My wife and I are considering a hunt with Guy Whitall in Mozambique Niassa Reserve for leopard and sable. Would appreciate the good and the bad from those that have hunted with Guy Whitall.

John and Robin

John.
I spent a week in Guys camp up in Niassa last November.
The area looks nice, we saw sable a couple of times and leopard tracks, and the guys said the place was lousy with leopard. Good amount of elly.
Camp is nice, Tsetse are not so nice.
Are you flying in to Lichinga?

i heard through the bush grape vine that he/or a client not sure which?? shot a female leopard on a bait and then tried to bury it and was caught doing so by national parks. I cannot confirm if this is true but the Zim PH who told me,whose name i will not mention was adamant that it was. He also told me that Guy had lost his PH license for it.

IF true that should be pretty easy to look up. Ganyana what's up????

Brett

quote:

Originally posted by zimguide:
i heard through the bush grape vine that he/or a client not sure which?? shot a female leopard on a bait and then tried to bury it and was caught doing so by national parks. I cannot confirm if this is true but the Zim PH who told me,whose name i will not mention was adamant that it was. He also told me that Guy had lost his PH license for it.

Lost the Zim License is what I heard but still is working in Moz.
Peter Wood works for him and is excellent.

Everyone ive talked to from around here says he is the best.. Ive seen some bad reports though
---------------------
Despite that I would hunt with him and would love to see that area in Moz.

AD

Good PH...tried to go too far to please a client, and wasn't adept enough at bribing the game scout - so lost his Zim PH license. His 5 year ban on hunting in zim is up so he is alowed to re-rwite the learners exam and do his apprenticeship again...A bit hard to stomach when you have been hunting for 15 years...

I heard the same story. Apparently it is true.

If I recall correctly, he was also involved with what was alleged to be illegal taking of a 100 pounder in Moz a couple of years back.

quote:

Originally posted by larryshores:

If I recall correctly, he was also involved with what was alleged to be illegal taking of a 100 pounder in Moz a couple of years back.

Larry, this is not true. There was some confusion regarding where the bull was taken, but all was resolved satisfactorily. Guy wasn't even there.
Guy did blunder in trying to cover up the female leopard - he will be the first to admit this and I know that he truly regrets his actions. He made a mistake and then followed up by making a bad decision.
FYI Ganyana, bribing or not bribing the gamescout had nothing to do with the leopard saga being exposed.

Cheers, Dave

quote:

Originally posted by David Hulme:
FYI Ganyana, bribing or not bribing the gamescout had nothing to do with the leopard saga being exposed.

Cheers, Dave

The way I heard it, the leopard was skinned and its carcass was thrown off a cliff. The vultures found it. A group of hunters in the same area saw the vultures and went to investigate. They found the female leopard carcass. In the course of following up on that finding, the whole deal imploded on Guy.

However, you can hear anything.

David: Where are you, hows the walk. Not to hijack, but please tells us of your adventure.

Hi Will, I promise to post a report and some pictures just as soon as I'm feeling a little better. This malaria really knocked the stuffing out of me this time. Thanks for the interest, cheers for now, Dave

Who was it that was taking the piss out of me for using a spotting scope in a blind? - Oh yes, it was Aaron.

Shame he's away just now or I'd have given him some shit!

If you use a spotting scope, you can count the ticks on the cat's balls, let alone check the cat has balls before you shoot it!

I heard the exact same story Will heard.

If I recall correctly, the elephant episode was in the Hunting Report. I am not 100 % certain.

quote:

Originally posted by safari-lawyer:
However, you can hear anything.

Speak for yourself..... I can hardly hear a damn thing.

I was hunting in Chewore South when Roger still had it, with Richard Tabor. Guy got his client who could barely walk a 55 lb elephant and a very nice leopard. He is a very nice GUY and I'd hunt with him any time.

quote:

Originally posted by shakari:
Who was it that was taking the piss out of me for using a spotting scope in a blind? - Oh yes, it was Aaron.

Shame he's away just now or I'd have given him some shit!

If you use a spotting scope, you can count the ticks on the cat's balls, let alone check the cat has balls before you shoot it!

HOW EXACTLY ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO FIND A LEOPARD'S BALL IN THE 8-10 SECONDS BETWEEN WHEN THE SPOTLIGHT COMES ON AND THE LEOPARD DEPARTS THE TREE(ASSUMING IT IS THE USUAL ZIM/RSA/NAMIBIA NIGHT HUNT)?

quote:

Originally posted by jdollar:

quote:

Originally posted by shakari:
Who was it that was taking the piss out of me for using a spotting scope in a blind? - Oh yes, it was Aaron.

Shame he's away just now or I'd have given him some shit!

If you use a spotting scope, you can count the ticks on the cat's balls, let alone check the cat has balls before you shoot it!

HOW EXACTLY ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO FIND A LEOPARD'S BALL IN THE 8-10 SECONDS BETWEEN WHEN THE SPOTLIGHT COMES ON AND THE LEOPARD DEPARTS THE TREE(ASSUMING IT IS THE USUAL ZIM/RSA/NAMIBIA NIGHT HUNT)?

When Steve said he could not hear anything I think he was joking.

quote:

Originally posted by jdollar:

quote:

Originally posted by shakari:
Who was it that was taking the piss out of me for using a spotting scope in a blind? - Oh yes, it was Aaron.

