469 jeffholley, and don't forget those unobtanium monolithic bullets!

Shot placement. If you don't have the right angle, right position, calm cat, don't shoot. My last one went up the tree twice and back down. Finally walked off to 65-70 yards and sat down. Once he sat there for a couple of minutes, I put a Nosler 160 gr Accubond right behind his shoulder (280 Rem). He went about 30 yards. That's the largest caliber I've used on Leopard. Shot placement.
LDK

quote:

Originally posted by Blank:
We hunt deer here in our river bottoms a lot, with shotguns. They are extremely efficient weapons out to 100 yards or more, but only with rifled slugs. The various buckshot loads are inaccurate, inefficient, and generally shunned by the people we hunt with. Putting a couple 22-32 caliber holes at only 1100 fps in a pissed off leopard is only gonna make him madder!

Point blank to about 20 yards, the buckshot is basically a ball and functions the same as a bullet. If you can hit with that, you are probably better served with a rifled slug or a rifle. If using a slug, I want maximum expansion and energy transfer, not a hardened slug and excessive penetration.

A Benelli Black Eagle with Remington Premier Copper slugs with their huge hollow point would be the ultimate stopper! Fast as you can pull the trigger, and controllable recoil to boot.

oh.,I don't know about pissed off, but the 12gauge SSG I put in this guy certainly made him certainly made him DEAD!!

My father and I both took leopards on the same safari in 2006,both were shot with 375 H&H's,his with 300gr Win. Failsafes,mine with 300gr Hornady soft points,both were dead within 20' of the tree,both times the PH knew the leopard was in the tree and let us know when he got in the tree and we had about 5-8 minutes to gather our wits and make the shot. I remember when my 375 went off I saw the leopard jump out of the sight picture in the scope straight up. Each time the PH waited about 10 minutes and we got out of the blind and found the cat.The 5-8 minutes of gathering my wits made a big difference with me,when the tom got in the tree he stared straight at the blind before feeding and it does make your heart rate quicken.
Wesley

Not precisely on topic but possibly a useful tip in extreme situations.

There have been times where I have only been carrying a shot gun with bird shot and have required something with a bit more knock down power. This is easily achieved by turning your shot into a slug.

Take your bird-shot cartridge (or any pellet size for that matter) and cut around the casing, approximately half way down the length of the shell, so that the outer case is almost completely severed but is still held on by two remaining tabs of plastic two or three millimeters in size. Imagine almost completely cutting off an elephant tail but leaving it only just hanging on by a small bit of skin on each side.

When you fire your cartridge the entire front end separates and flies off targetwards in one piece, the shot contained in one lump, pushed by the wadding and held behind the nose of the casing.

Out of a smooth bore game gun accuracy is adequate for hitting man sized mass out to twenty yards with confidence. The less choke in your barrel the better as heavy choking tends to squeeze the nose crimping to the extent that it may destabilise the projectile or even open the nose. I tested these "cut offs" successfully with full choke in both barrels but would not like to take the chance if I could avoid it.

Whenever I am going out with a shotgun in certain locations I make a few cut offs before heading out of the door.

I've only shot two leopards, so by no means am experienced in this. I shot my first at about 40 yards or so with a .300 Winchester and 180 Nosler Partitions. He was up in a tree, and I can still remember the beautiful sight of him falling out of the tree, limp and with his feet above him as he tumbled out - back down. He landed with a thud, and when we snuck in to find him, he was dead right where he hit the ground. I shot my 2nd with a .338 Winchester and 225 grain Trophy Bonded Bearclaws. This cat was on the ground, and I didn't shoot him too well. Glad for the bigger gun, and it got a little exciting, to say the least.

If I were doing it again (and I hope to someday) I think a 30-06 with a 180 grain Accubond would be about perfect. Nice easy rifle to shoot real well, and packs plenty of wallop for a cat up on a branch.

Having shot five and been at the killing of another 4 or so, I can say that if you hit them in the right place they will be dead like any other game. I think a soft slow moving bullet is the way to go, however I did shoot my last one with a 375 H&H Swift A frame which is not a soft bullet and it dropped right where it was sitting.

As Bill said the problems start when they are shot badly and wounded. As with all hunting the problem is the shot placement and less to do with the cartridge.

quote:

Originally posted by Milo Shanghai:
Not precisely on topic but possibly a useful tip in extreme situations.

There have been times where I have only been carrying a shot gun with bird shot and have required something with a bit more knock down power. This is easily achieved by turning your shot into a slug.

