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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 | ||
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Welcome to AR. Good first post. Well thought out and written. ...I say that hunters go into Paradise when they die, and live in this world more joyfully than any other men. -Edward, duke of York ". . . when a man has shot an elephant his life is full." ~John Alfred Jordan "The budget should be balanced, the Treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed lest Rome become bankrupt. People must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance." Cicero - 55 BC "The smallest minority on earth is the individual. Those who deny individual rights cannot claim to be defenders of minorities." - Ayn Rand Cogito ergo venor- KPete “It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker, that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own self-interest. We address ourselves, not to their humanity but to their self-love, and never talk to them of our own necessities but of their advantages.” ― Adam Smith - “Wealth of Nations” | |||
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Some countries don't have a minimum caliber they have a Joules minimum. A 6.5 caliber with a Premium Bullet will kill a Leopard DEAD!!! Divide Joule by 1.357 to get ft. lbs. | |||
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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. | |||
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I used a .375/.284 XP-100 handgun on mine with a 220 gr. Hornady soft point. One shot dead. Used the same gun on a hippo with a 260 gr. Nosler Solid. One shot, dead. Very versatile handgun. Killed about 50% of my African animals with it. Larry Rogers | |||
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I have only shot two leopard, but I did so with my .375 H&H with Nosler Partitions and Trophy Bondeds. The .375 H&H has been my go to for my 13 African Safaris, and is going back this year to Zimbabwe, along with my .375 Flanged double. | |||
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I like big holes in Leopard. ROYAL KAFUE LTD Email - kafueroyal@gmail.com Tel/Whatsapp (00260) 975315144 Instagram - kafueroyal | |||
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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. | |||
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Only shot one. 375 H&H 260 grain accubond. Scope 1x8 Swarovski. He died in the tree | |||
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I was thinking for a two gun safari 416 Rem for the Buffalo and bigger plains game, and 338 Win Mag for Leopard and smaller Plains Game. Since its such pain and expensive to take guns I might just bring the good ole 375 H&H with Northfork 300 gr softs and solid's. I would think any one of those three would punch a hole straight through a leopard. thanks for the post Dave and welcome to AR | |||
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A lot of truth in this. I have seen them killed ( and wounded ) with everything from a 270 win mag to an A square 500. Shot for shot it made very little difference what caliber you hit them with. WHERE you hit them made all the difference. Within the limits of what's legal in the country you are hunting in , shoot the caliber you are comfortable with. | |||
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Welcome to AR Dave. | |||
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300WinMag 180gr TSX. [URL= ]leopard [/URL] | |||
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Hi Dave, Welcome to AR. Hope all is well in Block L-7. Please give Derek and Paula our best. 7 x 57 worked just fine on two in your block. And we never turned on the illuminated reticle. Cheers Jim & Joyce ______________________ DRSS ______________________ Hunt Reports 2015 His & Her Leopards with Derek Littleton of Luwire Safaris - http://forums.accuratereloadin...6321043/m/2971090112 2015 Trophy Bull Elephant with CMS http://forums.accuratereloadin...6321043/m/1651069012 DIY Brooks Range Sheep Hunt 2013 - http://forums.accuratereloadin...901038191#9901038191 Zambia June/July 2012 with Andrew Baldry - Royal Kafue http://forums.accuratereloadin...6321043/m/7971064771 Zambia Sept 2010- Muchinga Safaris http://forums.accuratereloadin...6321043/m/4211096141 Namibia Sept 2010 - ARUB Safaris http://forums.accuratereloadin...6321043/m/6781076141 | |||
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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 MARK H. YOUNG MARK'S EXCLUSIVE ADVENTURES 7094 Oakleigh Dr. Las Vegas, NV 89110 Office 702-848-1693 Cell, Whats App, Signal 307-250-1156 PREFERRED E-mail markttc@msn.com Website: myexclusiveadventures.com Skype: markhyhunter Check us out on https://www.facebook.com/pages...ures/627027353990716 | |||
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You are so right Mark. | |||
