quote:

Originally posted by Dave Langerman:
I came across a recent poll and the subsequent chatter on the A.H. forum about which calibres would be best for leopard. It's a pertinent question, however in my opinion, it is easily answered. Craig Boddington said it best, and I will paraphrase the outdoor writer here. Any adequate deer calibre is going to kill a leopard. But what I think Col. Boddington (or is it General now?) also implied here, is to use a deer calibre in a weapon that you have continuously hunted with in the past and are hence very familiar with. I think that's the important part of the message, especially from a practicing PH's point of view. It is quite concerning when a client steps up to the range on the first day of the safari with some brand spanking new weapon that's only had a handful of cartridges through it. I know it's unlikely the fellow is familiar with the thing and it's peculiarities. When a client brings 'old faithful' that has been in the family a while and has been consistently putting meat in the freezer, I always have a smile on my face. Chances are he/she is proficient with it.

So what is a good leopard calibre, technically? Anything from a .270 on up into the .30's is going to do the trick with aplomb. I know of a young lady client who dropped a big Tom in its tracks with .243. She learnt to shoot with that weapon as a kid (familiarity!) and was coached on exactly where to place that bullet to ensure a clean kill. Just bear in mind if you are going to use a large calibre you are going to waste a lot of kinetic energy as that bullet is going to whistle on through, and you are subjecting yourself to increased recoil which is going to affect your ability to accurately place that shot. Why not let the bullet do its job and expend the majority of that energy inside the cat? Don't get me wrong, an exit wound would be nice - especially when having to do the subsequent follow up- but I want the bullet to do the majority of its work inside the cat rather than accelerating over the horizon. The legal calibre for leopard in Zim is 7mm and 3 kilojoules of energy at the muzzle as well as rifled barrel of no less than 500mm.

I think an important factor to also consider, is the quality of glass on your weapon. Get the best you can afford. An illuminated reticle works wonders too! Invariably that spotty comes as the light fades and you often struggle to pick up fine crosshairs against that feline form in the half light.
However there's something else we need to consider. Your leopard calibre of choice will invariably be needed to procure your bait and your selection of plains game species. So you are going to need something that's going to take Mr. Spots at 50 yards as well as that wildebeest bull out at 200 yards (and everything in between). That's a variation in body weights from 120lb for a leopard, up to 600lbs for the larger plains game species and up to 1800lbs for Eland. In my opinion, you are far better served by using a .300, a .338 or even a .375 for Eland. Just bear that in mind when you plan your calibre selection for your safari.
 
In conjunction with choosing your calibre, is your choice of bullet. Some like bullets that expand quicker - I guess this would be fine if leopard and small plains game are on the menu, but bear in mind safaris are often a mixed bag requiring a calibre to do double duty on cats and the variety of plains game. My choice would be one bullet type and weight (heavy for calibre and one that doesn't mushroom too quickly).

www.davelangermansafaris.com

quote:

Originally posted by larryshores:
Personally, I like to shoot them with my 416. I like the big hole it makes. Shot quite a few leopards with it. I have had it a very long time. God only knows how many animals have bitten the dust to that old gun.

I have a 1.7 x 10 Swarovski on it.

I agree an illuminated reticle would be better.

Unless I am hunting elephants, that is all I take. I have shot everything from grysbok to elephants with it. Love that gun.

quote:

Shoot them in the right place, and they die

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:
I have shot quite a number of leopards, with different calibers.

I have not noticed any difference at all.

Shoot them in the right place, and they die.

Very simple really, as this applies to all animals.

I would be happy shooting leopards with a 243 and up.

quote:

Originally posted by Dave Langerman:
I came across a recent poll and the subsequent chatter on the A.H. forum about which calibres would be best for leopard. It's a pertinent question, however in my opinion, it is easily answered. Craig Boddington said it best, and I will paraphrase the outdoor writer here. Any adequate deer calibre is going to kill a leopard. But what I think Col. Boddington (or is it General now?) also implied here, is to use a deer calibre in a weapon that you have continuously hunted with in the past and are hence very familiar with. I think that's the important part of the message, especially from a practicing PH's point of view. It is quite concerning when a client steps up to the range on the first day of the safari with some brand spanking new weapon that's only had a handful of cartridges through it. I know it's unlikely the fellow is familiar with the thing and it's peculiarities. When a client brings 'old faithful' that has been in the family a while and has been consistently putting meat in the freezer, I always have a smile on my face. Chances are he/she is proficient with it.

So what is a good leopard calibre, technically? Anything from a .270 on up into the .30's is going to do the trick with aplomb. I know of a young lady client who dropped a big Tom in its tracks with .243. She learnt to shoot with that weapon as a kid (familiarity!) and was coached on exactly where to place that bullet to ensure a clean kill. Just bear in mind if you are going to use a large calibre you are going to waste a lot of kinetic energy as that bullet is going to whistle on through, and you are subjecting yourself to increased recoil which is going to affect your ability to accurately place that shot. Why not let the bullet do its job and expend the majority of that energy inside the cat? Don't get me wrong, an exit wound would be nice - especially when having to do the subsequent follow up- but I want the bullet to do the majority of its work inside the cat rather than accelerating over the horizon. The legal calibre for leopard in Zim is 7mm and 3 kilojoules of energy at the muzzle as well as rifled barrel of no less than 500mm.

