Measuring hunting sustainability across West/Central African forests remains a challenge. Long-term assessment of trends is crucial. Via village-based offtake surveys we collected hunting data from three settlements near the Dja Biosphere Reserve (southeast Cameroon). Over a 13-year period (2003, 2009 and 2016) we collected data on carcasses brought to the three villages during March-June. We calculated the catch per unit effort (CPUE) and the mean body mass indicator (MBMI). We also examined interactions between year, village, month and hunting method. The total number of carcasses hunted decreased between 2003 and 2016, but number of hunters increased. CPUE remained relatively constant for all species pooled, though there was an observed change from traps to firearms during the study period. CPUE for each of the seven most hunted species also remained constant, and a similar shift from traps to firearms was observed. MBMI of all hunted wildlife remained stable for all species pooled, but declined significantly only in the remotest village. MBMI values for this village were higher than for the other two settlements perhaps because wildlife here is still relatively undepleted. Although there are no alarming signs of overhunting in our study area, the increasing reliance on guns could have dramatic consequences on the larger-bodied species, such as monkeys, in the future. Our results suggest that changes in CPUE and MBMI may be the most accurate indicators of actual sustainability. These indices can be monitored with simple village-based
offtake surveys and hunter interviews to improve management of bushmeat hunting.