Take your bird-shot cartridge (or any pellet size for that matter) and cut around the casing, approximately half way down the length of the shell, so that the outer case is almost completely severed but is still held on by two remaining tabs of plastic two or three millimeters in size. Imagine almost completely cutting off an elephant tail but leaving it only just hanging on by a small bit of skin on each side.

When you fire your cartridge the entire front end separates and flies off targetwards in one piece, the shot contained in one lump, pushed by the wadding and held behind the nose of the casing.

Out of a smooth bore game gun accuracy is adequate for hitting man sized mass out to twenty yards with confidence. The less choke in your barrel the better as heavy choking tends to squeeze the nose crimping to the extent that it may destabilise the projectile or even open the nose. I tested these "cut offs" successfully with full choke in both barrels but would not like to take the chance if I could avoid it.

Whenever I am going out with a shotgun in certain locations I make a few cut offs before heading out of the door.

this method is used by ranchers in Mexico to kill deer with a shotgun. buckshot is either illegal or very difficult to obtain- so they just make their on short range slugs using this method. apparently works OK from what i have been told.

Ganyana, if you were to cut your post and paste it on the FAL Files Forum, you would be a hero FOREVER.

quote:

Originally posted by jdollar:

quote:

Originally posted by Milo Shanghai:
Not precisely on topic but possibly a useful tip in extreme situations.

There have been times where I have only been carrying a shot gun with bird shot and have required something with a bit more knock down power. This is easily achieved by turning your shot into a slug.

Take your bird-shot cartridge (or any pellet size for that matter) and cut around the casing, approximately half way down the length of the shell, so that the outer case is almost completely severed but is still held on by two remaining tabs of plastic two or three millimeters in size. Imagine almost completely cutting off an elephant tail but leaving it only just hanging on by a small bit of skin on each side.

When you fire your cartridge the entire front end separates and flies off targetwards in one piece, the shot contained in one lump, pushed by the wadding and held behind the nose of the casing.

Out of a smooth bore game gun accuracy is adequate for hitting man sized mass out to twenty yards with confidence. The less choke in your barrel the better as heavy choking tends to squeeze the nose crimping to the extent that it may destabilise the projectile or even open the nose. I tested these "cut offs" successfully with full choke in both barrels but would not like to take the chance if I could avoid it.

Whenever I am going out with a shotgun in certain locations I make a few cut offs before heading out of the door.

this method is used by ranchers in Mexico to kill deer with a shotgun. buckshot is either illegal or very difficult to obtain- so they just make their on short range slugs using this method. apparently works OK from what i have been told.

Yep...method tried and true for mentioned uses and ranges. We called it "ringing a shell".

Having only shot one Leopard, I can only relay my experience. I was told that any caliber capable of taking a deer will kill a Leopard on the spot if hit in the right spot. That being said, I am kind of a .280 Remington nut so I used my most accurate .280 and handloaded a 160 grain Nosler Accubond. Once shot he ran maybe 25-30 yards and was stone dead.

I would imagine if you gut shot one with about any caliber you are in for a rough go of it. Shot placement is more important than the caliber in my opinion.

For what it's worth, my PH told me that, in near night hunting,clients were afraid of mambas,shadows and lion territorial roars -so that they had problems with sitting absolutely still and awaiting a leopard -and then keeping a steady sight picture. (Zimbabwe)He did agree with me that a 7mm Mauser (7x57)should drop the biggest leopard that ever walked. Bullet placement,bullet placement,bullet placement remains the name of the game - and, quite frankly, the idea of using a 375 or a 338 on an animal often weighing less than 100 lbs seems too much to excuse bad shooting. Sorry, guys, and, no, I never shot a leopard -so take your best shots at me as a "armchair hunter")

quote:

Originally posted by Gerrypeters375:
For what it's worth, my PH told me that, in near night hunting,clients were afraid of mambas,shadows and lion territorial roars -so that they had problems with sitting absolutely still and awaiting a leopard -and then keeping a steady sight picture. (Zimbabwe)He did agree with me that a 7mm Mauser (7x57)should drop the biggest leopard that ever walked. Bullet placement,bullet placement,bullet placement remains the name of the game - and, quite frankly, the idea of using a 375 or a 338 on an animal often weighing less than 100 lbs seems too much to excuse bad shooting. Sorry, guys, and, no, I never shot a leopard -so take your best shots at me as a "armchair hunter")

Nor followed up any wounded ones?

