What New Chad

French outfitter/PH Alain Lefol has had some major problems with his first safaris to the country of Chad. We have been following the opening of this country closely and we shared Lefol's optimism that the first exploratory safaris this past January by Hunting Report subscribers Wayne Pocius, Warren Parker and Al Cheramie would be problem-free. That was not how things turned out, however. Seems completely unexpected resistance to the safaris cropped up in the game department, effectively scuttling them. Virtually the same thing happened on the second round of safaris in February by subscribers L. Irvin Barnhart, Pete Papac and Laurent Delagrange, owner of Indianhead Ranch in Texas. Yes, some game has been taken at this writing - notably a western kudu by Wayne Pocius and Dorcas gazelles by several of the clients on the second round of safaris. Also, two clients at this writing - Barnhart and Delagrange - are still in the field. However, to date, most of the hunters who have gone to Chad have spent most of their time waiting in camp, or in hotels in the capital city, N'djamena, fighting paperwork problems created by a low-level game department official. At press time, newly returned client Dan Duncan said he was confident problems were on their way to being resolved. He was upbeat about the whole experience, and had nothing but praise for the efforts Lefol made to get everyone in the field. We hope to have better news on Chad soon. Stay tuned.

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