Hi Everyone,

Before going to the hunting season in Tanzania I wanted to share some pictures and videos from Africa...
I just spent 3 weeks in South Africa, enjoyed it.. We hunted elephant in Timbavati private game reserve open on the Kruger Park, great experience and I saw the biggest cape buffaloes ever !!! I was really impressed by the body size and the beautiful set of horns they get there.



























We shot a nice Elephant (49 ibs), it was still early in the season to see a lot of them, too much water left. But you can feel, when it is the right time it must be full of 駘駱hants.











It is quite a nice feeling to hunt such an area when you can come across all the animals from the big five... especially when you track elephant in the thicket !!!











Not many plains game, the lions are eating too much of them !!!!

















We went Vaal Rhebuck hunting close Cape Town, very nice area, warm people and very good VINE !!!!







Here are the links of some videos:
Black and Whit African wildlife:


Hunting Vaal Rhebuck:


Hunting elephant in Timbavati:


My friend Herve in CAR:



If you are looking for good elephant at a good price and big cape Buffalo in an open area.

I have a 15 days plains game hunt in Massailand (Tanzania) for a good price too.

I still have some openings for 2014 in CAR.
Please feel free to send me an email.

Best
Christophe

I am not going to talk about the trouble in CAR, you all heard what is going on there. The only thing you should know is that we were the only safari company working this year and it is really a pity. I really hope that most of them will come back next year.

I saw many Bongos this year. We had 50 trail cam in the bush and of course there is a lots of pictures of Bongos (coming soon).

















Back to the bush. The first hunter, a good friend of mine from Mississipi was looking for another Bongo. I was very confident as January is a very good time. But not this year, the weather was really bad, very hot, big rains and thunderstorms every 2nd day, the end of the rainy season was 3 months late... bad luck... The last day of the hunt we saw 19 bongos by the salt lick, no shooter in the herd... But I am so happy that Pemble shot that " MONSTER" roan 331/2, should rank 6 or 7 SCI.

















Herve from France came along to look for Bongo and Leopard. We had 5 hunting days !!!! So we went quickly where we saw the herd with Pemble and he shot a beautiful 32" bongo bull out of herd of 24 animals... Shot a big Tom and a buffalo by calling... great time.





























Peter, from South Africa came also for 5 hunting days, for Lord Derby Eland, such a nice man and hard hunter, very hard... I was not very lucky because the day before he arrived I had an accident in which my foot and ankle were run over by a 4x4 !!!!! I was in a bad way and almost unable to walk.... so stupid!!! I took some pain killer and medecine to be able to walk and hunt... despite the pain I had 24 hours a day Pet got a great Eland and the biggest harnessed bushbuck I ever seen in CAR 14 inches.























Braulio and Jose from Mexico had good time, nice and friendly guys, fun... They both shot a nice Bongo...





































Mike, from San Antonio was the last hunter I hunted with this year. He was looking for bongo... The weather was terrible, lots of rain, it was not fun in the machan and of course mosquitos were plenty!!!! He was not lucky as he made a bad shot on the bongo, we tracked the wounded animal for 6 hours in the forest and finaly lost it, what a shame, but that is hunting and sometimes it can happen. We saw some more but could not get a shot. I hope he will come back one day because he was a great MAN.





























Here are some Forest Elephant pictures from CAR I want to share with you.




















Enjoy the pictures and please feel free to ask for details about CAR and hunts.
Remember we still have some slots available for next year.

Cheers
Christophe

I am leaving for CAR January 2nd for new adventures so I wish all the best for the new year.




Cheers
Christophe

Black & White African Wildlife

Around Africa...

Enjoy and good hunting.
Christophe

This is with unpretentiuous that I made some videos. I just want you all to enjoy some unusual footage from the wilderness.































Check my new web site: http://www.huntersguidesafaris.com/

Good hunting
Christophe

Hunting Giant Forest Hog in Central Africa



This is the biggest, heaviest, rarest and ugliest of the Suidae family of Africa. A forest monster from a fairy tale.

The Giant forest Hog or GFH is native to wooded habitat and, despite its large size, remains largely unstudied and was only described for science in 1904, a mere 108 years ago!!! The specific name honors Richard Meinertzhagen, a British colonel, who shot the type specimen in Kenya and had it shipped to the Natural Museum in London.





From my observations in the hunting areas where Hylochoerus Meinertzhageni lives, the boars reach up to 2,1 meters in lenght and 1,1 meter in height and weigh as much as 220 kilograms. Females weigh about 50 kilograms less. Adults of both sexes are black with long, sparse, wiry hair covering the body. Down the midline of the back, very long bristles from a mane that is raised when they are excited or in danger.

