havgunwilltravel
Active member
Thought i would ask if anybody has any hunting experience in West Africa, more so Cameroon or Burkina Faso? I have wanted to go to Cameroon and hunt probably more so then anywhere else in Africa and it is one of the last remaining countries for 'chase libre' or self guided hunting.
Legally it is doable, logistically it is a monster to arrange. I have been emailing many people trying to get little pieces of advice good or bad and trying to piece together the important necessities of a trip like this.
There is a couple of Zones in the north of Cameroon that allow 'chase libre' these have Western buffalo, LD eland, and most of the typical Cameroon Savannah species, but by no means are these areas over run with game. The zones border national parks and this is where a lot of animals filter through to the legal hunting zones. Feed, water and green pick following recent burns will all influence animal movement, as will poachers and local hunting pressure.
It seems arranging flights through Paris is formality, getting a tourist visa is straight forward, but from there the work starts. Firearms import seems acceptable, but then a hunting permit is required for the zone you want to hunt, this apparently can take some work and time. I have read about people waiting for a fortnight for this permit and then flying home without getting rifles out of cases. I know a bloke who studied hunting in Cameroon and he knew an in charge at one of the open hunting zones, but he has retired two years ago, so that lead has fizzled out. Then there is transport, a hire car, probably ok to arrange. Whilst i would have to learn more French, it would be important to have an interpreter to accompany and speak French, the widely spoken language, and this person would have to come on the hunt, a bit of an issue, but i was thinking to email a university or college and see if i can find somebody to hire. I have hunting mates who are fluent in French, but not sure they would want to come.
Water, food, and having equipment stolen in these areas is an issue as is personal safety, as it seems the further north you go and closer to the nigeria border the more chance of running into trouble with kidnappers who hold international tourists at ransom, (re the recent French family kidnapped by fighters in Waza NP and recently released) also there can be issues with villagers demanding fees and temporarily road blocks accessing for trespass/toll money.
There is one zone that is untenanted and this might be more safe hunting and fly camping then actually staying in a designated camping area within the zone as i am thinking the less people that know you are there hunting the less chance of the wrong people hearing about it.
There is hefty trophy fees on the way out if you declare animals harvested and strict limits as to what you can shoot from each class list. This is all simple and understandable.
After this there is arranging CITES permits whilst in the country before you fly home and then getting the shipping country to crate any animals and send them home to your address. I am more inclined to think of just taking skulls and trying to get as much in the check in luggage as possible, if i can work through everything. The CITES permit i can only imagine will be a challenge.
I would buy a single shot take down rifle, and take that in the smallest shotgun case i could find, and also load this up in my luggage to ensure i was less visually appealing to become a target of a robber.
The more people i communicate with the more people say it is too hard to do and just pay the 10K for the guy in the US to arrange everything logistically for you and you do the self guided bit yourself in the location he sets you up in. But for me, that would almost be like cheating and it is kind of motivating me to explore every option possible to arrange everything on my own. Even if i could pull it all off and not fire a shot, i would get much more satisfaction then paying for the experience and having everything arranged for you.
As for Burkina Faso, that would be the plan B, at some stage, similar animals and habitat and hunting, but can only be done guided. So a distant plan B.
I'm a long way off realising the dream, but i'm not one to sit and watch the years pass by wishing i should have done this or could have done that, so i'm interested to hear if any members have had experience hunting over there or know of friends who have done so.
HGWT
Legally it is doable, logistically it is a monster to arrange. I have been emailing many people trying to get little pieces of advice good or bad and trying to piece together the important necessities of a trip like this.
There is a couple of Zones in the north of Cameroon that allow 'chase libre' these have Western buffalo, LD eland, and most of the typical Cameroon Savannah species, but by no means are these areas over run with game. The zones border national parks and this is where a lot of animals filter through to the legal hunting zones. Feed, water and green pick following recent burns will all influence animal movement, as will poachers and local hunting pressure.
It seems arranging flights through Paris is formality, getting a tourist visa is straight forward, but from there the work starts. Firearms import seems acceptable, but then a hunting permit is required for the zone you want to hunt, this apparently can take some work and time. I have read about people waiting for a fortnight for this permit and then flying home without getting rifles out of cases. I know a bloke who studied hunting in Cameroon and he knew an in charge at one of the open hunting zones, but he has retired two years ago, so that lead has fizzled out. Then there is transport, a hire car, probably ok to arrange. Whilst i would have to learn more French, it would be important to have an interpreter to accompany and speak French, the widely spoken language, and this person would have to come on the hunt, a bit of an issue, but i was thinking to email a university or college and see if i can find somebody to hire. I have hunting mates who are fluent in French, but not sure they would want to come.
Water, food, and having equipment stolen in these areas is an issue as is personal safety, as it seems the further north you go and closer to the nigeria border the more chance of running into trouble with kidnappers who hold international tourists at ransom, (re the recent French family kidnapped by fighters in Waza NP and recently released) also there can be issues with villagers demanding fees and temporarily road blocks accessing for trespass/toll money.
There is one zone that is untenanted and this might be more safe hunting and fly camping then actually staying in a designated camping area within the zone as i am thinking the less people that know you are there hunting the less chance of the wrong people hearing about it.
There is hefty trophy fees on the way out if you declare animals harvested and strict limits as to what you can shoot from each class list. This is all simple and understandable.
After this there is arranging CITES permits whilst in the country before you fly home and then getting the shipping country to crate any animals and send them home to your address. I am more inclined to think of just taking skulls and trying to get as much in the check in luggage as possible, if i can work through everything. The CITES permit i can only imagine will be a challenge.
I would buy a single shot take down rifle, and take that in the smallest shotgun case i could find, and also load this up in my luggage to ensure i was less visually appealing to become a target of a robber.
The more people i communicate with the more people say it is too hard to do and just pay the 10K for the guy in the US to arrange everything logistically for you and you do the self guided bit yourself in the location he sets you up in. But for me, that would almost be like cheating and it is kind of motivating me to explore every option possible to arrange everything on my own. Even if i could pull it all off and not fire a shot, i would get much more satisfaction then paying for the experience and having everything arranged for you.
As for Burkina Faso, that would be the plan B, at some stage, similar animals and habitat and hunting, but can only be done guided. So a distant plan B.
I'm a long way off realising the dream, but i'm not one to sit and watch the years pass by wishing i should have done this or could have done that, so i'm interested to hear if any members have had experience hunting over there or know of friends who have done so.
HGWT
