Went to South Africa hunting 3 weeks ago and brought over a trail cam for the Outfitter. The whole time we were there we saw PLENTY of leopard spoor and one of the PH's caught glimpse of one from the top of a water tower. A week prior to getting there a leopard had killed a nice size waterbuck. We tried in vain to get a leopard permit but to no avail.

Got this e-mail today.

Thought you would like to see what the wildcam turned up last week whilst I was hunting with a client for bushbuck, hartebeest and wildebeest

As you know, the hartebeest and wildebeest enjoy the same sort of habitat, but totally unsuited for bushbuck who prefer the deep shadows of dense riverine thickets

I thought I would leave it overlooking one of
the waterholes by the river where I had seen fresh bushbuck spoor, hoping to capture a glimpse of a decent sized ram whilst we were up
chasing the hartebeest and wildebeest.

Although I changed the sd card and reviewed the images every lunch time, I had only seen a few bushbuck ewes and young rams on the wildcam,
and I was totally unprepared for this magnificent sight.

During the week I had seen the spoor of a very big leopard tom along the road by the river, and had a few "blank" night time images that I assumed had been triggered by either bats, owls or various nocturnal prowlers out of range of the flash.

You can imagine my absolute elation to capture these images.This is a very big cat, probably in the 7ft/200lb class. Yes the time stamp is correct.

Beautiful pix. They are truly a magnifient animal.

Hutty,

You guys are killing me..I am 26 days out from my safari to the Selous and 21 days...
This is a great big cat...real big male...
Here comes another sleepless night..

Mike

What a great opportunity to see that cat in the day time. Most of us just get a glimpse of one in the daytime even when we are hunting them.

Dak

I hate you guys. Iam not going to be able to
sleep tonight. 42 days and counting. 21 days in Namibia, with leopard #1 on my list

Outstanding photo
Some one shoot that cat!

Wow! I have a S.A. Leopard permit this year in the Zululand area. What a magnificent animal in the pics!

Nice pic. Hope you don't mind me cropping it a little in photoshop to see what I could do. Looks to me like the camera was a little too far away for optimal results. The waterhole is probably a fairly regular stopping off place for the cat, so why not start baiting the same spot and re-site the camera and see what happens?

Yes he is an awesome cat to say the least. I had seen his tracks along a drive river bed when I was there hunting. Hopefully next year one of us can pull a permit a take a shot at this big boy. I almost died when I opened the photos and then saw the time stamp. The outfitter missed him by about 10 minutes. If I get more photos of Mr. Tom I will gladly post. As for those that have leopards in their sights this season, good hunting and shoot straight.

Nice kitty!

John

Hold him right where he is! I am packing my bags and will be there soon!

I would like someones opinion of where would you shoot that cat assuming it was lying down and you were above it as in this picture.

I'd deflate him with an arrow behind the crease slightly below the half way point on the side of his chest. There are a couple of good target 'spots' that will work as aim points.

Look at his elbow on the ground. Call that
spot one, count up six spots to the darkest
one. Bang. Good night kitty!

Hutty: What's wrong with THIS YEAR? I mean, come on, tell us where he's at and we'll take care of him this year, if he's in our leopard permit area. Don't be so stinking stingy....

Use Enough Gun

All you have to do is look over at the Hunt Reports and you will know where this awesome cat is located, the outfitter, PH, and concession. If he is still around next year, I am going to try and get a permit. Not sure the wife will be to happy, it'll cost me, but for a cat like that it would be worth it.

Oh, I think you could find plenty of ways to make your wife happy enough if you shot that big tom leopard.