I am guilty of this small cartridge stuff too, but just because one can kill a leopard with a .243 or 7x57 or a 22 LR doesn't make it right.

If somehow the super duper marksman blows the shot, I sure as hell don't want any 7x57 pea-shooter for the dirty work.

Tracking, with hounds, or following up a wounded leopard is a different kettle of fish, but for leopard on bait I vote for the lighter rifle with a bright scope and, much preferable, a lighted reticle. The leopard is no bigger than an average whitetail, and I believe deer-sized game is best killed with a deer cartridge and a bullet designed to expand on deer-sized game. I've been paying attention where we do a lot of hunting in the Zam. Valley, and it seems that most leopards that are wounded and lost (mebbe one a season over the last several years, which means something like one in twenty) are shot with .375s rather than with lighter rifles. Obviously the bullet wasn't in the right place, but leopards aren't that tough. The majority of leopards that are hit poorly are recovered. When you lose one you never know for sure what happened, but my theory is the big bullets designed for heavier game pass through without expanding. So lighter bullets like the 260 AccuBond would be great if a .375 is to be used. But I would personally prefer a .30-caliber, and not with a really tough bullet. Years ago, when I was working on the first Safari Rifles book, Harry Selby wrote to me: "The majority of the 103 leopards taken by my clients in East Africa were shot with my .243." Shot placement is everything...and, also, the typical straight-objective, low-range variable "dangerous game scope" probably isn't as bright as the scopes we have on our lighter rifles.
But, again, following up a wounded leopard is something else again!

Bringing out the celebs, eh?

I don't buy the little gun stuff. I think guys conveniently forget about all the screw-ups, like the leopards that get away wounded.

Wounded leopard. No problem. Oh, no, stop. I have to take the .243 back to the Cruiser to get the big gun.

I can recommend Taylor for further reading on the subject.

Oh, there's usually plenty of time to go back to the truck, Bill. No sense running to a fight! I personally wouldn't be comfortable with a .243, don't recall ever saying I would be--but this amateur ain't gonna question Harry Selby's experience!

I personally use my .500 for everything but frankly, I'd much rather a client use a smaller calibre he (or she) shoots competently, confidently and comfortably than a larger calibre they don't.

Put the right bullet in the right place and they die easily. Anything else is going to result in a very pissed off pussy cat.

For night time follow up, I reckon the most important single item to add to all the normal kit is to have the tracker use a Surefire Kroma set to blue light..... it makes the job a helluva lot safer.

I don't remember any clients ever using a .243 on leopards but I wouldn't argue with the opinion of HS either.

Thanks Craig for answering my question about an iluminated recticle. If I ever shoot a leopard at night I want a low power scope with iluminated recticle!!! From this thread I gather that bad shots shooting under pressure giving poor shot placement, poor light conditions and too tough bullets seem to be the issue. Some smart company please make a scope designed for leopard hunts.

The first time I ever used a lighted reticle was on the 2005 "BOL" leopard with Andrew Dawson. Literally, it opened my eyes! I think I could have made the shot without it, but not as easily or with as much confidence--the light was terrible, and this experience made me a believer! Magnification isn't the issue, but you want a really bright scope--ideally probably a 30mm tube with a good-sized objective, and a lighted reticle. The scope is probably more important than the caliber. The shot at a leopard should be one of the easiest in the hunting world: known distance, fairly short, steady rest. But it sure is easy to mess it up (I have!). When that cat appears the excitement and jitters are incredible. Leopard fever is BAD, but poor light is probably the greatest contributor to poor shot placement on leopard. You need all the help you can get!

quote:

Originally posted by craig boddington:
Oh, there's usually plenty of time to go back to the truck, Bill. No sense running to a fight! I personally wouldn't be comfortable with a .243, don't recall ever saying I would be--but this amateur ain't gonna question Harry Selby's experience!

It depends too on where and how you're hunting. Down in the valley where the leopards are half tame, where they sit for photos and wait for the hunters (and cameramen) to take all the time they need to shoot from a rest in the blind. Kind of like blowing away Tabby the house cat from my front porch!

Using dogs on those kitties would be just embarrassing.

I wonder if impropper sighting in for such a close shot adds to this ratio.
Has anyone used a red dot sight for leopard or is that just a bad idea? They are great for target aquisition at close range.

