Operator- Mayo Oldiri
Agent- Buchanan Hunts
Areas- Mayo Gaba, Mayo Oldiri and Mayo Bvahimba
Hunter - Mr C
Ph- Pepo
Camera Man - Andy Buchanan (self)
Head Tracker. Ngomna
Rifle 375 CZ


Buchanan hunts recently got back from a very successful Cameroon lord derby eland hunt.
Some of you may remember Mr C from my last Cameroon forest report. This year I was with Mr C for Lord Derby.
We began our adventure out of Mayo Gaba Camp, which used to be a fly camp but has now been turned into a main camp overlooking the Mayo River. This camp is rustic (just the way Mr C likes it!) the food is great and the staff are very pleasant.

On the first morning of the hunt it didn’t take us long to get onto some fresh buffalo tracks and with the sun shining golden orange through the open Savanah woodland and the smell of buffalo dung and freshly disturbed dust in the air – Mr C and I finally felt that we were on Safari after the long and tedious journey getting there.

How privileged we were to be here in the wilds of North West Africa.
Before long we caught up with the small herd and after glassing them over, our PH Pepo and tracker Ngomna judged that there was no bull mature enough to take so it was back to the truck.



The rest of the day was spent scouting the area to see what the Eland movement was. In the afternoon, we found where the Eland were moving and planned to be there at first light to look for fresh tracks to follow. On our way home, we shot this old Kob – a good shot. Blood has been spilt.



We leave camp before sunrise and we are In the Eland zone by first light. Fresh Tracks!!! Suit up and begin the march…… we walked for about 40 minutes on clearly very fresh sign, it is easy going as it seems to be a big herd, there are broken branches and fresh leaves on the ground all over the place. CRACK……. The sound of a large branch snapping in the distance. The trackers and I hear it but the PH doesn’t, he insists we follow on the tracks. It’s not long before we hear more branches breaking, the wind is good so we head straight for the sound. Soon there are Eland in sight. Toing and froing through the trees, we zig zag tree to tree closer and closer. Ngomna spots something off to the left and we make a horizontal diversion and I see the sticks go up. I zoom into the only Eland I can see, he is quartering away at about 160 yards across a gully. The gun goes off and I can see the near front leg flopping around as the Eland bounds off……..
We follow the blood trail for about half a mile before it crosses the Boundary into the neighboring Outfitters area. The vehicle is called and we go to pick up 2 trackers from the neighbors camp – back on the blood trail these 2 Mbororo Trackers are like bloodhounds. We are basically speed walking this Eland down.


(During the slave trade days the Mbororo woman where considered very beautiful and highly prized by slave traders therefore they would scar their own faces to deter capture. The Practice is now part of their tradition. Men Included)

After only 15 minutes we bump him and now we are running after him. We run for about 10 minutes, eventually we get another shot off and its over. The Lord Derby Eland is down and everybody is celebrating!!! Mr C is not happy with his first shot but I assure him that these things happen to EVERYONE, and that the important thing is that we found the wounded animal, which, is not always the case.



That night we drank champagne toasting the end to a magnificent day. The following day we scouted for Buffalo movement, although we didn’t manage to take anything we had a great time watching a group of Giant Topi



Day 4 and we have cut fresh buffalo tracks – this was a wonderful hunt. We track for miles and I spend my time capturing film of all the incredible bird life found in this part of the world.




After about 3 hours of traversing various terrain, from tall grasslands, hills and open woodland we catch the buffalo moving through a rocky outcrop. We followed closely behind them as the wind was good and the buffalo were completely oblivious to our presence. We stopped and glassed, caught up, stopped and glassed over and over for about 20 minutes until the sticks went up on a quartering away buffalo at about 100 yards. This time Mr C acknowledged the quartering away and sent his .375 round through the engine room!!!! The herd stampeded off and our buffalo was down and out 50 yards from where he was shot!!



This means Mr C has taken 3 of the 5 African Buffalo with Buchanan Hunts. Cape, Forest and Northwestern Savanah. Only the Central African and Nile buffalo remain. High Five Mr C.
After a beautiful lunch and siesta, we went out for an afternoon drive. Mr C spotted a lone Western Hartebeest Bull, jumped off the vehicle and made a stalk behind a small hill, popped his rifle over the crest of the hill and took the old boy, who was still trying to figure out what was going on….



What a day!
The following day we walked the Gaba River for Harnessed Bushbuck and almost got one….. but as Mr C was about to shoot, a bigger one appeared! He shifted his focus, which caught their attention, they both bolted into the hills never to be seen again……… these river walks were always with wonderful views.



On day 6 we moved to Mayo Oldiri camp as this area would be better for all the smaller critters. On the way we saw a lot of sign of the Cuban Antipoaching team that shoot and keep out the Bororo cattle that cross illegally into the hunting area for grazing. Cattle encroachment is the greatest threat to the Savanah wildlife.


