REPUBLIC OF CONGO: Bongo In The Congo Second Try

[sniper7]

Congrats on the hunt this far looking forward to more

 

[gillettehunter]

Tonight Christophe and I sat in a machan while staff finished the machan where the yellow back duiker we’re going to hunt is located. Saw nothing. Quiet sit. Been a great trip so no complaints at all. Might get a little rain overnight. Wouldn’t hurt.
Tomorrow we go hunt buffalo. There are a series of 4 natural openings in the forest near a small river. Each now has a salt licks/pond in it. 3 hour hike to see each of them. This is the best dwarf forest buffalo area they have. Up at 4 am. Leave before 5 for an hour drive over for a morning hunt. Hasn’t been bothered for 5 days so we’ll hope for the best.
Bruce

 

[Wyfox]

Congrats! Love the play by play real time report. Good luck on the YB!

 

[Altitude sickness]

Good luck on the Buffalo

 

[Green Chile]

Now you've got machans built for YB and forest buffalo. This report just keeps getting better. Good luck on the next part!

 

[DLSJR]

Tonight Christophe and I sat in a machan while staff finished the machan where the yellow back duiker we’re going to hunt is located. Saw nothing. Quiet sit. Been a great trip so no complaints at all. Might get a little rain overnight. Wouldn’t hurt.
Tomorrow we go hunt buffalo. There are a series of 4 natural openings in the forest near a small river. Each now has a salt licks/pond in it. 3 hour hike to see each of them. This is the best dwarf forest buffalo area they have. Up at 4 am. Leave before 5 for an hour drive over for a morning hunt. Hasn’t been bothered for 5 days so we’ll hope for the best.
Bruce

I’ll be keenly interested to hear your thoughts on the prospects for buffalo. My friend who is going with me is very interested in taking dwarf forest buffalo. Of course, I’m also interested but in my case, way more interested in Sitatunga after the bongo.

 

[gillettehunter]

The short of it is we saw both this morning. The longer version is as follows. Up at 4. Gone by 4:45. Arrived at the start of our walk about 5:15. 2 of the 4 game cameras showed buffalo. The other 2 had nothing. The furthest in one is a hour and a half of brisk walking in. It had some spectacular bongo pics. One single forest buffalo bull. Nice bull. All in at night.
Christophe had started to build a machan there but the wind is generally wrong for where it would have to be built. So he is still thinking on it.
The other camera with buffalo is the closest to the road. One really good bull sometimes with a cow and calf have been coming and going there. The salt is at a river crossing and sometimes they don’t stop for the salt. Last night he came through 3 times…. So we trimmed out a shooting lane and have all but a tarp in place for a ground blind. Problem is we are close. Probably under 50 yds. Maybe only 40. Scent control could be an issue as well as noise. Likely the best shot is going to be right in the middle of the stream…. It’s now set and we’re resting the area some. Still resting the YB duiker machan that was just built too. Christophe is ready to go to a machan and spend the night. So he has one where some Pieters duikers have been on camera. Even though we won’t see them at night we’re spending the night. Rarely there has been a yb duiker there too. So we’ll see what happens.
Last night a big thunderstorm rolled through. Lots of thunder and lightning. Modest rain here. More to the North. I can hear the thunder now so another is building. Like to get it here and help wash away the human scent. Speaking of which. On our drive to the machan yesterday we collected some forest buffalo poop. He had those finishing up the machan at the YB duiker location scatter it around to help counteract the human scent. I think that’s up to date for now. Hopefully by this time tomorrow we’ll have a nice Pieters duiker in the salt.
Bruce

 

[Adam Stevens]

Thanks for dragging us along your hunt! Excellent

 

[buck wild]

Great report.

Earlier in the report, when yall were broken down, you mentioned "bottle jack" and I read "bottle of jack" thinking that's perfect for a breakdown

 

[LivingTheDream]

The short of it is we saw both this morning. The longer version is as follows. Up at 4. Gone by 4:45. Arrived at the start of our walk about 5:15. 2 of the 4 game cameras showed buffalo. The other 2 had nothing. The furthest in one is a hour and a half of brisk walking in. It had some spectacular bongo pics. One single forest buffalo bull. Nice bull. All in at night.
Christophe had started to build a machan there but the wind is generally wrong for where it would have to be built. So he is still thinking on it.
The other camera with buffalo is the closest to the road. One really good bull sometimes with a cow and calf have been coming and going there. The salt is at a river crossing and sometimes they don’t stop for the salt. Last night he came through 3 times…. So we trimmed out a shooting lane and have all but a tarp in place for a ground blind. Problem is we are close. Probably under 50 yds. Maybe only 40. Scent control could be an issue as well as noise. Likely the best shot is going to be right in the middle of the stream…. It’s now set and we’re resting the area some. Still resting the YB duiker machan that was just built too. Christophe is ready to go to a machan and spend the night. So he has one where some Pieters duikers have been on camera. Even though we won’t see them at night we’re spending the night. Rarely there has been a yb duiker there too. So we’ll see what happens.
Last night a big thunderstorm rolled through. Lots of thunder and lightning. Modest rain here. More to the North. I can hear the thunder now so another is building. Like to get it here and help wash away the human scent. Speaking of which. On our drive to the machan yesterday we collected some forest buffalo poop. He had those finishing up the machan at the YB duiker location scatter it around to help counteract the human scent. I think that’s up to date for now. Hopefully by this time tomorrow we’ll have a nice Pieters duiker in the salt.
Bruce

A picture of the Buffalo set up, as you can see it is close quarters!

