Considering hunting in Guinea - looking for info

[mrpoindexter]

I have been looking to hunt a forest elephant with a bow and I came across an outfitter that offers jungle hunts in Guinea. After some emails, they say they don't have an issue with me using a bow. That said, I can find very little information on Guinea and most searches end up flooded with talks about guinea fowl.

Has anybody hunted there or been there that might have some advice? The area would be unfenced on about 41,000 acres along the Guinea / Sierra Leone border. I am looking at a 7-10 day hunt and will be going for Forest Elephant primarily and whatever else happens to cross my path. After the ele, my next biggest things to look for would be dwarf buffalo plus anything unique to the area or difficult to get elsewhere. I would love to get a bongo and zebra duiker, but the success rate/odds would be quite low, I think. If I get lucky, great but I won't hold my breath.

In addition to wanting to hunt every animal possible in Africa with a bow (not really possible, but a worthy goal) but I also want to hunt in every country in Africa that allows hunting (much more achievable, I think). I am late to the hunting fraternity, starting just 2 years ago, but have been to South Africa, Zim and Namibia so far. If I get an elephant, that would put me at 3/5 on the B5 with a bow. (I am shooting a Mathews Monster Safari at 90lbs draw weight with 1,250+ grain arrows so I will have the appropriate gear for the hunt). This would be my first time with a rain forest/jungle hunt.

The outfitter is West Africa Hunting and Fishing Company and the PH is Carlos Corces. I did a search here on AH and found nothing. I came across them on Book Your Hunt, which I have not used yet but it seems to be a popular place to find hunts. If anybody knows anything about Guinea, the outfitter or the PH, I would love to hear your thoughts.

 

[BRICKBURN]

You can translate from french and read the local laws.
http://www.eaux-forets.gouv.gn/index.php/chasse/chasse-touristique


https://cmsdata.iucn.org/downloads/str_wgn0709_fr.pdf

 

[IdaRam]

I have been looking to hunt a forest elephant with a bow and I came across an outfitter that offers jungle hunts in Guinea. After some emails, they say they don't have an issue with me using a bow. That said, I can find very little information on Guinea and most searches end up flooded with talks about guinea fowl.

Has anybody hunted there or been there that might have some advice? The area would be unfenced on about 41,000 acres along the Guinea / Sierra Leone border. I am looking at a 7-10 day hunt and will be going for Forest Elephant primarily and whatever else happens to cross my path. After the ele, my next biggest things to look for would be dwarf buffalo plus anything unique to the area or difficult to get elsewhere. I would love to get a bongo and zebra duiker, but the success rate/odds would be quite low, I think. If I get lucky, great but I won't hold my breath.

In addition to wanting to hunt every animal possible in Africa with a bow (not really possible, but a worthy goal) but I also want to hunt in every country in Africa that allows hunting (much more achievable, I think). I am late to the hunting fraternity, starting just 2 years ago, but have been to South Africa, Zim and Namibia so far. If I get an elephant, that would put me at 3/5 on the B5 with a bow. (I am shooting a Mathews Monster Safari at 90lbs draw weight with 1,250+ grain arrows so I will have the appropriate gear for the hunt). This would be my first time with a rain forest/jungle hunt.

The outfitter is West Africa Hunting and Fishing Company and the PH is Carlos Corces. I did a search here on AH and found nothing. I came across them on Book Your Hunt, which I have not used yet but it seems to be a popular place to find hunts. If anybody knows anything about Guinea, the outfitter or the PH, I would love to hear your thoughts.

You have certainly set some admirable and lofty goals! And you don’t seem to be wasting any time checking off some boxes Congrats!
I hope you make it happen in Guinea, that will be a very interesting hunt report I am sure.
I have no intel to share, the closest I can come is having met a gentleman who was in Equatorial Guinea (distincly different country!) collecting both animal and bird life specimens for a museum and was imprisoned and tortured under suspicion of espionage. You just never know who you are going to bump into in passing through a safari camp

 

[mrpoindexter]

Yikes. I will stay in sub-equatorial Guinea then.

 

[mrpoindexter]

Glad I did not go. This outfitter was just arrested by Interpol for running an illegal hunting operation.

