CAMEROON: Lord Derby Eland January 2023

[IdaRam]

Congrats on your hard earned success. Way to persevere under difficult conditions. And thank you for sharing your experience with us, it was a very enjoyable read.

 

[Wishfulthinker580]

I’m glad you decided to write your report. I really enjoyed it. That is a bucket list hunt for me

 

[Inline6]

Thanks for sharing your experience and doing it honestly. Know it takes a lot of time invested to write a report that long, well done. Like many it is a bucket list hunt for me.

Congratulations on your success, beautiful bull.

 

[Tally-Ho HUNTING SAFARIS]

Congrats
Hunt of a lifetime

 

[TKessel]

Well done, thanks for sharing.
I’ll be reaching out with a few questions via PM.
Thank you

 

[Frederik]

Thanks for sharing and glad you got your super eland in the end.

 

[AZDAVE]

Thank you for taking the time to write up a report. The mental part of hard hunts is always tougher than the physical part. It is sad to hear about the amount of poaching and encroachment of illegal cattle herds. You had a interesting adventure and a fantastic eland. Congratz!

 

[Dinsdale]

Thats a good report that captured the entire hunt. Thanks for posting.

 

[Nyati]

Congrats, you relly earned those trophies

 

[Scott CWO]

Congrats on a tremendous LD Eland! Great perseverance on your part and the PH. Thanks for the PM alerting me to your report and some of the issues involved. I think it’s great that you filed a detailed, honest report so that other hunters get a realistic sense of hunting in Central African countries before they go. My hat is off to you, my friend.

Central Africa is definitely a troubled place and Cameroon is probably better than most countries in the area. It is a challenging environment for the outfitters and hunters. When I hunted next door in CAR, I saw some of the same organizational and corruption challenges but without the poaching. Took me 14 days to get my bongo under challenging conditions. In CAR, you cannot bring your own rifles and ammunition was definitely in short supply. I was asked by the outfitter/PH to clean and sight in the two rifles he had. Took me four hours to disassemble and clean them with limited cleaning supplies. I then went through and sorted the ammo. I was able to sight in the rifles, using only 3 rounds in each. The camps can be rustic and quantities of supplies in short supply. I had to shoot lots of Guinea fowl with a .22, a duiker and a hog for food since the hunter before me only shot a yellow-backed duiker and the camp was out of meat. As you know, the heat is oppressive and the locals live a hard life. Situational awareness at all times for your security.

 

[Cleathorn]

Congratulations of the Lord Derby, they are a 'trophy of a lifetime' for anyone fortunate enough to get to see and hunt them. Good write up of an interesting hunt. I will DM you about some additional details. I'm hunting in Cameroon next year (my fault for going to DSC just to 'look around'). I'm hunting up in the Savannah as well. Would love to hear some more of the details.

 

[JES Adventures]

Excellent post, I appreciate your insight and candor. Not all Safaris turn out how you envision them. CONGRATS on an amazing Lord Derby Eland, truly an grand old trophy to be proud of. Very nice Buffalo, Kob and Hartebeast as well.

 

[PhotoCollector73]

Great write-up. Cameroon along with Central and West Africa in general is not a hunting location for sissies. The areas are extremely remote and travel is an absolute nightmare, poverty is plain as day in many areas, poaching is a big problem for hunting concessions and of course, cattle, the scourge of Africa (as I like to call it), is everywhere. But, if you want a real adventure and a challenging hunt for top-quality trophies that you can't find in Southern and East Africa, then Cameroon is definitely a place to look into.

Yes, poaching and human-population-explosion are always major issues there but the hunting outfits do an outstanding job of protecting the concessions and even revitalizing once-depleted habitats in certain areas. If the thought of encountering people on a hunt bothers some then ROC (Republic of Congo) and Eastern CAR where there are quite literally, no people, might be a better option. But it will likely take a while until those two locations start popping up in hunting circles to rival Cameroon.

 

[Red Leg]

Sometimes adventures that don't occur exactly as anticipated or planned are the ones that remain freshest for the rest of your life. Imagine the jaws dropping open in the trophy room a decade are so from now as you recount every detail of the heat, the ground, the hard work, and sheer perseverance that went into taking that magnificent bull. The description of the airport, even the hotel, will be things the vast majority of people who hunt Africa will never experience. I may be wrong, but I suspect as time passes you will be ever more glad nothing was different. Ok - you should have shot that waterbuck. But even lost opportunities like that or the good fortune and confusion of the shot on your LDE simply adds a certain grit to tale of the hunt.

I would also note that your PH seemed to work really hard with the hand he was dealt. And when an alternative opportunity was available, he made it available to you.

Finally, I love a report that is simply and honestly told. Congrats on a fabulous experience.

 

[375Fox]

I would also note that your PH seemed to work really hard with the hand he was dealt. And when an alternative opportunity was available, he made it available to you.

Finally, I love a report that is simply and honestly told. Congrats on a fabulous experience.

I really couldn’t have asked for a harder working PH on this hunt. He was great to be around as well. He said the reason he hunts Cameroon isn’t because he needs the work, it’s because he loves hunting lord derby eland and bongo.

 

[Kevin Peacocke]

Thank you for the report 375Fox, and well done on that magnificent eland bull. Did you ever feel unsafe? Obviously your hosts keep their ear to the ground and are alert to anything going on.

 

[375Fox]

Thank you for the report 375Fox, and well done on that magnificent eland bull. Did you ever feel unsafe? Obviously your hosts keep their ear to the ground and are alert to anything going on.

I never felt unsafe and the outfitter has never had an incident with a client. However, I’d say if there was ever an area you listen to your PH it’s here.

 

[Sanglier14]

Thanks for the repport Exellent write up super throphy

 

[VertigoBE]

A very well deserved Waidmannsheil @375Fox ! I had been looking out for your hunt report to arrive and I'm grateful that you wrote one. What a bull that Lord Derby Eland... Words cannot do it justice. I cannot begin to imagine the feelings that must have run through you, after you took the shot and hear the PH say, "I have no idea what you just shot"... and then the elation when you walk up and find such a specimen lying there.

An incredible story, one that I hope you'll share often and with many people, when they gaze up to that magnificent pair of horns. Are you going for a full/shoulder mount? Or rug + euro skull mount? Also, why would you , or would you not recommend this hunt?

Thanks again for sharing, it is a superb account of your adventure. I enjoyed it very much.

 

[375Fox]

A very well deserved Waidmannsheil @375Fox ! I had been looking out for your hunt report to arrive and I'm grateful that you wrote one. What a bull that Lord Derby Eland... Words cannot do it justice. I cannot begin to imagine the feelings that must have run through you, after you took the shot and hear the PH say, "I have no idea what you just shot"... and then the elation when you walk up and find such a specimen lying there.

An incredible story, one that I hope you'll share often and with many people, when they gaze up to that magnificent pair of horns. Are you going for a full/shoulder mount? Or rug + euro skull mount? Also, why would you , or would you not recommend this hunt?

Thanks again for sharing, it is a superb account of your adventure. I enjoyed it very much.

I’m undecided between a floor pedestal or a shoulder mount but I have lots of time to decide. I think my PH may have left me there if I only took a euro mount.
Biggest reason for going here is obviously collecting a lord derby eland, but it’s also a hunt for someone that just wants something completely different from Southern Africa and a few unique species. The biggest deterrent would probably be obtaining the visa and gun permit and travel in country with gun. I wouldn’t call it a routine tourism destination like most countries in Southern Africa.