Our Bongo hunt in Cameroon

[bzzboyz]

Sorry it took so long.

We started out on the 22nd with a 9 hour 8000 mile flight from Houston to Paris. Good food on the plane though.

After a 4 hour layover in Paris we boarded a 6 hour 4000 mile flight to Douala Cameroon. We arrived in Douala and were met by Benoit who was our escort in the city our whole time there. We needed him too because the Douala airport is the most unbelievable site I've ever seen. Skip (my buddie I went with) is used to it because he’s been over there numerous times, but it was too much for me. Beggars, panhandlers, people trying to sell you everything imaginable, 100 or more requests to "carry your bags sir" and no air conditioning. All I wanted to do was get out of there as fast as possible, but I don't think fast ins in their vocabulary. Everyone in the airport has to leave through one single door with no line to speak of. You just have to push your way through and that not easy with 2 bags and a gun case.

The first night was pretty uneventful except for a young lady in the bar who told Doorman she loved him.........especially if he had enough cash. We were supposed to catch a flight on the morning of the third day but learned that the engine of our plane went out. Glad they found that out before it took off. We were supposed to get another plane in but the pilot did not have the proper permits to fly in Cameroon. Apparently he had flown illegally into Cameroon last year and the officials had a problem with him. We did some shopping at a local market, escorted by Benoit of course as well as our PH's Dave and Deon, where we purchased a few different wood carved items such as masks and canes and the like.

The place is like a flea market from hell with ever vendor with his walk in closet size stores hounding us to "look in my store sir". Dave, being from Zimbabwe, was a great negotiator for us on the prices so we got some good deals.

Then spent the rest of the night in a local establishment where we managed to drink them out of cold beer.

Driving in Douala is a risky business as well. The roads are two to three lanes wide but with no stripes so it's every car and driver for himself. It's like a semi controlled game of chicken to see who can honk the most and who gives first. We waited on more day attempting to find a plane but eventually ended up having to just hire a driver. I was just happy to get out of that two star hotel with the five star prices. Twenty dollar pizzas and omelets were getting old real fast.

18 hours, one night in a fleabag hotel,

600 miles of mud and straw hut village after straw hut village unpaved road.

Some of the most dangerous road I've seen. Littered with dozens abandoned and freshly overturned trucks along the way.

 

[bzzboyz]

The camp was very comfortable for the middle of the rain forest

Except for only cold showers and avocados with every meal. I love avocados, but I don't think I'll be eating any for the next few months. We meet the staff and owner of the concession Pepe, a nervous Spaniard who is constantly yelling at someone on his satellite phone and who's English leaves a lot to be desired, but a nice guy nonetheless.

The hunting consists of driving down logging roads looking for tracks, attempting to determine the size and how old it is and deciding if it's worth tracking or not. Add to that consistently having to clear downed tress and it can be a slow process.

On the first day doorman and I rode together with Deon but we found nothing worth tracking. Deon's the big one by the way. 6'5" to be exact.

Matt, Skip’s brother in law, did get a nice 26-27 inch Bongo on the first day after just a 30 minute track. He made it look easy.

On day two I was teamed up with a different PH named Frances. A 67 year old frenchman who also struggles with his English. I really wish I would have payed more attention in high school French class. We eventually found a track worth following and were off on a four hour track trough some of thickest crap I've ever been in my life. If not for the Baka, who are the resident pigmies and the Bangandu who are the taller of the pigmy trackers clearing the way with their old worn out machetes, there would be no way us white boys would ever get through it. They are unbelievable at figuring out their location and direction in the jungle. Every time we went deep into the forest they always managed to get us out either right at or no more them 40 - 50 feet from where we left the truck when we went in. They're tracking ability is just as impressive. They can spot a track in almost anything.

A leaf or a patch of hard dirt. They can tell you if an animal chewed on a bush and how long ago. It's amazing to watch and know that you're watching something that has been done in the jungle the same way by their kind for centuries.

I'll just refer to all of them as Baka's from here on out. The system works that the Baka's track the animal and when you get within 30 or so yards the dogs

see the animal and are supposed bay it long enough for the PH, trackers and hunter to get to it and get in position to get off a shot. Problem was our dogs got to far in front of us and bayed the first Bongo we tracked and ran it off before we could catch up to it. 6 hours total spent in the jungle and nothing to show for it but sweat, red dirt and scratches. I did pick off a African Crested Guinea Fowl out of a group of five with my 12 G. Lanber O/U.

