LaRita and I've been talking over hunts we'd like to do in 2006 and this is the two that I bring up most often. I've looked at a few web sites, some past post here and it looks like the cost is pretty much the same. To keep things in our budget, the elephant hunts I've looked at are 7 day hunts, with her going and taking one or two plains game. The Leopard hunts, for around the same cost, are 10 to 12 days and again with her taking some plains game. We've talked about it and still don't know which one to do. The real problem is I want to do both but can't, so I guess the better question might be which one to do first? I like the Leopard hunt because its longer and I feel that gives you a better chance. Plus I've got a thing about hunting big cats, I'm planning a Mt. Lion hunt for next winter, and I've got a 338win just waiting for a Leopard. The Elephant.... Well, it's an Elephant hunt, what more do I need to say other than I want one!! The down side is it's only 7 days and I don't have a big bore rifle. So any thoughts, anyone you'd recommend?

take the elephant hunt!!!!!!!!!!!! sqrew the cats.

For your situation, leopard may be best. You can have your wife shoot the baits. And the leopard will look great in your trophy room.

Ele!!! unless it is a leopard hunt with dogs.

What is the success rate for leopard in the area you want to hunt in? It is my understanding that not everyone who goes, comes back with a dead leopard!
peter.

If you hunt leopard (successfully) you'll hunt leopard just once. If you hunt tuskless elephant, you'll be back for more. Pick your poison!

Pros and cons... I hunted leopard w/my oldest son along, and there is only so much room in the blind and it is hard for three people collectively to remain silent. Tuskless ele hunting on the other hand, depending on when and where, can involve a lot of walking. While ele is more of an adrenaline rush, the "process" of leopard hunting is awesome, providing you are there and involved from start to finish. If you do leopard, make sure to talk about trophy shipment times and stipulate this in the contract if so inclined. 10-days may not be enough for leopard (w/o dogs), and I'd suspect the cheaper the hunt the lower the odds. I'd personally forgoe the cougar hunt and do a 14-day leopard hunt. If 7-days for tuskless is not enough to justify the "overhead" (I agree), spend a few days at Vic Falls or other.

Good luck!

Mark, I believe 10 days is not enough for either of these hunts! That is, if the Leopard is tracking, or over bait, and five days is not enough for an ele hunt under any cercumstances.

The 338 is too much gun for leopard, and may absolutely destroy the hide! A 30-06 with a 165 gr Nosler Partition is perfect for the cat. More important for the leopard over bait is the scope used. The scope should gather as much light as posible, and have a lighted center reticle. The scope should have a crosshair that is black when the illumination is turned off. The 338, and a 30-06 is a good combination to take, because the 338 can be used best for things like Eland, wildebeast, Zebra, or sable, while the 06 is best for the smaller plains game, and the Leopard. Your bait animals can be trophies as well as baits. Baits are needed for several bait sites, so several will be needed. IMO 14 days is the minimum for Leopard, and 21 would be better. Now if you are looking at Leopard behind dogs, then 10 days may be enough.

The elephant hunts are a lot of work, and I'd not take less time than I would for Leopard, and you are right, a larger rifle is needed for this boy!

Having done leopard over bait, I would never do it again.

The elephant is going to be a real hunt, regardless of whether it is a trophy or not.

mark,

Do you think your wife would enjoy bluff charges from cow elephant?

Can she walk an elephant track double time for 3 hours to look the elephant over?

If so, perhaps elephant hunting is for you.

How is your tolerance for sitting still by the hour while being pestered by bugs. If not good, leopard hunting might not be for you. Also leopard hunting is a low percentage deal if you only have a week.

Mark I haven't done either hunt, so use my info accordingly. The ele is the largest land mammal, save the cat for your old age in the blind. Besides you can get a panther stateside. Good luck, Ben

More "have never done either" opinions from me:

My first hunch was elephant, than I thought it over and still said elephant. However, you admit to have a thing for big cat hunts, you'd like the longer hunt, and you don't have the equipment for ele. Sounds like you have answered your own question.

I was called in on my first cougar hunt this Saturday, actually most of the hunting was already done when I got there, all we had to do was try to locate the dogs and get to the treed cat. Quite the effort in its own right, but the following part would have made me feel like being called in to an execution. The hunter turned the cat down, it was offered to me for a fair price, but I declined.

I had a great time photographing the cat, and doing a little staring contest. A truly magnificent animal. I'll kill one in the future, I'm sure, but not yet.

I'd go for elephant.

Frans

For what it's worth, I'm of the opinion that Ele hunting opportunities will be gone way before the Leopard's will.

In other words, i believe there will come a time in our lifetimes, when elephant hunting will be either non-existant or so expensive that all but the extrememly wealthy will be able to participate.