The face of the GFH is very distinctive.

Boars develop large naked swellings beneath their eyes, which becomes even bigger when matting.







Boars develop large naked swellings beneath their eyes.

The flat rounded nose disc is exceptionally large, measuring up to 17 cm across.





Mature males also have swollen preorbital glands which can exude copious secretions which spread over their faces.





Both sexes have sharp tusks







In boars, the tusks flare outwards and backwards with a slight upward curve- never as long as those of a big warthog but much longer than those of a red river hog.

Rowland Ward's Records of big game has a minimum entry level of 7 7/8 inches and the world record, which measured 15 1/2, was shot in Uganda. The SCI number one was shot in Ethiopia, the longest tusk was 13 inches. It is true that currently the biggest GFH are shot in Ethiopia, while in the CAR where I hunt for them, the average tusk in lenght is about 8 1/2 inches long and with a bit of luck you can get 10 inches up to 11 1/2 inches.

Giant forest hog are tied to the full canopy rain forests of Africa. They are found from Guinea to Ghana, from Nigeria to Kenya, up to the north of Tanzania and Ethiopia. Cameroon, Ethiopia and the Central African Republic , however, are the only countries where you can hunt them on license, the last country having to date, the highest success rate until now.

Reproduction may take place year round but tends to be seasonal with a peak in birth rates usually around the start of the rainy season in April/May. The GFH sows reach the sexual maturity by 18 months and the gestation period is about 140 to 150 days. They give birth to between 2 and 5 piglets. Female isolate themselves and built a large grab-and-branch nest in which to give birth. Sow and piglets leave the nest and join the sounder after about a week.

In competing for females, boars fight like a wild sheep, charging at each other from some 10 to 20 meters and slamming their heads together. When their facial protuberances are aligned on contact, the escaping trapped air from the resulting smash sounds like a rifle shot-much like when a paper bag is blown up, screwed closed and popped, only much louder of course- and can be heard from afar. These fights may cause facial fractures and can be fatal. Repeated charges may continue for up to half an hour with jaws champing, spittle flying and urine squirting every time. "can you imagine such a scene".

GFH are scattered across Africa but they do not tolerate low humidity. Their range resembles that of the Bongo- mainly forest grassland mosaics, swamp forest, gallery forest and wooded savannah. A year round and plentiful supply of green fodder and dense cover are found wherever the hogs occur. Their range, about 20 square kilometers in extent, is punctuated by sleeping sites, latrines, wallows, water holes, salt licks and grazing meadows. They use pathways made by themselves to reach these places.

Latrines:






Wallows:









Meadows:





Salt licks:














Mainly grazers (sometimes scavengers), they eat many types of grasses, sedges and herbs which are cropped at various stage of growth. Despite their long, flat and big snout, they tend not to root up the soil when feeding. They like mineral rich earth which they excavate with their lower incisors and form big holes and even caves.





The basic social group is a mother and her offspring, including two to three others with a mature boar in close attendance. The sounder is composed of 5 to 20 animals. They have also been known to associate with neighboring families using the same sites.



The GFH is considered a nocturnal animal, but I disagree. I have spent many nights in a machan overlooking salt licks without seeing a single hog. Where I hunt in the CAR they are completely diurnal and we see them between 08h00 and 16h00 with a peak at midday. My pictures confirm the fact. Here is one picture made by my trail cam at dark, it was 19h00, just after dark:



The GFH is also not a shy animal as some people think. His sense of hearing is good but human intrusion does not bother him as long as his flight or fight circle is respected. His eyesight is terrible and it is almost as if he is blind. I have known them to look straight at me from close range and not see me and I have walked up to within four to five meters of GFH without them moving away.







But his sense of smell is excellent and it reminds me of that of an elephant. He can smell you from quite a long distance and even where you have walked at salt lick, meadows or across their pathways. One day we were inspecting a salt lick for tracks when we saw a GFH sounder approaching. We moved 30 meters away, hid and waited. As the big sow reached the salt lick she smelled our tracks and immediately ran away with the rest of the group in hot pursuit. It taught me a lesson.

GFH are very noisy animals. They are not very careful when moving. It seems as if walking on dry leaves or through a noisy thicket when sneaking up on them does not bother them. When feeding, their almost hairless ears flap incessantly, flicking away flies and bees and making a clapping sound. Because of their poor eyesight, they are often very vocal. They use close contact quiet grunts and a louder barking call over distance. Boars make a extended grunting call that builds up to a trumpeting crescendo and then dies away and again sounds like a charging elephant... and almost as loud.

