Nothing turned up in a search, and didn't even get much on 24hrcampfire.  I saw a video on youtube of a group of people doing baboon hunting, something related to a scope system.  I have talked to my dad about a culling safari, but was wondering if there was anything real to the baboon hunting. The video looked really interesting, just wanting some more info.
 

Check out the forums at Accurate Reloading.  In Safari Guide II several countries list trophy fees for baboons so they must be on the menu.

Much smarter and tougher to kill than most folks realize.

I have read the first one is not so hard, but the rest of the troop or whatever you call them, get smart real fast.

I tried bagging some and they were very very hard to see. They let you get to within about 500 yards  and then haul ass. They destroy the thatch roofs of the camps chalets and are pretty vicious when they want to be. But when you want to shoot them they seem to be very crafty. I tried. But didn't get one.

Hunting baboons would be like shooting fish in a barrel, so if you're looking for just about the easiest animal on the planet to hunt, you've arrived.



Baboons hung around our camp, within 50 yards, every single day (for 3 months), so I'm not seeing the difficulty some here have expressed.



We weren't living in "camps chalets" either, so maybe that's the difference, not sure.

Man, that was the complete opposite of what I experienced in Namibia this past June. Little fuggers wouldn't let you get within 300 yds. of them and we didn't have any hanging around our camp. Maybe it was the area?

I shot this one at 426 yds

I was in Kenya, Tanzania and Somalia.



I'm not talking tourist stuff, I'm talking about weeks at a time in places where the nearest road was 200 miles away.



The friggin baboons were so numerous and brave, that we had to keep everything inside zipped up tents, because if you gave them the slightest room, the shit they'd been eye-balling, like boots, food, cooking supplies, anything, they'd race in, grab it and haul ass.



We spent the better part of a day searching for one hiking boot that one of these guys grabbed and took off with.



Amazing how important one hiking boot is to a group of people, given the circumstances. As you know, damn near everything in Africa grows thorns, there aint no hiking out with a guy with one boot.



There's another story of the great Battle for the Cornflakes, that I lost against a baboon, but that's for another time I guess.

it's the weekend; I've got nothing but time...
do tell.