Well, I thought we were talking about baiting. Other methods are entirely different. It's illegal to hunt at night on Parks and Wildlife estate, with or without lights, and it's also illegal to use dogs--but it couldn't be done anyway because of the tsetse flies. Ground is much too hard to track a leopard. So, at least in the Valley, we set up for daylight baiting, which usually means either dusk or dawn (about a 60-40 split), and I find it very interesting. To each their own. How's the weather in Spring Hill? I'm headed to Kansas tomorrow. Cheers, C

boom stick, it is a good idea to measure the distance from bait to blind and adjust the zero to be perfect at exactly that distance. The last leopard I shot was over bait in Bushmanland in northern Namibia. I'd been shooting the rifle, a .375, and it had been fine. Thank God I missed a springbok that morning. Almost as an afterthought I insisted on checking the rifle on the way to the blind, and the darn thing was 6 inches high!!!!! Could have been a disaster. Always check.

I'm not sure about the red-dot sights on leopard. The aiming point would be great in bad light, but I guess I'm a lazy hunter: I like magnification. Not too much, but more than none! A leopard isn't a large target, and placement of the blind depends on the situation. The norm is probably 50-80 yards, but I've seen blinds at 125 yards.

Having fluffed my last leopard shot as outlined in my recent hunt report I can attest to the fact that "big is better" When that cat left the tree the only consolation that I had at that moment was the fact that it had been hit with a 375. I chose the wrong positional shot choice for the situation. I knew full well what I should have done, but the eagerness of a situation can cloud anyones judgement. Luckily we found the cat dead, but that was a very long hours tracking. In my opinion the only reason for using anything less than a 375 is that you can't handle the recoil of that calibre.
On the subject of red dot sights, I find them to be very unreliable. If you cant a poor fitting rifle to one side you can still attain a dot on the target while aiming off to one side.
My opinion of ideal for leopard is; minimum 375 calibre with good illumunated reticle high light gathering scope, soft fast ammo and plenty of practice at the likely distance and angle.

quote:

How's the weather in Spring Hill?

Mid July. Mid 90's. God's country, if you have an air-conditioner!

quote:

for leopard on bait I vote for the lighter rifle with a bright scope and, much preferable, a lighted reticle.

The leopard is no bigger than an average whitetail, and I believe deer-sized game is best killed with a deer cartridge and a bullet designed to expand on deer-sized game.

But I would personally prefer a .30-caliber, and not with a really tough bullet.

Years ago, when I was working on the first Safari Rifles book, Harry Selby wrote to me: "The majority of the 103 leopards taken by my clients in East Africa were shot with my .243." Shot placement is everything...

Well...there you have it. .308 Winchester with a 180 gr Nosler partition.

Bullet size CB recommends. Same case as HS clients used.

A nice accurate bolt gun with a good scope.

Just a small 2-cents worth here. I've only shot one leopard but when my husband and I go on safari, we take 4 guns for caliber variations. When we talked with our PH, he passed on the 375 and 338 and told me to use the 7mm. Maybe it was for shooting accuracy concerns that he chose the 7mm. The caliber did its job and the leopard was down with one shot.

quote:

Originally posted by ledvm:

quote:

Originally posted by jdollar:

quote:

Originally posted by Milo Shanghai:
Not precisely on topic but possibly a useful tip in extreme situations.

There have been times where I have only been carrying a shot gun with bird shot and have required something with a bit more knock down power. This is easily achieved by turning your shot into a slug.

Take your bird-shot cartridge (or any pellet size for that matter) and cut around the casing, approximately half way down the length of the shell, so that the outer case is almost completely severed but is still held on by two remaining tabs of plastic two or three millimeters in size. Imagine almost completely cutting off an elephant tail but leaving it only just hanging on by a small bit of skin on each side.

When you fire your cartridge the entire front end separates and flies off targetwards in one piece, the shot contained in one lump, pushed by the wadding and held behind the nose of the casing.

Out of a smooth bore game gun accuracy is adequate for hitting man sized mass out to twenty yards with confidence. The less choke in your barrel the better as heavy choking tends to squeeze the nose crimping to the extent that it may destabilise the projectile or even open the nose. I tested these "cut offs" successfully with full choke in both barrels but would not like to take the chance if I could avoid it.

Whenever I am going out with a shotgun in certain locations I make a few cut offs before heading out of the door.

this method is used by ranchers in Mexico to kill deer with a shotgun. buckshot is either illegal or very difficult to obtain- so they just make their on short range slugs using this method. apparently works OK from what i have been told.

