Hunting Forum

Flags, never hunted anywhere in West Africa.....what is your opine? Costs, bureaurarcy, conditions, etc.....got bunch of animals I would at least like to see!

SC, my RUM had syn stock forearm combo with a standard Rem butt pad....jeez, that sumbeech would walk all over you! Shi fixed trigger pull from Rem lawyers 5lbs to around 3lbs, put a mecuric recoil reducer in forearm and in stock and a good pad on it.....almost a pleaure to shoot now even tho it dang near broke Miz Shi's finger after the fix....

Posted By TOM IN TENNESSEE on 21 Aug 2012 03:36 PM
...SC, my RUM had syn stock forearm combo with a standard Rem butt pad....jeez, that sumbeech would walk all over you! Shi fixed trigger pull from Rem lawyers 5lbs to around 3lbs, put a mecuric recoil reducer in forearm and in stock and a good pad on it.....almost a pleaure to shoot now even tho it dang near broke Miz Shi's finger after the fix....

Hmmmm I think i could do most of that stuff myself, the trigger stuff I have tried but would love to learn.  Heck if it tames the .338, I might do it to my other rifles so the females around here can shoot and have more fun.  Thanks for the tips!

Brownells has everything you need....

I have seen the mercury recoil reducers in several sizes, any recomendations? I mentioned the project to a female here at home and now I have 3 rifles and a shotgun to work on.

The mercury recoil reducers I used is the Dead Mule brand and they cost around $50.00 each. I also intsalled one in the forearm and buttstock of a custom Mauser I built from a Yugo M48 model barreled reciever that I had rechambered and rebarreld to .300 Win Mag and the recoil is no worse than that of my Swedish Mauser M96 in 6.5X55MM. I simply used a router to make the " valley " for the Dead Mule to lay in and then when I glass bedded the rifle I just glassed over it. The buttstock was as simple as drilling a 1-1/16" hole in the buttstock to the 6" depth and replacing the recoil pad. The ones I bought were 1" diameter by 6"s long and then installed as mentioned above.

Posted By TOM IN TENNESSEE on 21 Aug 2012 03:36 PM
Flags, never hunted anywhere in West Africa.....what is your opine? Costs, bureaurarcy, conditions, etc.....got bunch of animals I would at least like to see! 

Hunting West Africa is a completely different game than hunting the southern part of the country. I've never done any hunting is East Africa (Tanzania, Ethiopia etc...) but I have done several safaris to the south. The entire aspect of hunting in West Africa is different because it is based more on the French way of doing thing and less like the English way. There is a lot more stalking and hunting on foot and less driving. If you want to hunt lion, it will only be done by tracking. They don't believe in baiting cats. It is a completely different mind-set.

As to costs, they are about the same as what you find elsewhere. Trophy fees are based in Euros so they are higher than those based on dollars but the daily fees are much less so it evens out in the end. They don't have the huge variety of game that the southern regions hold but they do have things like Bongo, Lord Derby Eland, Red River Hog, huge Roan, the forset duikers, huge bodied lions, Kob, several types of bushbuck, Forest Sitatunga, Giant Forest Hog etc... These are the game animals that you don't find in every collection.

I had no problems with the bureaurarcy. The outfitter took care of all the permits and visas and I was met at the airport. It took less than 20 minutes to clear customs and get the firearm permit and we were on our way. One thing you do need, especially in Cameroon, is a yellow fever shot. They won't let you leave the airport without it. And it had to be on the yellow International Shot Card. Not hard to get, but it requires a little forward thinking. I watched them turn away a hunter from Canada that didn't have it. One thing that was different was having to fly out of Paris. If you have never been to the airport in Paris, hang onto your hat because it is a pain in the butt.

All in all, I enjoyed it completely. I'd love to go back. I saw Lord Derby Eland 3 times while I was hunting Roan but the quota for the area was spoken for. I'd really like to try for one of those. They truly are a remarkable beast to see.

Thanks for info....already have YF shot as TAN required it when I went and I still have a few years on it.

I had Hill Country Rifle in New Braunfells Tx tame my Sako 338 Win Mag back in the 90's. They did an exceptional job.

I put recoil reducers in two of my rifles and three of my shotguns. I've used both the mercury and mechanical types. They both help reduce felt recoil, and I can't tell if one works better than the other. They were not hard to install, although I was VERY CAREFUL when I drilled the hole in the fancy stock of my .300 Weatherby.

My "two gun battery" is my .375 RUM and my .300 Wby, although on one African hunt I took the .375 RUM for buffalo and a 7mm Rem mag for PG. I've used the .375 RUM for quite a number of African animals from Steenboks to Kudu, and of course Buffalo.

To tame the recoil of both my .375 RUM and .300 Wby, they both have recoil reducers in their stocks, KDF muzzle brakes, and Limbsaver pads. I've also polished the trigger sears and set the triggers of both of them at 3 lbs.

I've been looking at a West Africa hunt for several years and almost booked one in Burkina Faso last year. I think if I ever do another African hunt it will be there.

I keep refraining from a West Africa trip because I know I would go nuts over the variety I have never seen as I did in East and Southern Africa....while there are many species in West Africa that I would love to hunt including tiny ones, Bongo and Lord Darby Eland would be top of list!....my two gun battery would most likely be my .375RUM and a shotgun if I ever went!