Now that I've shot some buffalo and a decent elephant I'm starting to seriously think about Leopard hunt next season. My current calculus is:

Zim: In a good area, very high sucess rate, reasonable price. Down side, increasingly messy political situation may make for problems with safari.

Tan: In a good area, excellent success rate. Down side: extreemly high price.

Zambia & Bots: In a good area, very high success rate. Down side: Prices nearly as high as Tan.

Moz: Unknown success rates, high charter fees to some areas.

To all those with direct experience. What is the best bet for success with a reasonable price (meaning say $12-$15K) excluding Zim??

There are several different outfitters that offer leopard hunts using dogs in Namibia. As I recall, the PH you're hunting with engages a houndsman from South Africa who specializes in cats so you pay your PH for the hunting and the trophy fee and then you pay the houndsman for the use of his expertise and pack of dogs.

I also know an outstanding PH who hunts leopard with dogs in Zimbabwe and he runs as close to 100% as you can get on cats that are absolutely hugh. He mostly hunts old males that won't come to baits and that have become killers of livestock. His cats are absolutely hugh and does a video of each hunt. Send me a PM if you want contact information.

Brett, I am going to Zimbabwe for a leopard hunt with dogs next year. They were six for six last year on big toms. The cost is $9,800 which includes days and trophy fees. Give me a call for references. Terry 281-228-2533

Zim has always been a hot spot for leopards for me, two leopard hunts, two leopards. When I hunted in Chete there were two leopards taken in two days by others in camp. I have heard some good reports from Nambia also, although I have personally not hunted there. If you want a really big leopard, and have the $ to spare, Tanzania is the spot.

ZIM!

Brett,

I think it is important to pay attention to where you can hunt that has large numbers of leopards. Here are the last numbers I had for CITES export permit for leopard. While not exactly population numbers, you get the idea of relative abundance.

Botswana 130
Mozambique 60
Namibia 100
RSA 75
Tanzania 250
Zambia 300
Zimbabwe 500

I would probably recommend Zimbabwe for another hunter, but go to either Tanzania or Zambia myself -- my last two hunts were in Zim, and I got my leopard there in '02. Reports show that in Tanzania they shoot a lot of leopard in the daylight hours, and all of my experience (3 hunts so far) have been in the dark.

Good hunting...

jim dodd

Brett,

I personally have shot leopards in Zim, Zambia and Tanzania. My opinion is that a great leopard can be taken in any of these countries. The guy you hunt with has to be a cat man though. There is a science to baiting for leopards and to getting them to come to bait in shooting light. Not all PH's are equal on this respect. This is hunt that you should worry less about the money and more about the experience of the PH.

I'm sure that the hound hunts and baiting with the aid of lights is a thrilling experience. For myself I think at least once a hunter should try to take a leopard without dogs or lights. When that leopard appears like a ghost in the tree at the last possible shooting light it is really magic.

Anyway the best prices I can offer are in Zim with Barrie Duckworth. His hunt is 15 days for $650/day and a trophy fee of $2500 for the leopard. Of course you can hunt a large variety of other species on this same safari.

For more info. contact me anytime.

Regards,

Mark

Zim will probably the cheapest, but (IMO) anyone who is thinking of hunting Zim in 2005 and beyond is taking a BIG risk. If you are determined to hunt there I would suggest that you don't pay any big deposits in advance......I'd also suggest you try to use charter planes and avoid road journeys as much as possible.

Thank you all for the thoughtful responses.

What is the best option outside of Zim with a good chance of success for $12-15K??

Brett

Mark is right, there is a certain thrill in having the leopard appear in broad daylight at close range. I shot my last leopard at 3:00 in the afternoon. It appeared without a sound.

Brett,

I may be wrong but I don't believe a leopard is to be had in Zambia, Tanzania or Botswana for the budget that you propose. You might find something in Namibia but I have no info. on Namibian leopards. I know that some of the posters here on AR have recently killed leopards in Namibia but Namibia would be far from my choice of a country to hunt leopards in if it was the focus of my safari.

Regards,

Mark

Hello Mark,
I am wondering why you are against Namibia for leopard?
I am booked next year 20 miles south of Etosha, near Damaraland. I would like to hear your comments. Wolf

Wolfgar,

First off I hope you shoot the biggest leopard anyone has ever seen in Namibia. It is just that my impression and yes I have hunted in Namibia is that the leopards are far and in between there. The farmers have shot them on sight for years. That has not only kept their numbers in check it has made them very wary. In other countries and particularly in very wild areas you literally will find a resident leopard in nearly every dry watercourse. You probably will even see them in daylight on occasion. You may find and I hope you do find those conditions on your hunt but I doubt it.

Regards,

Mark

Brett,

I think Namibia is a viable option for you. I have a guy there who is a cat specialist. He has access to land and that is key in my opinion. Along with that goes reputation, he's the one who gets called when the local farmer has dead livestock.

Not to say you wont work for your feline. Most people want to cut the days too short due to budget. If you really want a leopard, book the proper amount of days. The PH will be able to advise you best on the area he or she has based on their past experience. I would not book for less than two weeks.

Thanks fellas good advice, and Mark I hope I do too!
What is the best part of Namibia for the cats? I will be hunting 16 days 20 miles south of Etosha in/near Damaraland.

I can offer a ten day hunt for $12,500 including daily rates in a very fine private lodge in Botswana, with one of the most experienced cat hunters alive. (He has the scars to prove it). This is a hot-pursuit hunt deep into the Central Kalahari Reserve, one of the last unspoiled places in the world. The catch is, there are very few tags available and none this year. While you are waiting for the right track to follow, there is excellent plains game hunting for trophy quality Gemsbok, Eland, Hartebeest, Kudu etc.

Wolfgar, I hunted that general area in 02, but only for five days. I saw no Leopard, but did take a baboon and some guinee fowl for Leopard bait used in cages. The property owner kept baited cage traps for Leopard all the time. To me this says the population of Leopards is very good. Now this could also mean they don't have a lot of hugh cats. I hunted a property called Trudia it was about 30,000 acres unfenced. I saw alot of Leopard country ie cliffs and caves.
I am hunting north of that area this fall with Vaughan Fulton for Leopard (14 days) and Mt Zebra. Not looking for a big bag. Told Vaughan I might consider a Kudu if over 60".

Correction, the landowner has been awarded two additional tags for this year (2004), Botswana. This hunt has a very high success rate (as opposed to hunts in RSA which have a very low rate of success indeed due to the hunting method, over bait, plus very smart leopards), and is a LOT more interesting and exciting than sitting in a blind...perhaps a little too exciting for some.