I think an important factor to also consider, is the quality of glass on your weapon. Get the best you can afford. An illuminated reticle works wonders too! Invariably that spotty comes as the light fades and you often struggle to pick up fine crosshairs against that feline form in the half light.
However there's something else we need to consider. Your leopard calibre of choice will invariably be needed to procure your bait and your selection of plains game species. So you are going to need something that's going to take Mr. Spots at 50 yards as well as that wildebeest bull out at 200 yards (and everything in between). That's a variation in body weights from 120lb for a leopard, up to 600lbs for the larger plains game species and up to 1800lbs for Eland. In my opinion, you are far better served by using a .300, a .338 or even a .375 for Eland. Just bear that in mind when you plan your calibre selection for your safari.
 
In conjunction with choosing your calibre, is your choice of bullet. Some like bullets that expand quicker - I guess this would be fine if leopard and small plains game are on the menu, but bear in mind safaris are often a mixed bag requiring a calibre to do double duty on cats and the variety of plains game. My choice would be one bullet type and weight (heavy for calibre and one that doesn't mushroom too quickly).

www.davelangermansafaris.com

quote:

Originally posted by MARK H. YOUNG:
Dave,

Great post. Folks booking there first leopard hunt often have quite a bit of angst about calibers and bullets sometimes wanting to take a special load just for the leopard. Personally and what I tell clients is to use whatever caliber they are comfortable with that has top notch optics and load one bullet you're going to use for everything. Multiple loads only sets you up for problems.

Mark

quote:

Originally posted by lavaca:
Agree with Larry, Andrew and Mark:

The rifle I'm most familiar with and have taken the most game on both sides of the pond is a .416 Rem. It is extremely accurate -- reliably shooting one hole groups at 100 yards off sandbags. Like Andrew, I like big holes, especially in something that can bite somebody. Agree that multiple loads is a bad idea. Softs/Solids is a necessary evil and my current loads for those are just about an inch apart. I'd never take multiple bullet weights for the same rifle on the same trip. Good glass is addictive as well. I like Swaro, with an illuminated retical on the .416 at least.

Don't have others' experience with leopards, and I agree that most of the energy is absorbed outside the cat, but a 400 grain Swift A-Frame has worked brilliantly with my measly two leopards. And it will be my choice on my next. It's also taken almost all of my bait animals as well, but then we've used buffalo quite a bit, as well as zebra, and other larger plains game as opposed to impala, etc.

quote:

Originally posted by fulvio:

quote:

Originally posted by lavaca:
Agree with Larry, Andrew and Mark:

The rifle I'm most familiar with and have taken the most game on both sides of the pond is a .416 Rem. It is extremely accurate -- reliably shooting one hole groups at 100 yards off sandbags. Like Andrew, I like big holes, especially in something that can bite somebody. Agree that multiple loads is a bad idea. Softs/Solids is a necessary evil and my current loads for those are just about an inch apart. I'd never take multiple bullet weights for the same rifle on the same trip. Good glass is addictive as well. I like Swaro, with an illuminated retical on the .416 at least.

Don't have others' experience with leopards, and I agree that most of the energy is absorbed outside the cat, but a 400 grain Swift A-Frame has worked brilliantly with my measly two leopards. And it will be my choice on my next. It's also taken almost all of my bait animals as well, but then we've used buffalo quite a bit, as well as zebra, and other larger plains game as opposed to impala, etc.

Lavaca,

Its good to see that you have embraced the 416 as your caliber of preference as your all-rounder.

However, when it comes to cats, and Leopard in particular, albeit producing a "big hole", the 416 could be considered as "too much gun" on this light-skinned, soft-boned species and reason why I have always advocated the convenience of taking 2 rifles on an African DG hunt.

Considering the typical shooting distance of 30/40m for Leopard which by and large rarely exceeds 70m (a long shot) my calibers of choice have always been any .30 cal for the light stuff and .40+ for the nastier bunch.

Legal viewpoints aside, any well placed bullet from .243 upwards will do the job on Leopard but not so for the rest of the antelopes, hence the .30 cal preference.

From past experience, the .338 is hard to beat in any situation.

quote:

Originally posted by brair:
Hello Everyone,

I am reading with great interest the comments on the various cartridges used to hunt leopard.Thanks to all that are contributing.

I constantly hear that almost any reasonably sized caliber will if the shot is well placed.Please pardon my ignorance but what is the best place to shoot a leopard?

Thanks in advance,
Brair

quote:

Many of them with a shotgun using LGs and SGs or Lethal ball. Eley ammo.

quote:

Place your cross hairs at the root of the tail, move forward one foot, down 6 inches, and let pull the trigger.

Then look forward to a very exciting day rotflmo

quote:

Originally posted by brair:
Hello Everyone,

I am reading with great interest the comments on the various cartridges used to hunt leopard.Thanks to all that are contributing.

I constantly hear that almost any reasonably sized caliber will if the shot is well placed.Please pardon my ignorance but what is the best place to shoot a leopard?

Thanks in advance,
Brair

quote:

Originally posted by MARK H. YOUNG:
jorge,

You're right but the slow ones kill leopards just fine also. Out of the three leopards I've killed the slowest load I used killed the leopard the most quickly. I shot one in Tanzania with a 375 and a 300 grain Trophy bonded bullet at a sedate 2400 fps. At the shot which was in the front of the chest he just relaxed in the tree and stayed there.

Mark

quote:

Originally posted by MARK H. YOUNG:
Brair,

Most PH's are going to want a broadside presentation before you shoot so a good aiming point might be half way up the body and right behind the shoulder or through the shoulders. The other aiming points you described are not practical as the room for error is great and in the case of the head shot the skull is part of the trophy so you don't want to mess it up.

Mark