SS!, many experienced African hunters consider Lord Derby Eland to be the Holy Grail of African Plains Game. It is generally a pure tracking hunt with many miles logged on foot typically before taking a suitable bull.
They are not uncommon at all, but the only country where they can presently be hunted is Cameroon. They also occur in CAR (Kewin Lefol does hunt there, but very limited and EXPENSIVE) and Sudan, as well as a little bit of Chad; but neither country has a hunting program and are not safe for westerners to travel to. So, if you want to hunt Lord Derby Eland (LDE), you have to go to Cameroon. There are a lot of Eland in northern Cameroon. A lot!
LDE are a huge animal, as big as an Alaskan Moose. They stand at least 6 feet tall at the shoulder. We guessed my bull probably weighed around 1,800 pounds. My bull was taken from a herd of around 30 animals with a couple real nice satellite bulls. Some herds can number 100 animals! Stalking within shooting range is challenging, not only because of how many eyes, ears, noses; but also thick bush that can make finding a clear shot challenging. I had to shoot through/over obstructions that were about halfway to the bull.
I was very fortunate to take my LDE midday on the 2nd day. We only walked around 5 miles or a bit more. The fellow hunting after me spent 12 long days walking many miles daily in temps as hot as 112 degrees. One day, they walked 18.8 miles as measured by Gaia GPS. In that heat, it was a brutal day for them.
Costs can vary quite a bit, from simply expensive to ridiculously expensive (even more than Stone Sheep). With Cameroon being the only country left to hunt them in, combined with concerns about how long that might continue due strictly to political stability, demand for these hunts is high and that has driven prices very high. I’m glad I did this hunt when I did, I locked in my price a few years ago, right before prices really shot up. It was a great experience to do once.
