AR friends,
I just got back from Namibia on a leopard hunt (with hounds)
no luck on the cat. This is the second attempt for Mr. Spots. First was in Zem over bait 2004. I realize that sometimes lady luck smiles on you, and other times she laughs at you!
so my questions are:
1-where is the largest concetration on leopards? My thinking is that large populations might increase sucess rate.
2. any of you have suggestions of other areas or PH's to try in the future?

Pick an area in Zim where hunting after dark is allowed. It's not in Parks areas (ie most of the concessions). The Matobos area in the South has plenty but they are plenty smart too.

RSA is very tough. Those leopards all have PhDs.

Moz is tough as well because there is a lot of food and no cats after dark in that country.

Botswana can be good around Ghanzi. Dogs/Bushmen are best bet.

Namibia is good in spots.

quickshot,

All leopard hunts and leopard hunters are not equal. A good area with a real cat man should give you a 90%+ chance at a nice tom leopard. The Luangwa river in Zambia has a very good concentration of cats. We work with Johnnie DuPlooy there and our clients are 100% on leopard. It is not unusual to see cats in daylight or have multiple cats feeding at once. There are good leopard areas in several countries but if I had to pick one the Luangwa would be my choice.

Mark

You need to look for an area that not only has a goodish Leopard population but also areas where they're not well educated....... An area with lots of cats that are educated may still well mean that you'll dip out.

As Russ says, RSA is tough, simply because they're so educated here, Botswana is good, but I'd add Tuli Block into the pot as one of the best areas.......... the bad news is that they only issued about 20 permits this year and I suspect they may not issue any for 2009.

Tanzania is a good option for plenty of dumb cats, but it is expensive. - I'd recommend either the Selous or the west for that.

Zim has some biggish cats as well, but what will happen there is anyone's guess at the moment.

Some areas of Mozambique are pretty good, but you have to pick the right operation and you'll probably have to book early.

The other piece of advice I'd offer is that you not only take care in picking the country and area, but also the PH you'll be hunting with.

We've seen some pics of some very big Leopards on this forum over the years, from many different places, but the biggest I've know of are in the west of Tanzania........ they're the size of lionesses up there!

Here's one of the ones I took (in Botswana)with a client last year.

PM me about mid-September....I'll let you know if Zambia and PH DuPlooy remain at 100%

Gary
DRSS
NRA Lifer
SCI
DSC

Who did you hunt with in Namibia?

Mac

IMO, the Luangwa Valley of Zambia has a very heavy population of Leopard, that so extensive that I've never been there that I didn't see leopard in daylight! The upper, and Lower Lupande are, or at least were, very good for Leopard. Lots of Lion there as well.

quickshot;

Don't feel badly, you aren't the only one who has put in considerable time hunting leopards without success.

I thought I had a hex on me with regard to leopards. I had spent a couple safaris before I connected and then the spell was broken.

At one point my husband even asked me to quit hunting leopards because he never saw me (I was always in a blind).

So far Tanzania (Selous) and Zimbabwe (Makuti)have worked for me. This is my Leopard from last year in Zim.


Don't give up!!! Best regards, D. Nelson

when i was in the luangwa i saw quite a few leopards, but did not hunt them at the time. I spent several trips in zim trying to find an exceptional cat. I believe i hunted for 54 days before finding one. It's my belief that the largest come from the loveld in zim. The save conservatory has a really excellent population of huge cats. I finally took one with jumbo moore. That said I'm booked with john duploy again for next year to go back to the luangwa for leopard & buff. I know the cats are much smaller there, but there probably more of them. Size wise, the lowveld produces the 150# plus males, with ones going 170 plus not really all that uncommon. The hunt on the conservatory is a night hunt (although i shot mine in light) . in zambia the cats are more in the 120# class and are taken in daylight.

I find the highest concentration is most often nearby the leopard tracks.

Quickshot,

You have a PM.

The Selous G.R. has plenty of Leopard and they are relativ easy to bait. Size is average. IMO

Seloushunter

Try Bushman Safaris in Bulawayo. That's Theo Bronkhorst who is the PH and Outfitter. He has excellant dogs and good areas in Zimbabwe. Always produces good Leopard and has reasonable quota. I believe his primary Leopard area is in the Turk Mine area.

A hound hunt in The Save River Valley conservancy is probably as close to a sure bet as any leopard hunt can get and still be a fair chase hunt (not canned). As others here have stated this area is among the best for size also.