 

[bzzboyz]

The PH was impressed with my scattergun ability. Guess all the years of bird hunting paid off. I was told they're not endangered or rare, but they are rarely seen in the jungle so I felt fortunate to get one.

On day two we find another nice track and set out again. Again after about 2-1/2 hours the same thing happens. The dogs get too far ahead of us and chase off the Bongo again instead of baying it. Another 4 hours in the jungle and nothing. I'm getting pretty frustrated at this point and ask if there anything we can do about the dog problem. Day three we replace two of the dogs and go at it again. We find a good track from what appears to be an old bull based on the rounded rather than pointed hooves. This time I can tell it will be better because the dogs stay close to us rather than running all around. Three hours later they make a mad dash to our right but not far. This is the craziest time of a track. The Bakas leave you behind, don't cut away any vines or limbs and you're left on you own to keep up with them. It's not easy. I finally make it to the dogs and all I can see it a spot of orange through the brush. Dave, the head PH had told us on the first day to shoot whatever you can see that's orange. He said the Bakas will find it if you hit it, so that's what I did. I was only about 15 yards away and hit him with the .375 H&H somewhere in the right hip. He ran to the right. I got off another shot that hit him in the mid section. He breaks back to the left, paused for a moment and I was able to get off a spine shot. All that was left was an up close mercy shot to put him out of his misery. It was all over in less than a minute. It was huge to me. They are a massive animal up close.

Roughly 600 pounds. Turned out in the end that horn wise mine was the smallest at 24-25 inches but was by far the oldest of the three we all took. After plenty of picture taking the Bakas start in on the skinning and quartering. They are masters with a knife as well in the forest and within two hours they had everything off the Bongo other than the intestines and whatever food it had eaten cut up and ready to pack out of the forest. They even keep the stomach lining for tripe. One even made a basket made of vines to pack out the head horns and cape.

About 5 minutes into our 1-1/2 hour hike out the rains started and we got poured on all the way out. The Baka carrying the basket was the one I followed out and he never slowed down until we made it back to the truck. The final 1/2 mile of the trip back to camp is always ended with the Bakas singing a celebration song on the way into camp.
BAKA CELEBRATION

All their families come out to sing along on the side of the road as well. It's really something to see. It's a real treat for them. The only meat they get throughout the year is small game they kill with homemade bow and arrows and road kill, so a fresh Bongo, other than what was saved to cook in our camp is like Christmas for them. Day three was over and I had a nice old Bongo to show for it.

I wasn't hunting buffalo and Sitatunga like doorman and Matt so I spent the rest of my trip hunting for Duiker. It's a hard hunt. You start out in the morning about 6:00 AM. You hike through the forest for about 15 -20 minutes and then set up. It's kind of like setting up for turkey, but hunting for rabbits. You set up, usually with you back to a tree, which are huge

with a screen and cut limbs in front of you.

One of the Baka then starts to call for about 15 minutes. It's sounds kind of like a really sick cat in heat.
BAKA CALLING

The Bakas will usually see it before you or the PH, but in the thick jungle you usually get a quick glimpse and that’s it. You have to be ready to shoot and shoot quick. That's why you hunt them with a shotgun using 2-3/4 BB steel loads. If nothing comes in you hike for another 15 or so minutes and set up again. Over the remaining days of my hunt, we set up probably about 60 times and I ended up with two Peters Duikers. One female

and one male the should be top 20 SCI when done.

 

[bzzboyz]

I missed 4 opportunities at some really nice Bay Duikers. Missed totally on one. Don't know how either. I left holes in every leaf, limb and branch in the area where his head was. My only guess is he ducked out of it when he saw me draw down on him. The other three were so fast I never got a chance to get off a shot. The Bakas spotted many Blue Duikers, but I never saw anything but a glimpse of a few and never fired a shot at one. Imagine trying to shoot a rabbit that never stops and you only see for a second or two.

Besides my four animals, Doorman ended up with the biggest Bongo at around 29" and a female Blue Duiker.

