REPUBLIC OF CONGO: Bongo In The Congo Second Try

[gillettehunter]

Once again no action but here’s the details. Christophe had determined a machan to go to for the night. On the way we found fresh buffalo tracks and dung on the road. Christophe changed the machan hoping they would come to where we waited. No go.
The jungle during the day has a significant amount of background noise from birds and insects. At night, well multiply that by 10. Downright noisey. Then there are the mosquitoes dive bombing you. Rarely do you get good sleep. Christophe sets up motion detectors when we arrive. If something comes in he gets a signal that wakes him up.
He has a thermal monocular to look at the animal in the dark. He also puts a thermal adapter on the rifle scope for shooting. Nothing came in overnight.
This morning we went and checked several game cameras and cleared some roads every day there is something on the road somewhere. Sometimes a big tree. Under 10 inches and they usually use their machete. Bigger then they break out the chain saw.
Last night and today lots of elephant sign. Tracks/trails/dung in various places. They pushed a tree over on one of the roads. We cleared it out. Close enough that the trackers could hear them eating……
Nothing had been back to out primary salt lick for the Yellow Back Duiker. With the new machan there it could be a few days. Still have time. 8 more days? My flight out is July 1. Plenty of time for a secondary animal or two if Lady Luck is on my side.
Bruce

 

[sniper7]

Lots of time! What a trip you are having!

 

[Green Chile]

Plenty of time to make several plans and the pressure is off with early success on bongo. It's interesting that the night sounds are louder. That's the difference of the jungle. I like that you said snoring is no problem. It's hard to be in a blind/machan all night and not make some kind of noise. It's a lot different than a leopard blind at night. Good to know.

What's the quality of the thermal like for the rifle? Can you see much detail or is it a thermal blob with little definition?

 

[LivingTheDream]

A few pictures from today.

 

[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.

 

[gillettehunter]

Looks like my update for yesterday failed to load. On our way back to the machan we found where the buffalo had been on the road. Several places. So Christophe decided on a different machan where he hoped that the buffalo were headed. Unfortunately we saw nothing.
In the morning we travelled to several salt licks to check cameras. We made a quick stop where the new machan was built for the YB duiker. Nothing there either.
We went down an old logging road that supposedly goes to an open swampy area that the buffalo like. I don’t believe Christophe had ever been there. We got part way there and stopped at a bridge that was suspect. The wood had indeed rotted. Not safe to cross and still 5 miles from the buffalo. So that’s off the table for now.
Each day we go out there are some trees to trim or remove from the road. Smaller ones under about 10 inches they use a machete on. Bigger a chain saw. The jungle is always trying to reclaim the roads. It’s amazing how grown in they can get.
For Sat. night we went to the somewhat undesturbed machan. As we got there around 4:30 you could hear the thunder in the distance. We parked where the trackers would camp and walked in from there. We settled in for the night. As it got dark the thunderstorm rolled in. After full dark an elephant showed up at the salt. After a good look Christophe turned on his flashlight to get him to leave. Was concerned he’d bother the camera or motion sensors. The light went on immediately following an especially sharp crack of thunder that resembled a gun shot. He left in a hurry.
Another elephant came in after I went to sleep. Smaller animal. Christophe thinks both were bulls.
After the rain the morning was slow to come and slightly gloomy. No duikers showed up. About 7:30 out came a gorilla. Then a second. At one point we had 5 in the salt lick. They spent close to 35 min there. Made for a fantastic morning. Christophe says that happens about 1-2 times a season! Pretty eventful night and morning.
About the thermal. When I used it 2 years ago it worked very well. I was amazed at how clearly the Sitatunga showed up. Now it appears to have issues and the view is what I would call poor. Hopefully good enough to shoot with for a buffalo or YB duiker.
Bruce

 

[LivingTheDream]

A few Gorilla pics

 

[Green Chile]

How cool is that! Bonus gorilla viewing on a bongo hunt.

 

[LoneSpoonie]

Fantastic adventure! I envy you going to the Congo!

 

[Beck]

How cool is that! Bonus gorilla viewing on a bongo hunt.

Agreed, that's the kind of place you could go, shoot nothing, and still have an amazing time.

 

[skydiver386]

Those ivory tip on your Bongo are fantastic.

Only a small percentage of hunters will ever be lucky enough to hunt Africa. Of those, an even smaller percentage will ever be able to go on a hunt like yours. What an adventure.

 

[Beck]

Those ivory tip on your Bongo are fantastic.

Only a small percentage of hunters will ever be lucky enough to hunt Africa. Of those, an even smaller percentage will ever be able to go on a hunt like yours. What an adventure.

I have now become determined to follow in Bruce's footsteps. To me the Bongo is the pinnacle of trophies

 

[skydiver386]

I have now become determined to follow in Bruce's footsteps. To me the Bongo is the pinnacle of trophies

Oh this site is full of enablers. I had no idea I needed a Lord Derby Eland until I started hanging around with these guys.

 

[Green Chile]

I have now become determined to follow in Bruce's footsteps. To me the Bongo is the pinnacle of trophies

Yes indeed...as good as the sable is, the real prince of Africa is the bongo.

 

[Beck]

Oh this site is full of enablers. I had no idea I needed a Lord Derby Eland until I started hanging around with these guys.

Yes, these guys are terrible. I set out to buy a budget scope at one point, asked for advice, ended up with a fucking Zeiss!

 

[gillettehunter]

No shots fired again. Details following. We again went to the same machan as the night before. Cloudy and a little cooler. When using a machan our time goes generally as follows:
Leave camp around 3-3:30 pm. Usually 1-1:15 to machan. Park well back from machan. Everybody takes a load in. Usually chairs and cots have been placed there before. If not then brought in now. Quiet by 4:45 normally. Legs are covered but we still try to minimize movement. Dinner as it’s getting dark around 6:30. Then attach thermal. I usually stay up till around 9 pm. Then on the cot to try and sleep.
I’m usually up around 5 AM. I sit there and have my morning prayers while watching the light of the morning brighten. Breakfast usually around 6:30. When interested in duikers we might stay until 9 am. If Bongo hunting then gone closer to 7.
Then usually off to check several trail cameras and back to the lodge between 11 and 12:30. Lunchtime and a shower. Hopefully a nap and then repeat.
At the machan today we had some extra special and rare visitors. Chimpanzees. Saw 4 of them. Christophe immediately got up to get his camera and they caught the movement. One went fully out to the salt lick and posed. The rest held back having seen us. This was the best look Christophe has had of chimps here in the Congo. So at that machan in less than 24 hrs we have seen forest elephant, gorillas and chimpanzees.
Around midnight they started calling. They made a half circle around us. Loud buggers. No way to sleep with all that racket going on. We are at the dark of the moon and it feels like animal movement has decreased drastically.
Next machan will be to the far end of the area where we broke down. Been a YB duiker into the salt lick there about every 5-7 days. This is 5th night since he was there. Plus there is an excellent Pieters duiker not too far away from him that we’ll try this hunt. Change of pace. Trying to give the buffalo plenty of time to get used to the cutting we did there. New machan where the YB duiker had been consistent has had no activity.
Bruce

 

[LivingTheDream]

Here are a few pictures.