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Very good comment there Mark. My personal opinion about a Leopard is that its just another animal and requires no special ammo or calibers. I have personally shot 3 leopards and all 3 of them were shot with my 7x57 Mauser and a 170gr bullet. Only one made it further than 20yard from where it was shot. I feel comfortable and have confidence in the 7x57 I guess the 416 Rugby would work better for some, but how dead do you want the leopard to be. | |||
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This is called the KISS SYSTEM! I have been following it for donkeys years. One rifle, one caliber, one bullet, one load. Amazing how well it works | |||
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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. | |||
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I've had good luck with the 375 H&H and Swift A-Frames. But if I was going on a leopard hunt where I was expecting only small (impala or springbok) bait animals and nothing else, I wouldn't have any problem choosing a 30-something. Either 30-06 or 300 mag of some flavor. I'm not a big fan of Nosler Partitions, but they might be the perfect leopard bullet. Soft front and still able to penetrate for bigger bait animals. You could go even softer, a C-n-C or tipped bullet, but I can't make myself do it! For glass, I have been using Swarovski scopes. Great glass, heavy reticles and above all, reliable! | |||
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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. | |||
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My PH was making fun of me for taking a 270 for everything except the big dangerous animals. A few years, and a few hundred animals later, he stopped complaining. I have shot every plains game animal with various 270 caliber rifles, never felt I needed anything bigger. One time we came across fresh lion tracks, and I had my 270. I mentioned this to my PH, asking what do we do if we do come across a good lion. "Shoot it" he said. "I don't have the right gun!" "The lion will not know that" And this was from a PH who never stopped complaining about my shooting | |||
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I'm surprised to read a post from a PH that doesn't recommend the 7 X 57 - one gun for all Africa. I agree that hunters should use the gun they shoot best. Where I take issue is the "I have to shoot stuff with the smallest rifle that will get the job done" mentality. Using your deer rifle for deer is one thing - deliberately, intentionally using a light bullet for something that can scratch back is not the same. My .300 Win Mag kicks the dog out of me every time I yank the trigger (yes, the perceived recoil affects my controlled trigger squeeze). My .375 H&H in a heavier configuration is much more pleasant to shoot, even with 300 grain Nosler Partitions (think push rather than kick). And the couple of leopards that I punctured with the .375 seemed to concur with the assessment that bigger is better. The first died on the limb without a twitch, and the second never even flipped his tail. No tracking, no drama, no wondering if my deer gun did the trick. NOT saying a smaller rifle wouldn't have killed 'em just as dead - just reassuring to know that I wasn't skating on the edge when the consequences of a marginal shot are real. My 3 cents (inflation ya know). | |||
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I have only shot 1 leopard. Used a 30-06. He was dead under the tree. More important than the caliber is the scope. I used a Trijicon 2.5-10 with 56 mm objective lense. Great light gathering and the illuminated reticle was easy to place on the cat. USMC Retired DSC Life Member SCI Life Member NRA Life Member | |||
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Excellent advise. The 30.06 and 300WM are also very fine calibers in the right hands. ROYAL KAFUE LTD Email - kafueroyal@gmail.com Tel/Whatsapp (00260) 975315144 Instagram - kafueroyal | |||
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In the 1940s, 50s and 60s there were a lot of leopards in India (we used to call them Panther, they are identical to the African Leopard). My father shot a great number of them, many of them with his favorite 9x57 mauser, which by the way he also used on many of the tigers he shot. Moving on to the story: On our remote farm, one day the cook came and told my father that a wild cat had started to come every other night and was taking the chickens. My father decided to put an end to that business so sat up with a flashlight and his brno model 1 .22 rifle. Shortly after it got dark the chickens started making a noise and the cook came running to say the cat had returned. My dad went out on to the back verandah (porch) with the torch in one hand and the 22 in the other. In the light of the torch he saw a full grown leopard standing behind the house with a chicken in its mouth. Without further fuss he shot it behind the shoulder and the leopard took off to be found the next morning in some bushes behind the house. Not saying a 22 is ideal for leopard but just sharing a story from a time gone by never to return. We make a big deal today about shooting a leopard! In those bygone times even a small time casual hunter shot a dozen or so leopards! Many of them with a shotgun using LGs and SGs or Lethal ball. Eley ammo. Arjun Reddy www.huntersnetworks.com 30 Ivy Hill Road Brewster, NY 10509 Tel: +1 845 259 3628 DSC booth # 236 SCI booth # 1148 | |||