 

[Green Chile]

You're in the middle of it for sure. Trophy rich environment...and more rain! I'm not sure which day we are on or how many hunt days are left?

Love the pro move of moving the poop around. Clever.

 

[JG26Irish_2]

Well Done Sir! Congrats on the Bongo. That animal is my PH's wife's bucket list animal. No small effort just to get to Congo, let alone hunt there. I am jealous of your getting to see both Gorilla and Forest Elephant. Good luck with the rest of the hunt. Great you can take the time to report while in country. I have been back from my last Safari for more almost a week and have yet to report any of it.

 

[7mmFan]

great report so far! Way to double up on duiker! Good luck on the rest of the hunt and thanks for sharing!

 

[Biddleman]

Just an awesome trip so far Bruce! Your bongo is truly a great trophy.

 

[deewayne2003]

@gillettehunter

Congrats on the Bongo, maybe I missed the details but would you mind elaborating on the make, model and ammo of the .375 that you were using?

 

[Est.1970]

Or will it be bungle in the jungle??
Many of you will remember my report on my trip to the republic of the Congo 20 months ago. My hunt had been pushed back to the end of the season. I was extremely fortunate to take an exceptional Forest Sitatunga, but not a Bongo. I was offered a reduced price hunt so I’m headed back. This time I hope to catch the rains better. I also will be early in the season so hopefully the Bongo haven’t been hit as hard as last time.
Also, Congo Forest Safaris has opened up a new section that produced very well for them last year. The hunter just leaving has been hunting Sitatunga and they have seen some Bongo so it looks good for success on this trip.
Yesterday I drove from Gillette to Denver. It’s strange but that 6 hr drive often saves $800-1200 on airfare. Spent the night with family. I say night loosely as I was up at 2:30 am for a 3 am uber to the airport.
Both delta and my booking agent suggested arriving 3 hrs early. 6am flight. I was fairly certain no one would be there that early. My Uber was 5 minutes early and I was at DIA at about 3:30. Got my luggage tag and waited until 3:50 for staff. So the normal 2 hrs ahead for international flights would have been fine. No rifle this trip. Can’t readily bring one into the Congo.
I will note that getting a Visa is a bit of a pain. You have to send your passport along with a letter of invitation, a document showing where you’ll be staying, and I think a copy of your yellow fever vaccination certificate. Plus, I think, $120 as well as a return label to get your passport back. Goes to the DC area. I used Fed-Ex and that worked fine. Both times they have gotten my passport with visa back quickly. Just a matter of having the correct paperwork.
Denver to Atlanta went fine. I’m currently sitting in Atlanta awaiting a flight to Paris. 3 1/2 hrs there and then on to Brazzaville via Kinshasa. Depending on camp WIFI I’ll try to update this daily.
If we’re running a Bongo with the dogs a day might get skipped along the way. I worked on preparing for that part of the hunt better than last time. I’ve lost over 20 lbs and spent a bit of time climbing a hill in my backyard. Last trip I was between hip replacements. One on each side and frankly I wasn’t in the best of shape. Overall I’m a lot better than last time. Hopefully pays off.
Bruce

Are you trying to avoid the rain? Certainly wouldn’t be as much of a crowd during monsoon season.

While in the Atlanta airport you can get some cardio on those flat escalators. It really gets the wind up in your hair if you run on those, and the travelers that have no concept of manner make for some awesome slalom!

Be careful!

 

[Green Chile]

I'm not answering for Bruce but rain is beneficial for jungle hunting as it keeps the ground soft for tracking and reading sign. If it doesn't rain, bongo hunting success drops drastically.

 

[sniper7]

Great update!

 

[gillettehunter]

@gillettehunter

Congrats on the Bongo, maybe I missed the details but would you mind elaborating on the make, model and ammo of the .375 that you were using?

Ruger Hawkeye. 20 inch barrel? Ammo is Hornady DGS in 300 grain bullets. Scope is a Trigicon.
The duiker rifle is a .222 with 50 grain soft points and a 1 inch tube old Leupold.
The shotgun didn’t seem to have a maker name or choke of the barrels stamped on it.

 

[Green Chile]

Interesting that you are using solids. Was that a PH request due to heavy vegetation?