REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO: Bongo In The Congo

[Green Chile]

Excellent report. Loved reading all of it! As I started to wonder about something, you came right along and answered it. One thing you said made me wonder...what other hunts measure up to this one in your experience? Also, how many spiral horns left for your slam?

 

[Firebird]

Thanks for the report-what a tough adventure. You earned your trophy-congratulations!

 

[gillettehunter]

I’m sure I still need a bongo for a spiral horn slam. Guess it depends on how you define the slam too. I now have 4 sub species of bushbuck, 2 subspecies of eland, regular Nyala, east cape and greater Kudu. I suspect that the complete slam has 2 more Sitatunga sub species, a couple more bushbuck, a LD eland and a mountain Nyala. Probably another kudu sub species too……
Bruce

 

[Hunt anything]

Great report, too bad you didn’t get a bongo. That sitatunga was fabulous. Hopefully you can get your hip straightened out and are back on the hunt soon. Good luck.

 

[Green Chile]

Let's not get crazy...the basic spiral horn slam would be greater and lesser kudu, bushbuck, nyala, common eland, LDE, bongo, mountain nyala and sitatunga. You have most of them!

 

[Green Chile]

Bruce I remembered a quote by Ruark that applies to your bongo hunt and my leopard hunt last week…we didn’t get them but, “None of it is any good unless you work for it, and if the work is hard enough you do not really have to possess the trophy to own it.”

 

[gillettehunter]

Hmmm, forgot that I had the lessor kudu too. Would leave me the mtn Nyala, LDE and bongo. So I am getting close!
Love the quote. We’ll both get ‘em next time!
Bruce

 

[Ryan Brown]

Great report. I enjoy all of the details.

 

[Ragman]

What an adventure. That sitatunga is just stunning. Congratulations!!!

 

[LivingTheDream]

Hmmm, forgot that I had the lessor kudu too. Would leave me the mtn Nyala, LDE and bongo. So I am getting close!
Love the quote. We’ll both get ‘em next time!
Bruce

Are we going to hunt Ethiopia?

Actually we should probably talk Cameroon too, if you going for your spiral slam.

 

[Brod]

Outstanding adventure that I throughly enjoyed. Thank you for sharing Bruce.

 

[375Fox]

Congratulations. Thank you for well written report. You saw and experienced a hunt most hunters never will. However, I’m not jealous of this jungle hunt at all! I expect it takes a lot of perseverance and some mental toughness to complete a forest safari like this. I’m glad you have that great sitatunga to show for the effort.

I’m glad you only had $2 equivalent of Congolese francs left on you. I’m sure someone was very disappointed that’s all you had! What was the proper procedure for getting back to the airport? Did they get held up so they couldn’t pick you up or were you actually supposed to take a taxi yourself? What did you think of the condition of the dogs used on your hunt? My PH in Cameroon told me at start of season he has to feed the dogs himself and get them healthy prior to hunts because they are so emaciated after the off season with the pygmies not caring for them. He asks clients to bring dog treats as well. I started thinking of that when you wrote C said the dogs were lazy. I’ve never had any cramping problems myself on any hunt but I also won’t go without electrolyte powder anymore. A multivitamin is always in my carry on. I think that helps as well. My Dad had a lot of problems on our Cameroon Savannah hunt until his bag arrived. Electrolyte drink powder can really make a difference in a hunt.

 

[gillettehunter]

Dogs seemed skinny. I did see bags of dog food and saw them fed. I could see off season the dogs not being taken care of. C mentioned that the pigmies didn’t take good care of them.
I believe they had a driver for the airport. I’ll have to ask to clarify. I knew it was quite close. Hard to figure out how the taxi made $ with that small of charge and paying for gas.
I won’t go back without an electrolyte mix. Would have helped me big time!
Bruce

 

[Altitude sickness]

I held off to read it at once. Thanks for the right up. I’ve only seen full body mounts of a Bongo. Very special animals. In a special place.

 

[JES Adventures]

Excellent report Bruce, the forest can be a daunting challenge but you persevered and took an amazing trophy. I especially appreciated your advice for anyone going. Until you’ve experienced a hunt like this it is difficult to know exactly what you need and what to expect.

Looking forward to that Bongo report someday!

JES

 

[Green Chile]

Agreed...there is a lot of value in hearing about suggestions and lessons learned on these specialized hunt reports. We are learning from your experiences. Education is a major benefit of these online forums.

 

[Tucketed]

Thanks for taking us along. Well written and your suggestions at the end were super. Congratulations on a hard hunt and a beautiful trophy.

 

[gillettehunter]

I thought of a couple more suggestions. You spend close to 12 hrs driving in and out with a driver that speaks no english as well as a number of hours in a machan with nothing to do but twiddle your thumbs. So books or music on your phone with earbuds provided entertainment for me.
Next is a shooting rest might be helpful. You have a 2X12 board to shoot from. 2 of the machans had bags of some material that were meant to be used as a rest. Better things are out there. Something like the caldwell shooting rest. Distances are short but you want absolute precision. Perhaps only one chance in 2 weeks..... Its gotta count.
I brought over candy to share with the trackers as well as Christophe. If you have room it's not a bad idea.
Thanks for all of the positive remarks guys. I appreciate your taking time to read this.
Bruce

 

[Green Chile]

Good points. I was thinking about your shooting rest. I know it's a machan not a ground blind but I would want to think about a better setup if possible. I was able to benefit on my leopard hunt by a client who brought over an adjustable machine rest from the States and they have been using it ever since. Maybe there's some kind of option there...maybe if they came over to the hunting shows they could take one back with them?

I also used ear buds to listen to audio books and music quietly while spending multiple nights in the leopard blind. It can really help when you have to be still for 12 hours at a time.

 

[Danchy007]

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

Thanks

Yea I guessed so since it is a jungle enviroment but still good to know it works