This February, I (Francois Guillet) guided Bob a very friendly hunter from Canada in CAWA's concession area of the Central African Republic. Our target was Derby Eland. After 7 days following them without much success, we finally took tracks of a big Eland herd and were able to spot them from the top of a hill. What a great moment looking at those 45 to 50 huge animals walking 400 yards from us. It was time to have a good look at several big bulls, one was especially very long. After having tracked them for 9 hours, it was just before dark that the herd crossed a big open and time for us to run a final sprint to cross their path just in front of them. This was a very special moment, after struggling for so many days, so many hours, here they are, the entire herd, quiet, walking gently towards us. And the big boy we spotted several hours earlier arrived, huge, amazing!
The 375 Barnes - X did the job and offered a fantastic present to Bob... A true Giant Eland with 54 inch right horn, 56 inch left horn with both 15.5 inch bases.
This is the second 56 inch Lord Derby Eland shot in this area in couple of years but for sure not the last one! We have seen a few other huge bulls, good hopes for future hunting seasons to come.