Yep...method tried and true for mentioned uses and ranges. We called it "ringing a shell".

{Apologies for the thread drift, but) Here's a couple things I learned about "rung" shells after a little range session last year:
1. They have to be single loaded directly into the chamber. The shell can break in two coming out of a tube magazine and on to a shell lifter.
2. A barrel with a tight forcing cone can rip the front half of the shell off the wad and shot load as it passes thru. Better have some heat and a long hemostat handy to get it out. Better hope you notice before your next shot, too!
3. A rung shell may perform like a slug under perfect conditions on entry BUT with a little deflection it acts more like a glaser safety slug when it hits something. An empty 2 liter jug will disperse the entire load. Imagine what bone would do! I can't imagine penetration being more than an inch or so in flesh before it opens up completely.

I thought rung shells sounded like a great idea until I spent an afternoon dicking around with em in a couple different guns. It would have to be a mighty extreme situation before I ever tried it again - like parachuting into the gobi desert to hunt quail and coming across an errant sabertooth from a melting glacier or something after I forgot to stuff a couple slugs in with my reserve chute. And even then, maybe.

No, I've never killed a leopard. I will one day. But my experience and everything I've read on smaller sized thin skinned game indicates that fast, quick opening bullets kill faster. I used my .375 and 1 300gr. SAF for a buffalo and it made short work of that. But, I would reach for my 30-06 with a soft 165 or maybe 150gr like a Sierra, Ballistic Tip or Partition. Explain to me why anybody would choose to use a bonded bullet for leopard. Maybe, with magnum velocity at 50 yards. Give me a couple inches of penetration and then an explosion.  
And if I screwed it up and there was a follow up. I would want somebody with a scoped rifle, a good man on a double and I guarantee I would be carrying my Browning Citori. Let the rifles handle anything out there if the cat happens to be spotted. But when he comes, I want the Browning. I've fired over 25,000 rounds through it or one just like it. Skeet, trap or quail at my feet, It hits what I point it at. When that cat is a blur at 20 feet, he's gonna get about 1,300 grains of shot in the face.
 
I probably would want to practice with the Browning wearing a full face Bell motorcycle helmet, insulated Carhart coveralls and Filson sweater tied around my neck, just in case.

quote:

Originally posted by ChetNC:

quote:

Originally posted by ledvm:

quote:

Originally posted by jdollar:

quote:

Originally posted by Milo Shanghai:
Not precisely on topic but possibly a useful tip in extreme situations.

There have been times where I have only been carrying a shot gun with bird shot and have required something with a bit more knock down power. This is easily achieved by turning your shot into a slug.

Take your bird-shot cartridge (or any pellet size for that matter) and cut around the casing, approximately half way down the length of the shell, so that the outer case is almost completely severed but is still held on by two remaining tabs of plastic two or three millimeters in size. Imagine almost completely cutting off an elephant tail but leaving it only just hanging on by a small bit of skin on each side.

When you fire your cartridge the entire front end separates and flies off targetwards in one piece, the shot contained in one lump, pushed by the wadding and held behind the nose of the casing.

Out of a smooth bore game gun accuracy is adequate for hitting man sized mass out to twenty yards with confidence. The less choke in your barrel the better as heavy choking tends to squeeze the nose crimping to the extent that it may destabilise the projectile or even open the nose. I tested these "cut offs" successfully with full choke in both barrels but would not like to take the chance if I could avoid it.

Whenever I am going out with a shotgun in certain locations I make a few cut offs before heading out of the door.

this method is used by ranchers in Mexico to kill deer with a shotgun. buckshot is either illegal or very difficult to obtain- so they just make their on short range slugs using this method. apparently works OK from what i have been told.

Yep...method tried and true for mentioned uses and ranges. We called it "ringing a shell".

{Apologies for the thread drift, but) Here's a couple things I learned about "rung" shells after a little range session last year:
1. They have to be single loaded directly into the chamber. The shell can break in two coming out of a tube magazine and on to a shell lifter.
2. A barrel with a tight forcing cone can rip the front half of the shell off the wad and shot load as it passes thru. Better have some heat and a long hemostat handy to get it out. Better hope you notice before your next shot, too!
3. A rung shell may perform like a slug under perfect conditions on entry BUT with a little deflection it acts more like a glaser safety slug when it hits something. An empty 2 liter jug will disperse the entire load. Imagine what bone would do! I can't imagine penetration being more than an inch or so in flesh before it opens up completely.