It reminds me of a story. We had tracked a big boar with great difficulty for nearly 4 hours. When we at last saw the boar, he was quartering away from us at a distance of about 20 meters. My client's 375 HH solid bullet had to traverse a thicket before it hit the hog. The boar went about 30 meters before it ran out of steam and lay down. We could still just see it when, we heard a strange sound that I never heard before. I asked the trackers what was it, what was going on? The trumpeting sound was very loud and they explained it was made by the dying boar. I wish I had been able to record the sound. As we moved closer, we could see all the other pigs surrounding the dead boar. I also remembered how smelly they were and that you could pick up their scent from quite far away.

The GFH is not an easy animal to hunt nor is it found in many collections. In fact, it is seldom seen at all. Most giant forest hogs are taken as targets of opportunity. But not anymore, believe me.... Where I hunt in the CAR, I do special 14 days hunt with a very high success rate because they are really plentiful due to the perfect biotope. On he first safari this year, in early January, we saw 104 GFHs with and American hunter and shot the 75th. In three months I saw in total of 185 GFHs !!

The 375 HH is the minimum caliber I recommend. Despite his big, heavy and wide body, the GFH is not a strong animal when wounded but he can sometimes be aggressive like all the other wild pigs. The area where you hunt them is often obscured by heavy grass, thick brush and trees and you may need to shoot through some of this so I often suggest the client loads solids in his rifle. Sow and boars are slightly different and through the scope of your rifle, you can see the dimorphism clearly. The males are much bigger than the females and often walk in front of the sounder. The big facial disc so pronounced on males is absent in females and the scrotum on males is very prominent.



But be careful and do not disregard a big animal merely because there is a piglet alongside, it could be a boar as they also associate with the young. Also double check a lone animal, it is not necessarily a male and could be a female. As I said before, they are not very shy and, once you know their behavior patterns in a given area, they become easier to hunt, at least it becomes a planned hunt not a "good luck" hunt. Of course I understand that it is not easy to wrap your mind around booking a hunt especially for GFH as it is for, say, a Lord Derby Eland, Bongo, Lion or Elephant, nevertheless it is an exciting safari in itself as a giant forest hog is a rare animal and makes a great hunt. Quite often you can see them from the car while driving or from a machan at a salt lick. Over the years I have learnt how to hunt them in interesting and exciting ways. For example, after a cold night you can be sure that they will be out and about. It is not necessary to go out early as it is not possible to follow the tracks in the dry season and also because they don't walk much at night. My technique consists of walking slowly around an area where they live. I usually start in a bako (a finger of rain forest on either side of a stream) and walk towards a salt lick or a meadow while trying to catch the scent of their vocalizations. But do not walk across their salt licks or clearings and leave your scent because, if you do, your hunt will be fruitless.

You can cover the area twice a day because they visit the salt licks almost every day. In between you can check some other spots especially when the sun is at its zenith as the best time to find them is between 11h00 and midday at salt licks and from 14h00 to 15h00 in the clearings or meadows where they feed. When you see them and the wind is in your favor, you can slowly move in very close, a few meters from them at any rate but, if they get your wind, they will rush flat out back to the nearest bako.

Unknown and undescribed, Giant forest hog, in an area where they are found in large numbers, are interesting, exciting, challenging and satisfying to hunt. They are a new passion for me-is it their ugliness or their craftiness??

The GFH is not the only pig of CAR. In fact , CAR is the only place in Africa where you can hunt all the indigenous wild pigs. Of course there is the eternal warthog in good numbers and some very good tuskers amongst them.



















Then there is the red river hog, the orange host of the deep bakos that we hunt by calling hem !!















Three pigs, three colors (grey, orange, black), three biomes and three types of hunt: the "PIG GRAND SLAM of CAR" Sure, it is not a dangerous game challenge but it is very demanding and not easy to achieve in one hunt.







Tusk of the PIG GRAND SLAM.





Giant forest hog trophies:

























Video: Hunting Giant forest hog in CAR




Christophe

This is a video I want to share with you. It shows the buffalo from that eastern corner of CAR and how they come, sometime very close (3/4 meters), when I call them in. It is an easy shot if you stand still until the last moment.... I hope you will enjoy it and I am waiting for your questions....



Here are somes trophies.



Cheers
Christophe

An American couple on vacation in Central Africa

But it is really a vacation... You should ask them...

This is the first safari of the hunting season in that beautiful eastern corner of CAR. Francois and I are waiting for the hunters on the runway. We are " hot" and full of hope. We found many places on Google earth and we want to discover these promising and un discovered spots. But are the hunters ready for that??





