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Benin Buffalo Hunt
by Kalunga

This is the report of a hunt for western savanna buffalo in Benin with Safaris Chelet on Dec. 29th, 2005.
I hunted there in January 2005 but due to serious problems with the hunting guide Mr. Chelet jun. offered me to hunt there again for a very good price. He asked me to celebrate christmas with them in the hunting camp and to me that sounded like the perfect way to spend a great time in the African bush !
So I arrived late in the evening in Cotonou on Dec. 23rd ready for action. After clearing customs I was driven to the hotel "Croix du Sud" and early next morning Michel and me were on our long way to the hunting camp in the northeastern part of Benin, about 800km away from Cotonou.
We arrived in camp at about 7pm and soon after that had dinner. Obviously they had a serious problem with the food supply because they couldn`t get a decent antelope for christmas. So after Mr. Chelet asked me for help I instantly agreed to try to get something the next day.
In the afternoon of Dec. 25th I managed to shoot a decent roan and everybody in camp was happy to get some fine meat for the celebrations.

The hunting camp:

After christmas we hunted for buffalo but although we got very close to a herd we could`t find an old bull.

The Alibori river bordering the hunting area:

After several days I asked Mr. Chelet to try it in the northern part of the hunting area, since that part is seldom hunted because there are no roads there and most clients don`t like to walk the whole day.
So on Dec. 29th we started early in the morning and drove to the north with an old Landcruiser HJ60, a very good omen for me since I am a great fan of the Landcruisers. After we reached the hunting grounds we had to wait for enough daylight for tracking, standing around in the cold we suddenly heard a lion roar not very far away, another good omen for me !

Waiting for daylight in the cold:

We soon found fresh tracks and after some hours of tracking we accidentally bumped into two solitary bulls, one dark gray and the larger one pitch black. The bulls were for some reason confused and ran broadside at about 50 meters so I rested my rifle against a tree and took the first shot at the large black bull. Both bulls just kept running and instantly disappeared between the bushes. We followed immediately and after some time we could see the black bull stand there at about 80 meters with that typical "nose-up" posture. I instantly gave him a frontal chest shot but he just turned and started running again. I used 400 grain Barnes Banded solids in my Ruger Magnum in .416 Rigby so an immediate effect was not to be expected. At this time I was sure that he was mortally wounded but the old guy just didn`t accept it yet.
After we followed him again he soon stood there broadside and received another solid in the chest. I again aimed for the top of the heart to makes sure he will die soon. He again turned immediately and started running away so I quickly aimed my last solid to the root of his tail in order to anchor him, but he just kept running. In the video You can see the running bull for a short moment. Now Mr. Chelet joined the fun with his .378 Weatherby but also failed to drop him.
We proceeded to follow him while I loaded my rifle with Barnes TSX and soon we saw him again standing broadside. Since the bullet path was obstructed by some bushes I changed position and gave him another one without any effect whatsoever. I told Mr. Chelet to try his luck and he too fired another 300 grain slug into the old warrior. Again he turned and ran but soon he dropped and after a cautious approach I gave him my last TSX and three Speer Mag-Tip 350 grain bullets in the chest and spine to prevent him from getting up again. I carried the 350 grainers in case of trouble with lions and later the recovered bullets proved that these are not good enough for buffalo. They lost almost half their weight and didn`t penetrate enough.
So the old warrior was down but still refused to die and I had to give him two more shots with Mr. Chelet`s .378 to finish his suffering.
This was the end of my quest for an old western savanna buffalo, for sure the most exciting hunt of my life so far !

The old buffao bull:

We loaded the bull into the back of the Landcruiser and proudly drove back to camp. The meat was distributed to the surrounding villages and a catholic mission in Kandi. The nuns were very happy to get some meat to feed their orphans.
The next days I hunted for bushbuck and on Jan. 6th I bagged a nice specimen. Then my safari ended and a few days later I went back to Germany.

At a local market:

On departure day at the beach of the Atlantic ocean:

For the pleasure of Nitroexpress members I uploaded the video made by Mr. Chelet`s grandson during the hunt:

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FzsP9Ir87I

Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2p_5tkSkEs

Of course that is not a professional video but better than nothing I guess.

I enjoyed hunting in Benin but I have to note that there is not as much game in West Africa as You might find in Tanzania or Zimbabwe. One has to hunt hard and long to find a decent trophy. Also the dreadful Harmattan might be very bad. This wind is coming from the Sahara and carries unbelievable amounts of dust. Sometimes it is not possible to see farther than 200 meters or so and the dust covers everything, glasses, binoculars and all.
To sum up this report I can recommend hunting in West Africa to all hunters that like to hunt hard and don`t insist on getting a trophy in the record book.

Kalunga

See discussion thread - here.