You got it.
So the best way to quickly describe the 3.5 months I was in East Africa was that my time was broken up in to 3 primary sections. Mountain climbing (Mt. Kilimanjaro & Mt. Kenya), Sailing the coast of the Indian Ocean from Tanzania to Somalia with Swahili sailors, and hiking about 250 miles along the Great Rift Valley.
Each section was exotic to put it mildly. Weeks without ever seeing a toilet, bathing in rivers and lakes, living out of whatever I could carry on my back....no roads, towns, electricity, no vehicles of any kind, truly "out there". This was not for the timid. Consequently, the food that was available, and capable of being stored in a backpack while there, was modest and not particularly great. Freeze dried this, nuts, dried fruit, oatmeal, stuff like that. So right before I began the last section to hike the Rift Valley, I happened to pass through a small town in route to the drop off. While in that little town I stumbled across the Kenyan equivalent of corn flakes cereal, which at the time was like winning the lottery. I had powdered milk, and realizing that I could FINALLY take a break from my usual breakfast of oatmeal or uji (kind of a cream of wheat African style), the corn flakes discovery was remarkable. Its difficult to explain how important this find actually was....but suffice it to say it was like the heavens opened up, cherubs descended, and granted a gift from the gods. If you ate the same gooey mush for 2 months, you'd understand....it was a magnificent find.
There were a few guys I met there that were joining me on this leg of the trip, and I told them at the time of this epic cereal discovery "Listen, you guys have your shot. If you want cereal, Id suggest grabbing it now while you have the chance, because once we hit the field, you're not TOUCHING my corn flakes. I pulled a "Francis" move right out of the movie Stripes. "Touch me cereal, I'll kill ya. Look at my cereal, I'll kill ya. You fucking THINK about my corn flakes, I will kill ya." The others chose not to get a box, which made no sense to me what so ever, but the message was sent "The fucking corn flakes are mine." All in good fun of course.
We finally get to the drop off, set up a camp site there for the night, to double check our gear, plot our routes, and to get rested for an early departure the following morning. That first day's hike was probably 15 miles. It was a long day with an 80 pound backpack, but we had to make it to our plotted water source, no way around it, so we hiked and hiked and hiked. The terrain was difficult, it was hot, we had a few detours due to certain unfriendly wildlife sightings, which made the day even longer. As the day went on, the weight of my pack pushing each step harder and harder in it to the African soil, the one thought that kept me going at times, was the breakfast I was going to have the next morning. While the others wept in to their cups of gooey oatmeal and uji, they'd regret their folly when they saw me mixing up a few cups of delicious, crunchy, marvelous corn flakes. Thoughts of their regret would quickly be replaced with the sheer nirvana of settling in to my breakfast, savoring every single bite. I could not wait.
So we arrive at sunset at our camp site, ate and fall asleep in very short order. The next morning, as usual, there was a ring of baboons around the camp. They were a common site at our camps in Masai Mara, the stolen boot reference in my post above is one way we came to learn what we were dealing with. There might be 6 at some times, there might be 15-20 at another. Always many more in the back ground, but the brave and the curious always found us to be a curiosity they couldn't seem to resist. They kept about a 75m margin around our camp, and would sit, yawn, occasionally chase each other, and otherwise watch everything we did. They would occasionally posture aggressively, and maybe try to inch in toward our camp, but they were reliably easy to intimidate back with raised arms and a loud voice, and they'd pretty much take off.However, I knew quite well from the boot incident and other events that these guys were always looking for an opportunity....and I was always vigilant.....except for the morning I was fixated on my Kenyan corn flakes.
My tent was probably 100m from a small creek, not big enough to host crocs and hippos, but perfect for water for us. I woke up immediately thinking about corn flakes, and so I re-stoked our camp fire so we could boil up a bunch of water for the day, grabbed my nalgene bottle and headed for the creek to get water to mix my powdered milk with. Corn flakes were now only minutes away. What happened next happened very quickly, 20 seconds if that. As I was half way to the creek I was thinking about this large male baboon who watched me stoke the fire a minute ago. I remember thinking something to the effect "That one sure looked serious. Maybe he was nervous about the fire." And then it hit me. I remembered, in my haste, taking my box of corn flakes out of my tent and putting it on the ground next to the firewood. I panicked, and swung around to see my corn flakes box, alone, half way between me, and the baboon who I thought was focused on my fucking camp fire. No, he was scouting my corn flakes.
It was ridiculous, we fully made eye contact, and in some way, we reacted pretty much at the same time by sprinting towards the corn flakes as fast as we could run. We each had about 50m to the box, and as you could imagine, it was no contest, that fucker hauled ass in, one-hand grabbed the box, and shot up a large tree near my tent. And like that, they were gone. The guys I was with, were waking up now, just in time to see me standing at the base of this tree, pissed off, in total disbelief, looking up at the baboon on a branch with my cereal box. He hit the box like a wood chipper, and small pieces of card board started raining down. He got to the bag, which posed a brief dilemma for him, but he finally popped the bag open and started just shoveling corn flakes in to his mouth as fast as he could. Corn flake pieces rained down as he stuffed himself, ultimately followed by the empty bag, slowly floating down.
And after being such a possessive douche for the past 2 days with my corn flakes and the guys I was with, this was about the funniest thing these guys had ever seen, I never heard the end of it.

 
 

I peed a little

Like a wood chipper!

If I went after baboon, I would require that a tracker had a full auto on hand just in case they got pissed enough to charge.

You seriously should have KILLED AND THEN ATE that fucking baboon.

Do they let you bring baboon skulls back to the US?

I'm assuming so. I'm having my taxidermist mount my whole animal.

This

Ha! Great story M4!

Curious, were you doing some kind of program there or just a "vacation" - sounds like a hell of an experience.

I read an article in the Varmint Hunter magazine about Baboon hunting safaris. Dedicated week long shoot as many baboons as you want safaris....

Been to Zimbabwe three times. The fee for baboons was only $50, but I could never get anywhere near them except in the national parks.

Mine was a quick ~115 yard shot where he paused climbing up the kopje.

In the area where we were, they were a little on the jumpy side. As soon as they heard or saw the Land Rover, they were heading for high ground.

Interestingly enough, the baboon was the only animal that the trackers exercised extreme caution in approaching. To the extent that they broke off a tree branch to poke it a few times.

