REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO: Bongo In The Congo

[gillettehunter]

Buying gas

 

[gillettehunter]

Christophe in a machan. His “office”.

 

[gillettehunter]

Boat we used for our river tour.

 

[gillettehunter]

Trackers

 

[gillettehunter]

Some of the trackers children. The one on the left is the wife of one.

 

[gillettehunter]

Street in the village where we bought gas.

 

[Scott CWO]

Your incredible sitatunga was well worth the trip. Will you try for bongo again? Cameroon perhaps?

 

[gillettehunter]

Your incredible sitatunga was well worth the trip. Will you try for bongo again? Cameroon perhaps?

I totally agree that the Sitatunga was well worth the trip. I am considering a return hunt with CFS. They have offered me a return at more than 1/2 off of the normal daily rate. Knowing what I now know I think I could be successful with them.
Bruce

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

I totally agree that the Sitatunga was well worth the trip. I am considering a return hunt with CFS. They have offered me a return at more than 1/2 off of the normal daily rate. Knowing what I now know I think I could be successful with them.
Bruce

Bruce, take a year to rehydrate and you should be good to go for “Bongo in the Congo Part 2”

 

[Canebrake]

Memorable quest my friend! I'm currently researching Sitatunga for 2025 so your adventure is certainly motivating.

 

[Danchy007]

Love the story sitatunga looks amazing congratulations. One question how are you pleased with the pulsar and visibility at night I'm thinkin of getting the clip on rather than a full on scope since i already have a quality day scope

 

[Wheels]

Thanks for taking us on your adventure Bruce.

Sorry you weren't able to get the bongo.

The sitatunga is certainly amazing. I see why someone else hunted 40 days for him.

 

[Green Chile]

Back to the lodge and a shower. After the shower a nap was in order. It was then that the cramps/charlie horses started........ I started on eating as much coarse table salt as I could. We went back out at 4 and C bought some bananas from one of the local farmers for me. We checked a couple of trail cameras and put some fresh salt in a couple of the ponds. Cameras had gorillas on them. We saw a yellow back duiker track at one as well as a bongo track. Too late to try the track. Then back to camp. Did see a mongoose cross the road. They appear to be the long nosed mongoose.
Had a nice meal and off to bed. I had cramps till close to midnight. Not a restful nights sleep......
Bruce

I got cramps in Zim in the heat also of the leopard blind. Very painful. I need to get a better plan for the really hot hunting. Something to add to the water you drink.

 

[TheGrayRider]

Congratulations on the sitatunga. Beautiful animal. Happy hunting to all, TheGrayRider.

 

[jeff]

Great adventure, thanks for sharing. Hope next time the dogs will not be lazy and leave it up to one dog to bay and hold, they all need to work as a team.

 

[gillettehunter]

Up at 4:15 the next morning to begin the long trek home. Reasonably uneventful save a couple of items. We left at 5:30. The road out was significantly better than going in. Much drier. Big difference.
Bush meat was even more apparent. I saw 3 different gray duikers plus a hind quarter of one. I saw a monkey and a blue duiker for sale. My driver stopped and purchased a cane rat for his own dinner..... I screwed up and didn't photograph it. The others are seen at 40-70 mph going down the road.
Hotel put me in a older room. Clean but had mosquitos in it. I killed 6 before retiring to bed. White walls and limited hiding spaces allowed me to get them all. Shower the next day and wait for my ride to the airport. I failed to ask about my ride to the airport from the hotel. I checked out 3 hrs before my flight and sat near where incoming drivers would park.
I tried to get ahold of C or Valorie at camp to ask about time and driver. No reply. One of the gate guards spoke enough english that I asked about a taxi. He told me it was 2000 francs. I had some bills as change from meals and the stay at the hotel. 2000 francs is about $1. So I had that on me.
At about 1 hr 45 min before my flight I had them get me a taxi. Pretty neat in that he negotiated with them and basically told me that it would be the 2000 francs. After a 12 min ride to the airport I paid him 2500 francs and walked into the airport.
Not much in the way of english signs and took a couple of moments to orient myself. Found the right line and it was moving SLOWLY. Was starting to worry about making the flight when one of the workers came over and greeted me. Someone that CFS pays to help their clients in the aitport. He helped me get tickets and luggage checked all of the way through to Denver.
Leaving I was asked 2 times if I had any congoleese francs. I had to turn over the money I had left. No compensation. Kinda pissed me off. The more I think about it the madder it made me. Even tho I only had 4000 francs on me.... So only $2.
Flights were fine. Basically 27 hours in the air. Coming back through Dulles I had almost 3 hrs. At passport control I was asked if I had a firearm with me. Guess its noted in the system with my passport number that I often travel with a firearm.
I kept waiting and waiting for my luggage to show. After 45 min I made a loop around the belt to see if it was on the floor somewhere. Didn't see it. Kept waiting. Was getting to the point that I was starting to worry about making my flight. I walked around the belt and there it was. Some idiot had pulled it off. Never made it around or I would of seen it. Pissed me off. Made the flight with time to spare thanks to a great recheck system at Dulles.
Arrived in Denver and was picked up by my sister in law. Drove to her house and then headed home. So 7 hrs after I got in. Makes for a long trip.
Bruce

