I just rec'd a few more pics from the August leopard hunt we had @ Dendro Park Ranch //

Cameron from Houston is now back in the jungles of Peru I believe









For those whom like a short Africa BUSH STORY below is the report exactly as I rec'd it today

Regards, Peter
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Peter,

Sorry this is late but I wanted to extend my gratitude to you & all the Birds for all the work put in to make this happen. As you can imagine I am just covered up with work and in light of the tragedy that just befell New Orleans I have been a bit distracted, what a tragedy!!

I must admit I thought the whole deal was doomed after spending more than a month away from home, to arrive in Atlanta & find so many stranded South Africans. I thought I was sunk, but got away after only a overnight in Georgia. Arriving in Jo-burg and having to spend another night after being away for so long really had me upset with South African Air. But I must admit they were very accommodating and professional.

Arriving at the lodge with only minutes of day light meant there was not enough time to sight in the rifles and my 375 barrel was printing 6" high was not comforting, the 7 mag barrel was still right on though. It was great to see everyone again & in particular Louie, we settled in for a Jack and everyone caught up.

Up at 3:30 and in the Blind by 4:00 we damn near froze to death, no Leopard. We did surprise a huge Kudu Bull that morning and not far from the bait I nailed a 58" Kudu bull that was measured several times 58" is way big.

That’s what Michele said before I left "If you don’t see a Leopard get a Kudu" since I missed one on the last trip in. With that done we made some adjustments to the blind and wondered if we had shot to close to the bait. Although Louie had been to see the Witch Doctor and said that we would get it in the evening.

Back in the Blind by 4:00 that afternoon we waited & waited, then it got dark, you know Zambian dark. Come 8:00 Dene & I were both thinking this could go on for days, we had just said well shall we go? Lets give it another 30min. Ten minutes after that you could hear this thing breaking bones , snarling & really just feasting on the bait. Instead of getting excited or nervous, Dene & I got serious. With just a second to shoot and in very poor light "Bang"! And there goes your night vision, did I hit it????

That’s when the excitement set in as we could barely make out the cat in his death throws on the ground under the branch. Well we when approached this thing shot guns at the shoulder, you should have seen the look on Denes face who off course has seen many more Leopards than I. "He's a big Tom"

Peter, I mean this thing is dark golden Kafue Basin spotted Tom. 8' 4 1/2" long 175 lbs with a 16" skull. One shot though both lungs breaking the far shoulder on the way out.

Since they were still running the Buffalo operation which was extremely interesting we had Alan, Louie, Dean, Rory then the clients that showed up at the end of my stay, Tom with Hi-Veldt Taxidermy & his PH, there was plenty of experienced hands that saw that Leopard. Not to mention when I returned to the states I stopped at Conroe Taxidermy and the Simpson's got a look at it. It appears a Leopard like that comes along every 6 years or so & these guys see a lot of Leopards. Just a Prime Male one could not ask for a better trophy!! Understand this happened in one day a 58" Kudu in the morning and a 16" Tom Leopard that evening unbelievable!!! "I Love Zambia"

I would like to say we were lucky and probably were with the Kudu we just surprised him that morning. But the Leopard was earned it was just good hunting and persistence & the fact that Dene & I simply hunt extremely well with each other.

The safari was just excellent I harvested a Puku, Sharps Grysbok, a Mother big Bush pig & could not resist another Warthog. As well as we gave the Baboons a run for their money. And off course a Gigantic Kudu & GOT MY LEOPARD!!! (I can confidently go to a zoo again)

Cameron

Thanks for the story -- lovely cat and a great Kudu.

I guess that makes it the biggest leopard posted so far. That's a monster cat.

Great pictures, great story! Thanks for letting us relive it with you. Takes away the everyday rut we find ourselves in when we are allowed to share it.