Baboons are easy to find but very difficult to hunt.

Current thread on Accurate Reloading about baboon hunting:

They are fun to hunt. They also make good bait for hyena.

[

One of my friends shot a bunch of them, and quit when he started thinking they were circling around to his firing positions.

He said they always sent the younger ones out ahead of the main troop as a screen, and never entered from the same direction.

He was going to mount one as a lawn jockey for his house.

 

Baboons are terrifying, they'd be great in a horror movie. The pics in this thread make me not want to ever go to Africa.

They've been known to kill children and ransack houses.

Were you armed on your epic journey?

Oh yeah, they're awful.

Nice Shot! I bet those little buggers can haul ass. Taking a l ong shot might not have been such a bad idea.

And then worn his face as a hat and made his skin into boots.

 

Horrendous animals. They will fuck everything up if they get into your house. They are almost as destructive as those little vervet monkeys. We had bunches of both where I grew up.
Shot baboon a few times, but it's tricky. They get smart in a hurry. Monkeys are easy though. Oh and yes, I did get chased by a troop of them when I went swimming in the "Crocodile River" close to Middelburg. I didn't realize which river it was until we passed a bridge, floating in the middle of the river to avoid the baboons. They eventually abandoned the chase.
As far as the monkeys - neighbor's wife went to go pick her parents up for Sunday lunch, leaving him alone at home. She had already set the table in her best china. Monkeys got in through the kitchen window (squeezed through the bars) and started tearing the place apart. Neighbor drew down on a big male and let him have it with his .357 snubby - red mist, all over the dining room table. Rest of the troop scattered, leaving a giant mess. They are now sitting in Parliament, running the country.

They can be really tough hunts.  The ones on farms know they get shot at when they see vehicles so they scatter away and hide.  Very long shots are not unusual.  I shot one in Namibia two years ago - an awkward shot uphill on sticks using a 375 H&H.

the last sentence ..... cool screen name, boerseun

Hehehe
Thanks! Your screen name is pretty cool too. Probably one of the most beautiful antelope...on the same.e level as kudu for me. Very regal!

yes they are. I was lucky enough to hunt one.

Instead of a baby think of a little dog...

http://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/baby-killing-baboon-shot-dead-in-north-west-107972

Truth. Once they know they are being hunted, one of them will post as a sentry 450 yards away from you at the top of a tree, and bark to warn all of the rest of the troop. At that point, you might as well try to shoot that one. He will be your easiest opportunity for a long time.

They seem to be super easy to hunt until they get some hunting pressure.  Then they would scatter when you were about 1000 meters out.  A lot of the guys where I was at would wear blue work suits like the local help would wear.  They would think that you were just a field hand and you might get a shot then.

I had specific instructions to shoot on sight. Don’t wait for the PH to say it’s ok. Don’t dismount the truck. Don’t hesitate. Shoot until they’re out of sight.

They wanted any and all baboons dead.

So of course, we didn’t see any.

Baboon hunting is pure luck and chance to find them within range. I've personally seen a person waste, and I mean waste, a successful 7 day safari by sitting in a blind for the last 3 days hunting for the tree goblins. Nothing like an end of the hunt duiker or baboon to ruin a perfectly good trip! If you seriously want to hunt one you have be willing to shoot them while you are chasing something else. If you are chasing a big kudu and a baboon presents itself are you willing to ruin the kudu over the baboon? Some people are and there is no right or wrong answer to the question. I found mine while culling Impala, 520 yards away.

To be a successful at bagging a baboon be able to do a few things- 1. Be able to shoot at a moments notice from prone, sticks, or sitting out to 500 yards. 2. Be willing to blow off the animal you are currently chasing to snatch one. 3. Sit and wait in a blind for days.

My baboon weighed in at 83 pounds-

I've been carried out of more than a few pubs in the Nelspruit area in that fashion.
You are right though...it is a matter of chance and as nyalaman mentioned, once they KNOW, they post sentries and you are effectively screwed at that point. They are a bloody plague...and a dangerous one too. They are almost as bad as the little vervet monkeys, just not as numerous.

That baboon story is well written and entertaining. So much so, I have already shared it twice. Thanks for letting us in on the fun.