongo tracking. I think Erik tried the dogs awhile back, and didn't have much luck with em? I think I really just had some very bad luck, combined with hunting at a not-so-good time of year for Bongo.

The forest duikers are PLENTIFUL, and had I not spent some much time on the Bongo, I have no doubt I could have taken a couple of them. I definitely think I could have taken a Weyn's duiker, likely the Yellow-Back, definitely the Blue, as I passed up one, not sure why, and possibly the Bay's duiker.

Great story and a beautiful Eland

Tim