You may fall into that latter category, but from that perspective, an elephant hunt (IMO) represents the most rapidly closing window of opportunity.

Since I have no patience for sitting in a blind, it would be the elephant hunt for me. Besides, you need a big bore!

Ive done the leopard and its a hoot. Dont think I would like to do it with dogs though. Ele hunting is like nothing else on earth. Dont know how long this tuskless thing will be as resonable as it is now but I would do it while its still cheap. Remember buffalo used to be 1200 dollars!!!

I'd go for the leopard. The tuskless elephant can't be brought home if I'm not mistaken, the leopard can. I'm a trophy hunter, so being able to display things on my wall is very important. I tend to forget/ put away/ lose pictures, the trophies give me a special three-dimensional reminder that I can always enjoy. I also like that the leopard gives me more days in Africa. You need to make a list of what you want out of the hunt. Once you've got that all settled, compare what each hunt offers and which is best suited for you.

Another side note. Africa is going to be probably much warmer than hunting here in the states. I like the sun, so spending as many days as I can hunting in the sun is also a plus for me.

Al

Go for the tuskless elephant, shoot two of them.
By the time you shoot your bait for the leopard it will cost you more than the two elephants.
Cow elephant hunting is as exciting as it gets.

I've now taken 4 tuskless elephants and will be going back next month for more elephant chasing. The writer that said hunting tuskless elephants is an adrenalin rush is grossly understating the rush. Hunting the cow herds is probably the most dangerous hunting on earth, maybe 10 or 20 times as dangerous as hunting bulls. I was charged by a tusked cow on my first tuskless kill. You might want to wear Kimbies when you hunt. My PH wouldn't take me into cow herds if I didn't carry a gun much bigger then a 375. There arn't very many tuskless elephants so you have to look at quite a few herds before you find one, at least where I hunted. Thaty usually means getting close, like 20-30 yards. Five days seems like an awfully short time to find one. I saw 4 in 21 days. One was too youg and 2 had calves with them. Check with references to see if there are many tuskless where your going.

I am still hunting for my Leopard to go with my Mt Lion, I am dying to have both on the wall. I do believe the Leopard will give you more self satisfaction - if hunted the hard way over bait in the day light not by spot light. Just my thoughts. That is not to say I wouldn't like to hunt Elephant tusks or no tusks but they are secondary to the Cat, besides a little pussy never hurt any man, eh.

Thanks for the replies and you've given me more to think on, though I'm still not sure how this will turn out. I guess the dreaming and planning is all part of the fun.

There isn't any possible way to combine the two is there? It may be a bit more, but then you can hunt elephant during the day and leopard when a bait is hit. You might want to take a look at Buzz Charlton Safaris (www.buzzcharltonsafaris.com). He offers a 10 day lioness, tuskless elephant, hippo hunt special for $16,000. He also offers a bull elephant hunt for $13,500. I've heard some great things about Buzz, and talked to him myself, he might be willing to switch the lioness for a leopard as the trophy fees are the same. I'd give him an email.

I've done both. Was successful on the ele hunt. Was not successful on my leopard hunt. Elephant is far and away more active and exciting hunting. Closing in on a big bull or cow herd in heavy jess is a adrenalin junkie's dream and the purest form of hunting IMO! My cat hunt was on my first safari on the Lemco in the Zim lowveldt and I don't recommend it for first-timers. Hunt buff and/or plainsgame and get a feel for African hunting before hunting cats. Sitting in a leopard blind until midnight unsuccessfully can be hell on one's attitude about all hunting in general and leopard hunting specifically. However, I am booked for ol' spots for 2006 with Chifuti Safaris in Zim. Being National Parks land they can ony hunt during daylight hours and limit the cats they hunt so success is high. That will make it my 10th safari before I hunt leopard again! In the end it's your call...which trophy do you really want to hunt and which is the most meaningful to you. By the way, you can now import your ele cow skin from Zimbabwe, so you can bring a reminder of your trophy back.

bwanamrm, this will be our third trip, we hunted Namibia in 03 and South Africa in 04.

Yesterday LaRita and I went to the Alabama Chapter SCI Expo where we met with a couple of Zim phs. One of them said he could do both hunts in one trip, that if we'd book a 14 day Leopard hunt he'd let me take a tuskless elepant for the trophy fee. So LaRita and I are talking that over, it looks like the cost of doing one hunt for both is quite a bit less that booking two hunts. Even though the cost of the one combo hunt is pretty high, the cost of doing two hunts is about $8k more. Plus I love the idea of spending 14 days in Africa. We'll see how things work out.

On the up side, after leaving the Expo we went by a near by gun shop, just to kill time and what did I find. A used Winchester three-seven-five stainless for a $200 less than a new one!! I felt the only right thing to do was to bring it home with me

Great and best of luck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!