The Vultures are benefiting from the cattle saga.

Mayo Oldiri camp is lovely and comfortable, again with great food and staff.
The following day was the day of the “little ones”. We finally got a good red flanked duiker in the morning (these critters seldom stand still for long enough to get an easy shot)



That afternoon we took a fantastic Oribi Ram which is a really a neat looking trophy.



The whole of day 8 was once again spent looking for a Harnessed Bushbuck. Later in the afternoon we spotted one on the small rocky outcrop, perfectly silhouetted against the sky. The sticks went up but there was a horizontal branch about 10 yards ahead of Mr C that was blocking the view from his scope, he lifted the sticks a little until he could see and let fly the round…… Busbuck gone, tree felled!!!!!
Day 9 we moved to Mayo Vahimba camp where our chances would be better for Reedbuck and Bushbuck. This was the best camp we stayed in by far. We were blown away by the amount of game we saw, especially Roan.




Note the lion claw scars on this old roans Rump!! Tough old boy.







After driving a couple of miles the next morning, it was clear to see that getting a Nigerian Bohor Reedbuck was not going to be hard. Eventually Mr C chose to shoot an old, thick, broken horned warrior who turned out to also have a split eyelid?!



That afternoon we unsuccessfully looked for a bushbuck but we ended up taking this Grims Duiker to end the day.



Early morning rise on the day of my birthday…… and I was feeling good luck was surely on our side. We set out along the river for the elusive Harnessed Bushbuck. Soon enough we came across 3 females – 2 in the riverbed and 1 on the far bank. We sat and watched them in the hope that the male would emerge. The wind was great and eventually a beautiful ram appeared on the far bank. We had to sneak upriver to close the distance and then I heard the baboons shouting at us from across the other side. COVER BLOWN I THOUGHT!!The Bushbuck startled and luckily fled across the river straight towards us. It paused on a small island to look around – BANG. MISS! Again, the bushbuck flees, again in our direction!! Reload, BANG…. He jumped up and disappeared into the long grass 20 yards ahead of us.
We find him stone dead! Mr C is emotional and takes some time to himself…. The team celebrates and we set the beautiful animal up for some pictures.
Picture time = Happy Days





Since its my birthday I get to choose what we do this afternoon – FISHING! I caught a Tiger Fish and Mr C and Pepo admired my fishing skills…..





The last day is photographic day, where I get some nice snaps of:

• Eland Bull (out of focus)



• Mating pair of Red Flanked Duiker


• Worm knob ground you can expect here (for lack of a better description)


• Armatan (dust blown in from the Sahara Desert)


And a lovely picture of the nature crazy gentleman who made it all possible. From Michelle and I at Buchanan Hunts – THANK YOU MR C.

excellent work as usual Andy.

Very Cool!

Great report and pictures as always.
Dream hunt and adventure for sure.

Superb report of a wonderful adventure with fine trophies.
Thank you.

Looks like a stellar hunt!! Congrats to all!

Great report!

Cameroon is truly one of hunting's great adventures, love to return one day.

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Congrats on a great hunt. Super trophies. Quality pictures. Thanks for sharing.

Charlie

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Andy you are like a fine wine-getting better with age!

Great report, Andy! Beautiful photos as always and great trophies.

Nice Andy! Who was the Ph on the hunt? Nice bag for sure!

Fantastic Andy and awesome pictures.

Well done Andy for a great report. And well done on a fantastic safari.

Hey Buzz. The PH was Pedro Pablo Arribas. For sure it was a good hunt. Hobo Muka.Hope you have a safe & Successful season.

quote:

Originally posted by Buzz Charlton:
Nice Andy! Who was the Ph on the hunt? Nice bag for sure!

Great report, photos and trophies. Well done that team.

Thoroughly enjoyed the report. Sounds like an exciting hunt. Loved the art work on the guys face, I can't begin to imagine. Beautiful pics, loved the birds. I would guess some type of bee eater. Thanks for posting.

Andy - you write these reports so vividly, well done!
Mr C we cant wait for the next adventure with you....... Andy and I appreciate all your support and for allowing us to showcase the areas we book for you! Thank you.

Thank you for a great report with excellent photos, but, can we see a couple more pictures of the eland?

Nice.

Very nice Andy!

Really enjoyed those pictures. Beautiful Lord Derby. Congratulations.

Thanks so much for the kind words. Yes sir, That is the red throated bee eater and the other s a brown headed king fisher.

quote:

Originally posted by Bama15:
Thoroughly enjoyed the report. Sounds like an exciting hunt. Loved the art work on the guys face, I can't begin to imagine. Beautiful pics, loved the birds. I would guess some type of bee eater. Thanks for posting.

Great report and fantastic pictures. Thanks for posting.

quote:

Originally posted by fairgame:
Great report, photos and trophies. Well done that team.

+1