Shame he's away just now or I'd have given him some shit!

If you use a spotting scope, you can count the ticks on the cat's balls, let alone check the cat has balls before you shoot it!

HOW EXACTLY ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO FIND A LEOPARD'S BALL IN THE 8-10 SECONDS BETWEEN WHEN THE SPOTLIGHT COMES ON AND THE LEOPARD DEPARTS THE TREE(ASSUMING IT IS THE USUAL ZIM/RSA/NAMIBIA NIGHT HUNT)?

It's quite easy if the bait is set up a la Shakari....

Cats don't see red light and I use a red light...... sometimes I put a couple of red LED headlights in the bait tree to give a little background light and just use them or sometimes I even use a combination of both.

With a red light(s) instead of a white light, the cat sits tight and carries on feeding while you check out his size against the sizing marks you've previously placed there and his balls to see if he has any. (IMO) white lights are for people who don't know cats can't see red light.

A lot of guys sex the animal by musculature of the neck etc but I reckon mistakes can be made by those methods (there's butch looking female leopards out there just as there are butch looking women in the world) and the only way to be 110% certain is to look for his nuts. With a red light, a spotting scope and sizing marks, you can be absolutely certain it's a shooter well before the shot.

This might be of interest.

http://www.shakariconnection.c...unting-mr-spots.html

Look closely at the 2nd pic down and you'll see not one but 2 sets of sizing marks because the cat could have been settled on one of two different positions.

I was taught to be cautious and don't leave anything to chance on a cat hunt.

Milo,

My comment about hearing was partly tongue in cheek but 30 years of Africa has buggered my hearing and I've lost over 60% of it in one ear and 40odd% in the other and am now trying to protect what's left by buying a set of Walker's Game Ears which I hope will arrive later this month.

Incidentally and completely off topic, if I hadn't been able to buy them in the US and have some kind soul deliver them for me, I'd have been forced to pay US$3000 for a similar product locally.

Just something else I have to thank Saeed and several friends on AR who all made it work out for me for.

No night hunting and no lights alowed in parks areas in Zim. A fast judgement call in the last few minutes of legal shooting light is 'the norm'.

I have made that mistake, and with the current parks fines for shooting a female leopard, I would never do a leopard hunt in a parks area in Zim! It has become an area of increaing specialisation...(bring out the hounds )

And david- Yes, the story was alot more complicted than simply not bribing the game scout - and Guy losing his license was the result of a whole series of mistakes- but I doubt he wants it all over the internet!

The original sin was trying too hard to plese the client and not saying...'dang it's a female!. This is going to be a bother to export but I'll do my best. You can kiss your tip and any future good references from that client good by but, every year two or three PH's shoot female leopard in zim...and we have all survived the clients wrath...which is much less nasty than Parks!

quote:

Originally posted by Ganyana:

but I doubt he wants it all over the internet!

I guess you missed the other threads which covered the subject. This one has already done the rounds ad nauseum.

Dave

I always wondered if he was the former test cricketer and have confirmed that it is the same man!

He did score a double hundred in a test match and was a useful ODI batsman / bowler.

I wish him well.

quote:

Originally posted by Nakihunter:
I always wondered if he was the former test cricketer and have confirmed that it is the same man!

He did score a double hundred in a test match and was a useful ODI batsman / bowler.

I wish him well.

He was an excellent cricketer (second highest test batting average in the old, real deal Zim team, after Andy Flower), and he is a proficient PH as well. Most of all, he is a fine friend.

David

For our American friends:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cricket

Regarding the alleged illegal 100lbs elephant shot in Mozambique:
The elephant was shot legally the hunting license is No:010/2008 and was issued by Provincial Department in Lichinga the provincial capital of Niassa. The elephant Tag was issued in Maputo by Minister of tourism and has the number 0002/2008 i have seen both of them and have copy’s of them on file! As to the rumour or claim the elephant was shot outside the area this is not true the concession is called Nungo but extends according to the official map and data sheet well in to the Nipepe district. That is where the original confusion came from. That the provincial director who authorised the quota transfer from a other province to Nungo was replaced 2 weeks before the hunt took place did added to the confusion. We invested the matter and the low serial number on the hunting license and the tag confirms that they have been issued at the beginning of the season and well before the hunt took place!
Basically Mr Withall had it right and the others inclusive some government officials had it wrong.
As to the leopard story that happens in Zimbabwe i can’t comment on this but i am sure that every year some female leopards get shot. None of us is perfect and mistakes can and will happen to all of us sooner or later!

Cheers

Certainly got the good and the bad from this thread. Thanks to all for the information. This will help to make a decision on our next adventure in 2012. We are narrowing down the best choices for leopard and sable. Right now Zim in the Bubye Conservancy with John Sharp or Guy Whitall in Moz are the choices were are considering. Thanks again for the help.

John and Robin

IMHO, You'll be fine with either choice.

cant comment on Guy's hunting ability as i do not know anything about it, only the stories i have been told.Do know that he is a bloody good cricket player!!!! I however did work for John Sharp for a couple seasons. He is in my opinion one of the best PH's there is. As far as leopard goes, though i am no longer a hunter but a guide now. He is a champion leopard hunter!! You dont get best leopard for the season for nothing!!