A Giant Eland well suited to its' name!

Hi everyone!

This February, I 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.

Welcome to AH Francois!

Insanity! Congratulations to you and your client on this "true" Giant of a Lord Derby Eland...

Well your buddy Christophe Morio shared with us last year the following in one of his blog post.


New Record Bongo hunted in Central African Republic
Check out or rather admire this magnificent orange animal!
My friend and PH Francois 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 is the link: New Record Bongo hunted in Central African Republic

I hope the hunting stays open in the future for CAWA.
Those are some incredible specimens.
9 hours tracking, that should qualify as fair chase.

Look at the sweat and exhaustion of the hunter. Not a word of a lie there!!

Congratulations!

Congratulations, huge man!

What a thrill that must have been. Congratulations.

Great animals!
Cawa has a great area.
My number 1 hunting dream is to hunt LDE and Bongo with bow.

If I one day wake up with lots of money, I will book a hunt with them at once.

Amazing animal! Huge!! Congrats

Hi Francois,

That is a splendid Eland. Congratulations to you and your client.

I am a UK agent and have been looking for a reliable and professional outfit who could guide my clients in safety and success for Eland and other CAR species.

If you could email me, we can discuss .

Best wishes

Tony

I was the lucky hunter that Francois refers to. He is an outstanding Professional Hunter and the trophy was the result of his efforts and perseverance. I took seven animals on this Safari; Red Flanked Duiker, Western Roan, Warthog, LD Eland, Western Bush Duiker, Blue Duiker, and a Harnessed Bushbuck. All were very good animals. Hats off to our host CAWA Safaris the Mararv family and Fred Duckworth CAWA's booking representative all very professional. Thank you everyone. Bob M.

Welcome to AH Bob and congratulations again!

Great animal, congratulations !

Originally Posted by francois guillet

Hi everyone!

This February, I 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.

Francois just emailed me with an update on this Eland from his client:

Francois, We have been officially scored the eland: 141 7/8 which makes it SCI #2...

Congratulations!

Absolutely Awesome!

Congratulations on a very fine trophy.

Really nice...the length is incredible!

hats off to you guys
thats a cracker of a eland bull a well earned trophy
congratulations again

Originally Posted by Bob Merkley

I was the lucky hunter that Francois refers to. He is an outstanding Professional Hunter and the trophy was the result of his efforts and perseverance. I took seven animals on this Safari; Red Flanked Duiker, Western Roan, Warthog, LD Eland, Western Bush Duiker, Blue Duiker, and a Harnessed Bushbuck. All were very good animals. Hats off to our host CAWA Safaris the Mararv family and Fred Duckworth CAWA's booking representative all very professional. Thank you everyone. Bob M.

Bob, welcome to AH, and congratulations. I hope you will flesh out your summary for all of us, it sounds like an awesome hunt that is worth telling in detail.

Incredible bull! Congrats to all involved, Hunter, PH and trackers!!!

Congrats Bob those are some fantastic animals and Welcome to AH!

Originally Posted by Bob Merkley

I was the lucky hunter that Francois refers to. He is an outstanding Professional Hunter and the trophy was the result of his efforts and perseverance. I took seven animals on this Safari; Red Flanked Duiker, Western Roan, Warthog, LD Eland, Western Bush Duiker, Blue Duiker, and a Harnessed Bushbuck. All were very good animals. Hats off to our host CAWA Safaris the Mararv family and Fred Duckworth CAWA's booking representative all very professional. Thank you everyone. Bob M.

Congratulations on your success Bob, you obviously had a great trip and wonderful success with the LDE. I'm very much looking forward to getting out with the CAWA team, looks like an amazing experience. What's next for you after this safari? Will you go back to CAR?

Francios,
I met you in Kocho in January. I was with Mike while you had Teresa and Christophe had Jimmy. Great time, enjoyed your theatrics at dinner!!!