I thought rung shells sounded like a great idea until I spent an afternoon dicking around with em in a couple different guns. It would have to be a mighty extreme situation before I ever tried it again - like parachuting into the gobi desert to hunt quail and coming across an errant sabertooth from a melting glacier or something after I forgot to stuff a couple slugs in with my reserve chute. And even then, maybe.

Maybe you need a lesson in ringing.

quote:

I guarantee I would be carrying my Browning Citori. Let the rifles handle anything out there if the cat happens to be spotted. But when he comes, I want the Browning. I've fired over 25,000 rounds through it or one just like it. Skeet, trap or quail at my feet, It hits what I point it at. When that cat is a blur at 20 feet, he's gonna get about 1,300 grains of shot in the face.

With something like T Hevi-Shot...the Citori might be OK.

I have shot no leopards but if it isn't dead under the tree or very near by it is probably bad shooting or the wrong bullet to blame. Caliber seems to be considerably less important IMHO

Lane,

I may have missed it earlier but what would you want to personally carry on a leopard follow up.

quote:

"The two enemies of the people are criminals and government so let us tie the second down with the chains of the Constitution so the second will not become the legalized version of the first." Thomas Jefferson

This quote is so timely. I will have to borrow it.

How about a " Remington 870 , 12 Gauge Pump Action , w/Rifled Barrel", using modern day " Hardcast Slugs/Bullets (.730 /.727).


Dixie Terminator: Hard Cast " BULLET "; .730 dia. ; 730 grain ; 1200 fps
Dixie Tusker: Hard Cast " BULLET "; .727 dia. ; 600 grain ; 1550 fps

The last " Slug " is a Winchester 2 3/4 1 oz.

Or possibly the " TRI-BALL " in a smootbore !

" This is the Dixie Tri-Ball III (12 ga. 3 1/2") load. Patterns with both Tri-Ball II and Tri-Ball III are very small compared to regular buckshot. Many shooter/hunters add a sight like the Tru-Glo Gobbler Dot to the shotgun's rib. In the above picture, you can see the three .60 caliber balls from Dixie Tri-ball II (12 ga 3") and Tri-Ball III (3 1/2"). The velocity Of Tri-Ball II is 1050'/" and Tri-ball II is 1150'/" (both from 20" barrels)."
http://www.dixieslugs.com/products.html

PAPI

my two cents on my two leopards,
shoot the gun your most confortable with 300 or better. Dead rest,
I took mine with my 416 trophy bonded bear claw.
Heart lung shot both, one went 20 yards, one
fell over dead.

Would not consider shooting another one with any other gun.

follow up gun was 3 1/2 double 00 buck shot
12 ga. semi auto. and over and under

following jeff h, I have only shot one leopard and it was 9:20AM with dogs. I used my 338 WM with 225 Barnes X, which I have used on almost all of the plains game in Africa. The rifle is very comfortable and I have used it a great deal. Tom was dead at the foot of the tree. Norm Crooks was happier than I was as no PH wants to F*ck with a p*iss off Leopard. He said the hunter on the prior hunt had shot a Leopard in the foot and no power will kill then, but they tracked him down and finished him off.

I just got the leopard I shot in 2006 back from the taxidermist on Saturday. When we were putting it up, he asked me if I had realized that my leopard had been shot before, which is something I hadn't noticed the night I killed him. Looking at the mount, the two scars (entrance and exit) are easy to see. This picture shows where the entrance wound is.



If I was a little more motivated, I could move the mount to get a picture of the backside and shot the exit wound, from which the scar is about the size of a quarter. While it's hard t tell, the scar on the entrance is about the size of a .375.

Obviously, whoever shot him first hit him way too high. By the same token, it's still a shot through the chest cavity and very close to the spine. I can't help but think that if that person had been using a soft bullet at high velocity that fragmented even a little (like the front end coming off of a Partition) that they would have taken out a piece of the spine or at minimum got enough lung to eventually kill him.

Pete

quote:

Originally posted by Dog Man:
Lane,

I may have missed it earlier but what would you want to personally carry on a leopard follow up.

If I had a man to carry my rifle...I would carry a double-barrel 12 g shotgun with 3" T size HeviShot loads until the leopard was spotted. If it came quickly...the shotgun. By chance it was spotted first...the rifle.

If I was going by myself...a rifle. My preference of rifles in a perfecr world would be my Browning BAR .308 Win with 180 gr partitions.