Teresa and Jimmy are experienced hunters, fit, ready to hunt, they know Africa and they have 4 weeks and they have a full license and they have good shoes... GREAT sounds good.

Francois will hunt with Teresa and I will hunt with Jimmy. The moon is almost full so both team drive to the Bongo camp that we are going to share for a week. That was the plan !!!

On the 2nd day of her hunt Teresa shot a brilliant, old 29 and a half inch Bongo bull.



So they decide to leave the next day for the main camp to hunt the Lord of the savanna.



I said to my buddy Francois, I hope they not miss each other too much !!! Otherwise we are in the trouble? So they stayed with us that day just for Jimmy to show to Teresa that he is not here for the "hair cut" as he shot a great, kind of "forest buffalo". Small body, 350 kg and the horns tend to be like a dwarf forest buffalo, but it is not... it is an adaptation of their biotope.





Jimmy shot a beautiful 31 and a half inch Bongo on day 6.





We saw many Giant forest hog and buffaloes.





We decided to hunt Eland in this area because we saw some signs at about an hour drive from the camp and we could check out the spots I found. We followed the Elands for 6 days, walking 5 to 10 hours a day. It was very hard because the area was not burnt down and, or we lost the tracks or we bumped into them without getting a chance to shoot. So we burnt a few hectares of the bush





I remember, I think Jimmy too?on January 15 we walked more than 35 km for about 10 hours. When we got back to the road (not to the car...) by 5 o'clock in afternoon, Jimmy shot a bush duiker that he nicknamed "a 35 click duiker"



I don't how he shot it because his eyes were half open half closed full of dust and suit bees, his legs were stiff like a dead tree but he was steady on the shooting stick... We were exhaust.







That was also good for him because the previous day after a few hours on Eland we went to check one of the spots? A kind of muddy shallow stream with a salt like on the bank with many signs of Giant forest hogs and buffaloes.





As we walking slowly, all senses in alert, looking for pigs we hear something in the mud. We stood still for a while trying figured out what it was. The tracker saw the tail of a buffalo...I called him and he came out of the thicket at 11 meters I whispered to Jimmy to shoot. He was stuck in the mud up to his coddles. When he moved to get into a shooting position the buffalo took off flat out and the shot went off. I saw the impact in a big stick... After half an hour and a few drops of blood the beast went in the tall grass. The tracks mixed up with some more buffaloes. After 2 and a half hours of tenses tracking and just before dark we had to stop. We knew he was gone and he is not going to die. Even it was a big disappointment.

The Eland day (day 12) was the easiest tracking day!!! Only 2 and a half hours. We picked up the spoors of 2 bulls. We bumped into them after 2 hours in the tall grass and it took us half an hour to get into a shooting range. Jimmy made a great 160 yard front shot through the heart between the trees...



Jimmy looked at me and said: I am glad the Eland is down because I am done

No, now you are trained enough to hunt the bakos for duikers and pigs I said?

How far ??he said. This sentence became our joke between him and me. Every night before we went to bed I asked him: How do you feel Jimmy? How far he said and we laughed

By the time we were having some hard and great time, Teresa on her side was doing well as she shot two buffaloes and a Lord Derby Eland







For the next five days we hunted the forest species. We shot a nice bleu duiker and a nice 14 and a half inch warthog



We saw many Giant forest hog, red river hog buffaloes and we missed a yellow backed duiker and bushbuck. Hard to see and to shoot in the bakos, you have to get use to it before you get something but it is extremely exciting.

So, after so many long days far from Teresa we decided to go back to the main camp and hunt the savanna and of course again some bakos for roan, hartebeest and giant forest hog. But for me the main target was the pigs as I wanted Jimmy to get his pig slam which is quite hard to do.

We went to check one salt lick by midday. On the way, by 11 o'clock we saw a sounder of 11 giant forest hog from the car but the boar was not very good. We reached the salt lick, a kind of deep crater with big holes on the bank made by elephants (long ago) and used now by colobus monkeys and giant forest hog.





We could see nothing but we could hear the animals in the holes. We got closer and suddenly, one, two ,three, ten came out !!! No good boar but what a sight... It was 1 o'clock, we had lunch and a well deserve nap.





Just before we left, Jimmy saw some more GFH far away, feeding. We saw 31 GFH in 3 hours that day?









The next day we went to a new spot and we found 5 GFH in a salt lick. 4 of them were in the hole and the sow was walking around or lying down, waiting for some room for her !!! fantastic, we waited there 20 mn at 30 meters when the wind turned. Jimmy shot in the run a bit far back. It took us 3 hours to get it. It was the 75th we saw !!!!