 

[gillettehunter]

Love the story sitatunga looks amazing congratulations. One question how are you pleased with the pulsar and visibility at night I'm thinkin of getring the clip on rather than a full on scope since i already have a quality day scope

The clip on worked pretty well. There was a plastic sleeve that slipped over the scope and then the rest of it clamped on. I could see pretty well. Remember we were at less then 100 yds for everything that we were doing. For our purposed the thermal worked great.
Bruce

 

[Green Chile]

View attachment 562869
A couple of feet from where he died.

Oh wow...beautiful! Look at that big smile! Happy for you!! Look at the length...yes!

 

[Green Chile]

Thanks for the congrats on the Sitatunga. For those who care he measures 28 and 27 3/4 X 6 3/4. A great animal for sure.
I killed the Sitatunga on 9/27. So I have 6 more days and a morning left to hunt. Rather than a day by day I'll talk about the hi-lights. We tracked Bongo 2 more times. The first was a herd we picked up at a salt lick. Herds are difficult because when the dogs bay an animal it could easily be a female. This was a group of 5-6 animals, about as many as C will take a chance on. We went maybe 200 yds and the dogs jumped and bayed a bongo.
We rushed towards it and all of a sudden it was coming past us at about 200 mph!. The trackers later joked about getting behind trees! C had a long enough look that he was sure it was an old female. He has seen her for 6 yrs on camera and is apparently too old to breed. Generally associates near a herd, but often not in the herd. She was perhaps 12 yds from me and I could see the bush move, but not her.
We continued on the track. The herd took us up and down several steep hills. Felt kinda like elk hunting. After about 2 1/2 hrs we had a dog bark bay. Only 1 dog. We all started at top speed heading UP a steep hill. Just killed me. The dog stopped after maybe 60 seconds. Then 2-3 minutes later it bayed again for perhaps a minute.
I went until I had to stop and sit. Drank some water and when I stood back up was light headed and dizzy. I sat back down and then found a place to lay down. Only 1 dog bayed. C said "the other dogs were lazy". They didn't aid the first dog and the bongo got away. One tracker said he saw the bull. C said he saw a cow and a second animal. Without more dogs to surround and hold it we had no chance. Even if I was in better shape, with the small window of time it wasn't going to work.
With me gassed and the bongo spooked we called it for that one. On the 2nd to the last morning we stopped the truck 5 times to look at tracks. GF hogs, buffalo, sitatunga and 2 times bongo. The first set of bongo tracks looked promising so we loaded up and headed out. After about 1/2 hour or 45 min. we discovered that this bongo was part of a herd of 10-11 animals. So we called it on that herd. Too many animals. We found their tracks a second time a little further down the road.
In the machan I did get to see a sounder of 7 GF hogs. There were 2 boars in the group. Only 2 piglets and the others sows. I also saw a duiker one night. Also a palm civit came in one night. Don't think they are on quota.
Driving along the roads we would occasionally see animals. I saw a Bay duiker as well as several blue duiker. One evening we caught a couple of GF hogs on the road. Never a bongo. One female sitatunga too. One time we had a civit along side the rod. Also saw a couple of the long nosed mongooses.
I had 3 gorilla encounters that I saw them. No decent pics unfortunately. The trackers saw others on 2 more encounters.
So I ended without a bongo. In fact I hunted 14 days and had the one run past me in the bush as the only "kinda" sighting. The last 8 days we really didn't get much rain in the hunting area. We got it at the lodge, but we're hunting 15-30 miles away. The saying for bongo PH's is: No rain, no bongo.
I wasn't too interested in the duikers. Perhaps I should of been. They call them and bait them. C also said they went out and spotlighted some a couple of times. He says on a good night you can kill 10 blue duikers per hour! A slow night is 2 per hour. Occasionally they will get another duiker species. Yellow back duiker usually need to be baited. They buy a goat and kill it and let the flies get to it. The YB duikers like the maggots and after the meats rots enough they will eat that! Pretty weird.
On the last day C asked if I'd like to take a boat ride on the river. I thought that sounded like fun. We went to the nearby village to get gas. They had diesel for the trucks, but not gas. I'll add some pics. They literally poured gas into a glass bottle to measure the amount of of gas and then pour into our jug. Make due with what you have.
We also did a photo session with the trackers and their families. Some cute kids. I'll add a couple of those pics.
Bruce

