I am looking at an opportunity to hunt lepoard in the SAVE in early to mid march. Price is right. I understand there is a drought going on now. Wondered if that makes baiting difficult as the leopard will probably have an easier time hunting congrgated animals. Also is it still too warm causing baits to go off to quickly? What is the consenus?
Brent

Anything that makes leopard hunting on bait easier is good!

And all my hunting has been during the summer months in Zimbabwe, no problems with bait going off at all.

When do the warthogs and impala calve there? Don't go then. Otherwise, sounds like a plan.

Zimbabwean Lowveld has received some rain,some areas drier than others, our advice would be to go sooner than later, as the drier it gets later into the year,you then have potentially more game dying from the effects of the drought.we have noticed far fewer Impala lambs this year in certain parts of the lowveld. Impala usually drop their lambs after the first good rains, same goes for the hogs.

Personally i have always preferred hunting cats in march/april. This time being tail end of the rainy season with the bush being very thick and lots of cover with very few game trails. With the bush being so thick cats are more likely to walk newly cleared roads to mark territory making baiting a little easier. Secondly you need to get in before the peak impala rut or after. Peak time for the rut is May and cats will kill for fun as it is so easy.Again it depends on what area you are going to as some areas do not have the same densities of impala.
Impala calve in late november/december. Warthogs a little earlier. Good luck and have lots of fun.

Thanks Guy, it would be in savuli or massapas with Terry.

A couple of PHs expressed their predilection for the drier months because when it's wet, water and feed is more available and so is game. When it's dry, less game, more concentration around water, and leopards are more apt to "poach" bait than when it's plentiful.

Brent on Masapas you could come right. Masapas is a 35,000 acre property that borders Humani to the south east. It is now wall to wall with people and settlement with minimal management and anti poaching. Your biggest worry here is that Baits are likely to be stolen by settlers.
Savuli i personally have never hunted.Happy Hunting.