We saw 104 in total !!! Teresa and Francois saw about 60? Quite a few left there!!! And of course she shot one



So, we had only the red river hog to get to complete the pig slam!! We kept on hunting the bakos and Jimmy shot a yellow backed duiker and a red flanked duiker.





We found a sounder of red river hog early morning when it is still chilly.. the tracker called them in within 10 yard !!! Jimmy missed the first shot but killed him at the second when he came back at the call? So cool, the pig slam is done. Of course Teresa got her pig slam too, she is always doing like Jimmy !!! ( only 5 hunters did it this season).





During the last days, Jimmy shot a very good 29 and a half inch roan, hartebeest and oribi. What a safari for Teresa and Jimmy, they both shot: Eland, bongo, Giant forest hog, 2 buffaloes, roan hartebeest, duikers, bushbuck, warthog, red river hog? believe me, even if it is hard hunting by that great eastern corner of CAR, there is still some hunts to do there and what a great human experience with so nice and friendly people and on top of that BIG HUNTERS

























Thanks, to you both.

Elephant hunt in Tanzania

A Good Elephant from the Selous in Tanzania.


Beginning of September, Risto from Finland was coming for Elephant. We were hunting a very nice block in the south of the Selous game reserve where the dry Luhaniandu River meets the running water of the Luxegu River. Elephants, buffaloes, hippopotamus and lions are really plentiful. One part of the area is very hily with deep and thick korongos where the bulls like to spend the hot hours of the day. The north part is more or less flat, this is the miombo, the restaurant !! Smart old bulls don't mix up with the females and young, they live on their own or with 2 or 3 other bulls in their feeding world.

A few Buffaloes...


Mom and baby Hippo going to the river... I am three meters away perched in a tree!


Hippo depigmented on the nose.


Hippo with malformation of the canines, huge trophy...


The very first afternoon we drove quite fast to a waterhole I had checked the previous day where I saw some good fresh tracks. As we were walking carefully towards the water we see one TEMBO coming slowly to the pool. We all stood still, thinking no it can't be that easy !! but when your luck is here, take it..... The big bodied elephant stopped in the open some 80 meters from us. The dark ivory is too short but really promising. I used these few minutes to show to Risto where to aim and get him in condition; it is his first elephant in the wild, quite impressive and disturbing.

Too small...


Too young!!


The next morning we went to the hily side of the area, a good idea as we find a huge elephant track (48 cm) on the road, not very fresh, from the night but good enough to follow, it is so big that we must go... He was going south, up and downhill until he reached a very thick korongo where he ate, lied down, drunk, rubbed against the tree. At this time, I must say, we did not feel very good as the korongo was very narrow, so narrow that we could see the mark of his belly on the bank.... Barely just enough room for the elephant, we were hoping to see him later !!! In fact, 4 hours later we lost him, no more visible tracks, like he was never here, gone, just disappeared.... I was already thinking of coming back the next morning to try to cut the track but when I looked behind me at the immensity of the hills I said to myself: where should I start, it is too big, too many korongos where he can hide. Maybe one day I will catch up with him again.....

In the miombo...


He will be good in 5 years...


This one sees us...


Sunrise over the Luwegu river in Tanzania


The third morning, very early when it was still chilly we started following a good size smooth track.

Elephant track


One hour later of an easy tracking we found him resting under a big green tree surrounded by tall grass. The huge beast was showing his backside and we could see the high shoulders and the hipbones were sticking out, sign of old age and may be big ivory !!! Now standing sideways, we could see his very big head and the big holes on his forehead but the tusks are still hiding in the tall grass. Let's go closer I said, he looks good !!! some 30 meters away and after some long minutes he decided to move so that we could finally see two black, very thick and very short tusks (about 30 inches outside). We turned back disappointed but very excited by the clos encounter with this old bull. We saw two more bulls that day while driving back to camp later that afternoon. One stood 35 paces from the truck, looking at us like " should I charge your car or not" It was a mono tusker but no big enough. The second elephant was quite impressive with very long ivory, I think 1,40m outside but bery thin and still a very young bull.

Head...


Very close encounter...


Mock charge!!!


Mock charge...


The fourth day was a dead elephant day, nothing, no bull tracks, we saw only females and young. So we went on buffalo and bagged a nice old one. In the later part of the afternoon my main tracker, Kiroumas ( an Ndorobo) said to me "tomorrow we shoot the elephant !!" I said" well let see what we find!!" He said " no, I am sure, we will get one tomorrow before lunch time, God said to me !!!!! " right" I said. What else can I say?