Matt had the middle Bongo, a female Peters Duiker and a top 20 SCI Blue Duiker who would have been top 10 if it hadn't broken off part of his right horn. Plus he put up some hard tracks on a few Sitatunga and they almost had a Buffalo bayed till it gored two dogs, (one of which later died), and got away. None of us ever saw a single hog, but I saw a few signs, but no luck. With the hogs that's what it is. Strictly luck if you run across one. It's to thick to try and hunt them. I saw a female gorilla cross the road so that was pretty cool and got the crap scared out of me by a silverback that was screaming and shaking trees to try and scare us. It worked on me.

We worked hard but ate a lot so you don't lose as much weight as you think you might with all the hiking. Almost every night except the first was meat we had killed. We definitely drank a lot finishing off 2 bottles of Crown Reserve, two bottle of Crown Black, one bottle of Crown Cask 16, two bottles of Johnny Walker and who knows how many bottles of beer.

That being said, other than the last night, which we partied pretty hard and late because we weren't hunting the last day, we were in bed by 9:30 PM. It gets dark in the forest at about 5:30 PM and by 9:30 after a big meal and a few drinks we are beat.

We headed out about 12:00PM but not before making a stop at the Baka camp to hand out a little left over candy to the kids.

We finally got our twin engine prop plane we were promised on the first day to show up to take us back to Douala on the last day.

A two hour flight had us back in what took us two days to drive the first time. We spent the day in another hotel closer to the airport to have a place to shower and wait for our 10:45 PM flight to Paris. Getting out of Douala was even harder than getting in. I've never seen such a cluster%$&* in my whole life. Everybody wants their share over there. That's the result of a corrupt socialist system with the same president for the last 28 years. Another 4 hour layover in Paris and we were back home by 3:00 PM on Wednesday. I'm really glad to be back in civilization. Really makes you appreciate things here even though we complain about it a lot lately.

All in all we logged in approximately 25,000 miles and 34 hours in the air, 6 days in 3 different hotels, 18 hours and 600 miles on the road to camp. Individually roughly 1200 miles and 40 hours in a truck looking for tracks, around 15 miles and 50 hours on foot in the jungle following them. I've been told that a Bongo hunt is one of if not the hardest hunts in the world. At this point, until someone shows me different, I'll have to agree. I've never worked harder for an animal and doorman said the same and he's seen more hunting than I ever will.

Ok, maybe it was long and drawn out.

Here's the rest of the pictures.
PICTURES

 

[Z-man]

Bzz, great read and great looking trip!

 

[inchr48]

Great job bzz! Welcome back.

That sounds like it was a real adventure!

 

[k_rad]

Wow amazing staory and pictures! Welcome back and thanks for taking the time to tell the story and post all the great pictures!

 

[DLS]

What a fantastic safari. Thanks for sharing your adventure and pictures with us. I think your bongo is fabulous, inches be damned. A very old bull such as yours is superior to any younger animal, regardless of horn length.

 

[bzzboyz]

What a fantastic safari. Thanks for sharing your adventure and pictures with us. I think your bongo is fabulous, inches be damned. A very old bull such as yours is superior to any younger animal, regardless of horn length.

Thanks DLS. I probably didn't realize it at the time because I had never seen a Bongo up close and personal other than a mount. The more I look at the picture's the more I appreciate the Bongo I got. The color in his face. The wear and tear and dirt in his horns. They are almost smooth on the fronts and apposed to the others that had a rough feel to them. We knew when we started tracking him he was old because of the rounded points on his hooves. He had been living in the same area for a long time. Best we could figure he lived most of his life in a National Forest where he couldn't be hunted. He'd venture out of it from time to time to find food and cows but may have never ever been seen. He made one mistake in his long life. He crossed a road. Something I'm guessing he didn't do very often. As a matter of fact when he crossed the road where we saw his tracks he never got more than 25 yards on the other side and went back to his side of the road after walking around for a while. That was his big mistake. I shot him about 5 miles from the park boundary. He was headed back to his sanctuary when we spotted him.

 

[sdbowyer]

Wow Bzz. WHat an amazing adventure! Thank you for posting this. I'm guessing you'll never forget it.

 

[CharlesL]

Thanks for a great trip report and congrats on your Bongo. They are beautiful animals.

 

[jstevens]

I think they are one of the most striking of all African animals, along with a lesser kudu. For some reason I really like those little fellows.

 

[1Thadp]

Thanks for sharing! a Bongo is on my list and I appreciate your detailed travel log.