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Great story Arjun! | |||
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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 | |||
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Leopards are rather special, and one has to take into consideration that they are cats, and cats like to play. To help in this regard, the hunter has to place his shot precisely to get the game going. 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 | |||
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A very effective weapon and still in great favour by most PHs when following up on a wounded Leopard; hard to beat for action at close quarters. Eley may not be the choice today as there are some far more serious high brass shells and shot choices available on the market. | |||
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Sadist !! ..... | |||
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Africa. ROYAL KAFUE LTD Email - kafueroyal@gmail.com Tel/Whatsapp (00260) 975315144 Instagram - kafueroyal | |||
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Haven't killed any, but know lots of folks who have, as well as read a bit as well as watch videos, so I guess I'm a self proclaimed "expert by osmosis" So, what I have learned is Cats hate "speed" and with that in mind a fast-stepping round would a good expanding bullet that holds together (like a Partition) would be my choice as in my favorite caliber, the 300 Weatherby. USN (ret) DRSS Verney-Carron 450NE Cogswell & Harrison 375 Fl NE Sabatti Big Five 375 FL Magnum NE DSC Life Member NRA Life Member | |||
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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 MARK H. YOUNG MARK'S EXCLUSIVE ADVENTURES 7094 Oakleigh Dr. Las Vegas, NV 89110 Office 702-848-1693 Cell, Whats App, Signal 307-250-1156 PREFERRED E-mail markttc@msn.com Website: myexclusiveadventures.com Skype: markhyhunter Check us out on https://www.facebook.com/pages...ures/627027353990716 | |||
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That is not much fun at all! It becomes a bit more exciting when the truck arrives with the trackers after the shot, and both you and your PH look a bit worried about what could happen soon. Especially as there is no leopard in sight, and a few selected leaves with blood on them leading into a nasty thicket. Each of the two trackers is trying his best to make sure the other one is slightly ahead of him. Suddenly, one of them steps on something rather slippery under the leaves, and in a fraction of a second he becomes airborne, as he sees the spots under the leaves! They do not seem to catch on that leopard do not bury themselves under the leaves | |||
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Hello again, If caliber does not matter,shoot them in the right place and they die,what is the right place?Are we aiming for the head,neck anywhere in the chest cavity,point of shoulder or are we trying to spine the animal?If this 'right place' is a trade secret please ignore my question! Thanks, Brair | |||
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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 MARK H. YOUNG MARK'S EXCLUSIVE ADVENTURES 7094 Oakleigh Dr. Las Vegas, NV 89110 Office 702-848-1693 Cell, Whats App, Signal 307-250-1156 PREFERRED E-mail markttc@msn.com Website: myexclusiveadventures.com Skype: markhyhunter Check us out on https://www.facebook.com/pages...ures/627027353990716 | |||
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Reminds me of a book I read where the hunter feels a wet drop on him and finds it is blood dripping from the tree. The leopard was either dead on the tree or it flopped down in front of him. 5 minutes earlier and it would have been a serious mauling! "When the wind stops....start rowing. When the wind starts, get the sail up quick." | |||
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I used a .375 H&H Mag. on mine. It was the legal minimum in Tanzania, but by no means a real, practical minimum. It sure worked. I appreciated having an illuminated reticle scope on it, too. I have tried to simplify things, and instead of taking three rifles, as I used to do, I now take no more than two, a heavy and a .375. Sometimes I only take a .375, if no buffalo, elephant or hippo is on license. Why a .375 under those circumstances? Because I never carry anything lighter than an elephant rifle when in elephant country, even if I'm not hunting elephant! Mike Wilderness is my cathedral, and hunting is my prayer. | |||
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Well said Mark. If he is sitting head on then centre of the chest. Your PH will know exactly the shooting position and best ask him to illustrate it for you. Generally all baits are set for the broadside shot which is back of shoulder in the lungs. Never shoot him lying down. ROYAL KAFUE LTD Email - kafueroyal@gmail.com Tel/Whatsapp (00260) 975315144 Instagram - kafueroyal | |||
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