The old bull with smooth horns and deep curls...




We found the tracks at quarter past eight that morning, very fresh, the dung was still warm. Quickly we packed up, I took the GPS point of the 4 x 4 and off we went. The two bull's tracks joined the tracks of a herd and there, we start to turn around and around, we are only 200 meters from the car... Risto stayed there while we looking for the exit... dung, broken trees, big and small tracks all over, they spent a long time feeding, walking on top of their own tracks. We are circling further and further when after two hours I heard the saving whistle from one of my trackers. He found the spoors more than 3 kilometers away !!! Very good, we are on the trail again. My main tracker, Kiroumas, was concentrated like I have never seen him before, there was no expression on his face, close ... All of us understood that he could not lose the tracks and we just let him go. Suddenly the wind turn and we see one of the two bulls running to the left, outside of the wind to join and take his friend away... I ran in parallel to try to see them, too late, I could only see a cloud of dust. We took the tracks again and after one kilometer we see the big bull standing in a clearing at about 200 meters, on his tracks, checking, nervous. Difficult approach as it is quite open, from tree to tree we managed to get close enough to judge the ivory but the bull moved in a patch of tall grass. I went on the left side and Kiroumas on the right side very cautiously because now he knew that something was wrong. He raised his trunk, swaying his head from side to side and ready to run for good. Kiroumas said to me " njo, piga ( come shoot)", when I saw the left very dark, thick and long tusks and the huge head of the elephant I took Risto for a few more steps to get in a good shooting position. A quick look at the hunter to be sure he is not too nervous and I said "3 inches in front of the ear hole". Very calmly he raised his 375 HH and fired. A brilliant brain shot that dropped the bull on his tracks. Once again, as we walking toward the elephant I realized what we did and we caressed the 25 kg of ivory again and again.

1,80 meter - 25 kg Elephant




It is now 11h45 and the hunt is over, just before lunch time, thanks god.......

Some elephant pictures...

Big Elephant...


A nice Elephant, 1,86 meter...


Elephant in Tanzania


Elephant sleeping!!


Dust shower...


Elephant drinking




On the way to the water...


Long ivory...


Maybe good...


Long ivory...


He will be good in 5 years...


Female and calf...


Catching the wind...


Scratching his bump!!!


Ivory...


Ivory...


Cow and calves...


Dark ivory...


This one sees us...



Bye bye ....
Elephant at sunset in Tanzania


Christophe

Hunting Safaris in Tanzania & Central Africa with Christophe Morio



Tanzania and Central Africa are two great hunting countries, well organized, wild and remote where you can get special animals and where you will experience a hunt of a lifetime. This is what I offer.

TANZANIA SELOUS GAME RESERVE:
- Hunting season: July to December
- 21 hunting days for: elephant, lion, leopard, 3 buffaloes, hippopotamus, crocodile, roosevelt sable, eastern kudu, east african elan, nyassaland wildebeest, lichtenstein hartebeest, zebra, impala, warthog, bushpig, bush duiker, harvey duiker, bushbuck, hyena, reedbuck, waterbuck

TANZANIA MASSAILAND:
- Hunting season: July to March
- 21 hunting days for: lesser kudu, greater kudu, gerenuk, grant gazelle, patterson eland, coke hartebeest, fringed eared oryx, dik dik, bush duiker, steinbuck, ostrich, zebra, warthog, klipsringer, impala, hyena, crocodile, bushbuck, bushpig, buffalo, lion, leopard

SPECIAL OFFER IN MASSAILAND FOR JANUARY, FEBRUARY, MARCH:
15 hunting days with a 21 days license

I can also organize a combo SELOUS/MASSAILAND.

CENTRAL AFRICA:
- Hunting season: January to mid May
- 12 hunting days with 2 buffaloes and plain game
- 12 hunting days with 1 big animal: lord derby eland, bongo, giant forest hog, leopard and buffalo and plains game
- 19 hunting days with 2 big animals: lord derby eland, bongo, giant forest hog, leopard and buffalo and plains game
- 26 hunting days with 3 big animals: lord derby eland, bongo, giant forest hog, leopard and buffalo and plains game

For further information or other combination, please feel free to contact me at: safaris.morio@free.fr or visit my website at www.safarismorio.canalblog.com.