I'm surprised you weren't interested in the duikers. Some of them are only found there. Cool little buggers.

 

[gillettehunter]

Final Thoughts:
This hunt was successful due to a heavy dose of good luck. The jungle is stone cold hearted bitch that gives up very little easily. Without building roads into the back country, maintaining those roads, adding salt to water and building machans it would be exceptionally difficult to be successful. Without lots of rain Bongo hunting is tough. The jungle seems to actively fight against you between the thorns, ants and thick bush, It tries to detain you at every step. You have to force your way in and the jungle seems to resent that. Your an outsider there with lots to learn.
I like to be prepared for a hunt like this. I'll blame my hip on being out of shape. Next Monday we'll remedy that and see how recovery goes. Did the left one last Jan so I kinda know what to expect.

If you go on this hunt or one like it here are some suggestions. I didn't know or think about some of this stuff so I'll pass on some things that might be common sense, but I missed.
Take at least 3 long sleeve shirts. In short sleeves the jungle tears you up.
Bring shampoo if you don't want to use bar soap. Neither the hotel or camp had it.
Bring at least 4 pr of socks and underwear. 3 pr of shoes in all synthetic materials. Quick drying materials.
Bring insect repellent that you can sleep in. Didn't like mine so I only used it a couple of times.....
Bring a flashlight with a red filter and one that won't roll. Last thing you want is that flashlight hitting the floor when a bongo is 60 yds away. Headlamp will work too.
Be sure and bring plenty of electrolytes for water and USE them. Also some salt pills.
A waterproof cover for your cell phone if you want to carry it when tracking bongo.
Leave yourself plenty of time between flights in case of minor issues.
Take a couple of cloths to wipe your face and head with while tracking bongo. You are going to sweat profusely. I also laid one on the shooting bench in the machan. I could put my glasses there and know exactly where they were in case of getting up for a bongo in the dark. I need mine to shoot.
If money is a little tight be sure and become informed about the extra costs. Dip and pack, hunting license, transfer costs and the like. They add up!
Shorts, a short sleeved shirt and sandals for around camp.
Be sure and take plenty of any meds. No place to buy any.
A good phone camera is a good idea.
Earplugs if background noise bothers you at night. The jungle is noisy!
When you get in the machan be sure and orient yourself with where you expect the animal to be in the dark. Take time to figure out your most stable shooting position. It's a shot you want to make 100 times out of 100!
If you book this hunt:
Rain, the moonphase and season timing are three important factors. You can control 2 of them.
Season timing. The later you go the more that the animals have been hunted and harder it is to get your animal.
C prefers the full moon for his hunts. Book for the full moon if possible.
Rain is out of your control. In the past May has been good until the last couple of years. Lately been a little dry in May. They hunt May-early Oct. We ran out of rain and I felt like the animals had been pressured a bit.
Spending the kind of money you do on a hunt like this I'd prefer to put as many of the odds in my favor as I can. There you have it. Thanks for all of the well wishes and congrats on my hunt. If you have questions I'll try to answer them. Any who want to call and chat about my experience are welcome to DM me for my cell number.
One question I've been asked was would I go again. The answer is yes. Very different from my hunts in RSA, Nambia, Zambia and Tanzania.
Bruce