Wara in guinea - project project
A few days ago, in a series of operations of the galf, INTERPOL NCB, Bri, oguipar and gendarmerie, Carlos Corces Bustamante, a Spanish Wildlife Criminal, was arrested. He had illegally amodié a territory of 25.000 hectares to make it a hunting reserve in a remote area, rich in wildlife, where he had organized hunting expeditions for trophy hunters around the world, without respect for the rules , and this since 2005! The hunting reserve was established with the complicity of some senior officers, well hidden from the high authorities, who did not even know it existed.
His clients and he hunted in a totally illegal manner elephants, bongos, hippos, leopards and other species fully protected by guinean law, sometimes even using cruel methods, such as bows and arrows. The first operation was used to arrest his accomplice with sophisticated firearms and protected animal trophies. On the basis of this evidence, a warrant to bring was issued and Carlos was arrested by law enforcement and our team. The investigation reveals that he illegally held arms in guinea and was involved in drug trafficking.
Charlotte, the executive director of wara, saidou the representative of wara-Guinea, and all our team on the spot did an excellent job on this case and fight to keep these people behind bars!

 

[steve ahrenberg]

Interesting story. Are you one of the guys who have taken the North American 29 with a bow?

I've met several of those guys in my travels.

 

[mrpoindexter]

Not yet. I am currently at... zero towards that goal.

I started hunting just a little over 2 years ago. Truth be told, I have never even shot a deer. I did a private estate hunt here in California and took a heifer bison and a pig to fill up the freezer (along with my daughter taking two sheep). I do plan on getting the NA 29 done over time, but at this moment I have been focusing on Africa. I have a sable hunt coming up next July and am looking to see what I can piggyback onto that safari either before or after. Strongly considering a quick run into Botswana just prior, hitting the dark of the moon perfectly. I picked up a new (well, old but new to me) recurve bow that I would like to use on a wildebeest and some day, possibly take a buffalo with it. (100# Black Widow recurve).

 

[steve ahrenberg]

Lofty goals my friend. I would only advise you to use a reputable booking agent that you trust. They have the contacts, know what animals are where in hunt able numbers, regulations and so on.

As you know, African lends itself well to multiple species per trip. A good agent can optimize your trips to eliminate un-necessary trips.

I completed the African 29 a couple years ago and am looking at the NA 29 now. I have a bunch of em already. Problem is, I wasted my youth doing easy hunts and now must look at things like Mt. Goat and Stone Sheep with an old and broken body. Not even sure I have it in me to complete it.

Regardless, its an amazing goal and I wish you the very best.

 

[mrpoindexter]

I understand. I am actually trying to do the hard hunts first - especially in Africa as in the process of those hunts I might actually get a lot of the other animals just as opportunities arise.

 

[mrpoindexter]

Oh, just a little more info: I found this guy on Book Your Hunt. I have already emailed them to take down his adds.

Also, on the article about the arrest, I have found that they have used one of my photos - one I never remember posting anywhere as it has my face in front of a dead elephant being butchered from a legal hunt in Zimbabwe. I have asked them to take it down. I can only hope they do.

 

[Nyati]

There are three countries named Guinea.

Guinea Konakri, former French colony.

Equatorial Guinea, former Spanish colony.

Guinea-Bisáu, former Portuguese colony.

From what I have heard, I would not recommend anyone to hunt in Equatorial Guinea.

 

[mrpoindexter]

I would not want to be in a West African prison.

 

[BRICKBURN]

Great trophy picture. Frame it for the wall. "Here but for the Grace of ......... go I."

 

[mrpoindexter]

One more update - I started seeing MY photo in the collection of pictures released with this man's arrest. He had pictures of my from my very legal elephant hunt in Zimbabwe. I contacted one of the sites on Facebook and got nowhere. Reported the image to Facebook and all they would do was cover it.

Then, when I googled his arrest, I found an article that listed his arrest and it had 3 photos of me, two very recognizable! I sent the web page that had it a strong letter and to my surprise, they not only replied in less than 8 hours, but apologized, took down the photos and told me they would contact other sites on the Internet they knew of that had the photos. Sure enough, my picture was removed from the Facebook page that had been ignoring my messages.

It turns out, they (Eagle-enforcement) have an anti-corruption program started in Cameroon than has been very successful and now operates in 8 countries in Africa, sharing information and working in concert to cut down not only poaching and illegal wildlife trafficking but also corruption. They are now putting away about one poacher/trafficker per week. Although that would seem to be a drop in the bucket, it appears as though they are going up the food chain to catch the corruption that allows this.

http://www.eagle-enforcement.org/

I am thankful for their help in getting my photos out of the distribution of crimes I am not involved in whatsoever. It is also nice to know there are people who are spending their efforts fighting actual real corruption and poaching and not focusing on trying to push for an animal rights agenda. I don't know that much about them, but they seem like the kind of activism we should have more people funnel their efforts into.