Sincerely,
Christophe

Hunting Lord Derby Eland


Lord Derby Eland in Central African Republic


Lord Derby Eland Bull in Central Africa


52.5 inch Lord Derby Eland


52.5 inch Lord Derby Eland

We don't know much about the Lord Derby Eland, also known as Giant Eland, as it is difficult to find surveys. The subject here is to share what I've noticed during the long walks chasing them since I have been hunting them for a long time now. Lord Derby Eland is one of the biggest antelope in Africa and on the contrary it is not easy to observe. Carrying a great trophy, it is an exceptional species for all the hunters who have enjoyed and who will never forget his tracking and stalking.

It is not easy to truly imagine what it's like when you have never seen one in the wild. Just picture a big and elegant ghostly shape of 600 kg (1,300 pound), 1.8 meter (5.9 feet) in height with a smooth coat reddish brown to chestnut in color with several well defined white stripes on both sides of the body, a huge black haired neck extending to a large pendulous dewlap and a beautiful curly, massive set of horns drifting in and out the bush.

As a savanna antelope they are primarily diurnal. Gregarious specie (up to 100 in herds), only the older bulls disband the herd in the wet season. Highly nomadic with a large home range they spend long hours walking looking for fresh leaves, salt licks and waterholes where they sometimes drink and where the bulls roll in the mud to protect their skin.

Hunting Eland is for me one of the most beautiful experience for one simple reason: he is shy, crafty, clever and you track him. Everyone can hunt a Giant Eland when they are in a good number in an area, it depends on his ability of walking and concentration.



The Eland hunting day always begin by driving around a chosen area, checking the tracks on the roads and salt licks. We don't look for tracks by the water as they don't come often. As you find the tracks, the first thing is to check the freshness of the spoor, dung, leaves and branches by the team and then look for a big bull track, large, square in the front side of the mark, deep on the ground promising a heavy bull.

Before following the trail you have to pack 8 liters of water, camera, rounds, load your rifle and get your mind ready for a long walk. On my side I always boost the morale of the trackers especially the main one because even for them it is a hard hunt. Without a good team of trackers you can forget your Eland unless by a lucky encounter. Their skill, for the best trackers, of following Eland tracks on hard gravel or on burnt terrain is something remarkable. Even for me after many years where I don't have trouble to follow Buffalo, on Eland I lose the trail of 40 animals very easily. While we follow the tracks we always check the different signs; if the dung is green and wet you know they are close, if the leaves and broken trees has moisture on it you know they are close. At that time you have to look for a flicking tail but the trackers will see it long before you. Open your ears to try to catch the noise when they brake the trees or better try to catch the sound of a bull smelling their odor of a strong anise.

Then you hear the tracker going: pssssst... You stop dead still in your tracks and scan and scan again the thick bush you have been walking through for many long hours. Instantaneously you are covered by sweet bees, in your eyes, nose, mouth, ears. You chase them but all of us look at you and you hear, "don't MOVE they are 100 meter in front of us? You wear your head net and are relieved You make one and two steps through the thicket and you point at them with your arm and again I say "don't MOVE..."

We check the swirling midday wind and try to get closer. You think that they are feeding quietly but be sure that with their big ears and eyes, one or two of them have already caught you moving!! They start trotting away in a big cloud of dust... We take the advantage and run towards the cloud to get into a shooting position because they should stop and look back in a moment. You are ready for the first time and at last you see them, you even see the big bull walking broadside 60 meters away between the trees, ruff and dewlap swaying from side to side... Your finger reaches for the trigger of your favorite 375 HH and here you are at the last moment and you instantly forget the last 5, 6, 8 or 9 days of the hard walking pursuit. What great hunting... you have chased the ghost!


Big Lord Derby Eland Bulls


Trophy Lord Derby Eland Bulls


Trophy Lord Derby Eland Bulls


Trophy Lord Derby Eland Bulls


Check out the size of the necks in the early season...


Check out the size of the necks...


Trophy Lord Derby Eland Bulls


Lord Derby Eland Bull and Cow


Trophy Lord Derby Eland Bull on the left


Lord Derby Eland Bulls running


48 inch class Lord Derby Eland


48 inch class Lord Derby Eland


48 inch class Lord Derby Eland


Lord Derby Eland curls


Lord Derby Eland herd


Medium Lord Derby Eland


Young Lord Derby Eland Bull


Time to try...


Salt lick


Adding salt


Lord Derby Eland country


Lord Derby Eland spoors and dung


Skinning Eland


Lord Derby Eland heart


The Festivities of a Derby Eland Hunt


A trophy of a lifetime...

Record Buffalo Hunted in Benin

My friend from Benin, Patrick Martin sent me the picture of the biggest buffalo shot since 1974!!!!!! 36 inch wide, should be the new number 1 SCI and Rowland Ward.

A beautiful old bull with nice worn down horns, amazing because after 9 years of hard hunting there the biggest I shot was 32 inch.

Hunting Roan Antelope


Big 32 inch Roan bull hunted in Central African Republic.

In English Roan Antelope (Hippotragus equinus) and in French known as Antilope Chevaline, Antilope Rouane and Hippotrague, Roan Antelope is a large, prestigious and sought after antelope by hunters sportsmen.

Six subspecies have been described, but the validity of most of these is still in doubt, and recent genetic studies have shown that only the western African subspecies (koba) constitutes a genetically separate group from those in the rest of Africa. The Roan Antelope formerly occurred very widely in the savanna woodlands and grasslands of sub-Saharan Africa, but has been eliminated from large parts of its former range. Remarkably, the species remains locally common in West and Central Africa, while in East and southern Africa, the traditional antelope strongholds, the species is now very rare. The species is now locally extinct in Burundi, Eritrea and possibly Gambia. It was also eliminated from Swaziland and later reintroduced to the privately owned Mkhaya Nature Reserve.

Roan Antelope stand about a metre and half at the shoulder (average shoulder height: 143 cm (56 inches)) and a large male weighs between 260 kg (570 lb) and 320 kg (700 lb) while the average weight of the Roan is about 250 kg (550 lb). It has a tawny coat with a black and white mask (lighter in females) which gives it a special character. Named for the "roan" color (a reddish brown), they have a lighter underbelly.

Their habitat consists of savannah woodlands and grasslands, and the bushveld and lowveld of southern Africa, with the cover of high grasses and woody plants playing an important role for both grazing and calving. A water-dependent grazer/browser.

They live in herds of up to 45 individuals with one or two large males but it is more common to see dozens of animals together forming harem groups with a single dominant male. Roan Antelope commonly fight among themselves for dominance of their herd, brandishing their horns while both animals are on their knees.

Groups of males are very rare however the male loners, young and old are fairly common. It is better to hunt the loners as it is disturbing to shoot the dominant male in a herd since it can take up to a year before another male is accepted within the harem.

The hunt takes place either by encounter in the great grasslands plains in the middle of the day or by tracking which is very delicate and hard. A fairly powerful class of rifle must be used such as a 300 or 375HH. An average trophy measures 65 cm (25.6 inches), and 70 cm (27.6 inches) for a good trophy, anything above 70 cm (27.6 inches) makes for a great trophy. In 8 years of hunting in Benin where the density of Roan is very high, average horn length was 64 cm (25.2 inches) and 68 cm (26.8 inches) in CAR.


27 inch Roan bull hunted while feeding algae in the river!!


Two 27.5 inch Roan bulls.


Two 27 inch Roan bulls.


30 and 29 inch Roan bulls.


32 and 29 inch Roan bulls.


Roan Antelope.


29 and 30.5 inch Roan bulls.


30 inch Roan.


28.5 inch Roan bull.


Herd of Roan Antelope, check out the bull...


Roan bull and cow.


Roan bull and cow.


Roan bull.


Roan in water!!


Roan Antelope

(click on thumbnail to view videos of Roan)





Roan bull.


Herd of Roan Antelope.

Check out or rather admire this magnificent orange animal!

My friend and PH François Guillet who hunts with me in Central African Republic took this magnificent 37 inch (94,5 cm) Bongo last January with his client.

This Bongo will apparently be number 2 SCI and number 1 Rowland Ward...



Here below is the number 1, now number 2, Rowland Ward Bongo that I hunted with a client in March 2007 in CAR. This extremely old, I mean old, Bongo measured 36 2/8 inches.

The subfamily Alcelaphinae contains Hartebeest (Genus Alcelaphus) which are nice to collect. Often taken by the road and not really hunted, how many species did you get?

Here are 5 species out of the 6 you can hunt under license.

(click on image to enlarge)


Where to Hunt Them?

• Coke hartebeest
120 kg (265 lb)
Average trophy size 16’’
Tanzania

• Red hartebeest
140 kg (310 lb)
Average trophy size 22’’
South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe

• Lichtenstein hartebeest
120 kg (265 lb)
Average trophy size 18’’
Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, South Africa

• Lelwel hartebeest
120 kg (265 lb)
Average trophy size 21’’
Central Africa

• Western hartebeest
170 kg (375 lb)
Average trophy size 18’’
Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central Africa

• Neumann hartebeest
120 kg (265 lb)
Average trophy size 18’’
Ethiopia


Neumann hartebeest from Ethiopia