Mckay
I hunted with SMJ Safaris-Stephan Jacobs, the houndsman was Willem Rouex(sp) from South Africa. I think Willem was on Boddington's leopard video.
The area was southwest of Windhoek about 2 hours near Gamsberg Pass. Very mountainous area. lots of Hatmanns Zebra in the area

Nickudu
funny comeback!

quote:

Originally posted by quickshot:

Nickudu
funny comeback!

Well alrighty then! A man with a sense of humor.

Been runnin' about 50-50 around here lately.

Quickshot,

I took this from Mazunga safaris website. I spoke to Brent Hein and Bill Lemon at the S.C.I. Convention and they are hunting/marketing Lemco.

My husband and I were there in 2005 and it is a great game area. My husband took a big leopard from there.


Leopard Hunting
The conservancy is 850,000 acres in extent and our annual quota of 22 leopard reflects an off take of one leopard per every 38,000 acres. Zimbabwe National Park's approved quota is based on 1 leopard per every 12,000 acres. As such, our well below normal off take ensures that the leopard hunting on Lemco is superlative and this is reflected in our success rate of 75% on leopard hunts. With the massive increase in plains game in the area and as such, massive increase in available food, we believe that the leopard density on Lemco is also increasing. This is as a result of leopard not requiring as big a territory as required in areas with less available food. We look forward to the leopard hunting on Lemco becoming even better in the near future.

Well alrighty then! A man with a sense of humor.

Been runnin' about 50-50 around here lately. [/QUOTE]

I have noticed that a few of the crowd around here seems to have their panties in a knot lately----for the gals---change the quote too---a few have their jockeys in a knot

If I were going to use dogs then I would go with Tristan Peacock. If I were to use bait then I would book with Wayne Grant (his book is great). If I really wanted to go all out then I would hunt with the Bushmen trackers and see how long I could run with them...then I would get back into the truck for a few miles.

quickshot,
Many have mentioned Namibia as a country with many leopards. I agree. Using hounds substanially increases the probability of success, assuming that there is a good resident cat population in the area hunted. A good friend accompanied the houndsman, Willem of SA, as an observer last year on Otjikoko. The hunter was an older Spaniard who had previously taken 4 leopards.

It was a most frustrating endeavor for Willem. In the 12 days, Willem put up several different cats. The Spaniard declined to shoot as 3 were female, and the toms were not the monster that he was looking for. All my friend could say was, "The hunter did not deserve a leopard."

I was lucky last year and scored a nice 67 kilo tom in daylight. I am returning in two weeks to Otjikoko to enjoy more plains game hunting and relaxation.

Geoff

geoff,

I wished I could have seen a cat in a tree

in 14 days I saw only one averaged sized track of a male. On the last day we crossed two female tracks and one small male--the small male was traveling with one of the females. Willem did put the dogs down but the dogs couldn't follow the cats-- we lost the scent/tracks within 1-2 hours .
that was it in 14 days. Lady luck wasn't around on this trip.

Try Mike Heath, who has an enormous concession on the Luangwa. You will get shots in the 14 days you have to book. What you do with them is up to you. This is from someone who has both hit and missed Mr. Spots.

My three "top spots" for ol' spots (pardon the play on words) would be...

1. Northern Luangwa Valley, Zambia: Tons of cats, we had leopards on our hyena baits!

2. Masailand, Tanzania: Expensive but we saw leopard in broad daylight in Lolkisale.

3. Chewore North, Zimbabwe: Had 5 cats feeding on six baits and took mine on the morning of the sixth day.

These areas may not have the biggest cats but do have nice concentrations of leopard and can be lured into the tree during daylight hours! A big plus for me in hunting leopard. Good luck in your search for a trophy tom! PM me for outfits if interested.

I have yet to go to Zimbabwe, but Lokisale and athe Luangwa are both fabulous hunting destinations. Good picks Russell.

Yep, the secret to getting a leopard is to go where there are lots of leopards. Then it is easy.

Quickshot-tryNorman Crooks @ Pro Safari-100% sucess w'dogs West Nicholson area {Zim}. Lots of kopes- big cat habitat - contact T @texaslso.com -Good hunting!!!!

nice cat!! Laredo, any contact info for your suggestions?

Selous.

Quickshot- contact Terry Greer -texaslso.com - as he is a booking agent for Pro Safari. I have used Terry numerous times with great results !!!! Here is another pic.

quickshot,
Sorry that luck was not with you. I have never met Willem, but by reputation, he is one of the better houndsmen operating in SA and Namibia. Now, I more fully understand your question about cat population density.

Don't give up the quest. Boddington, himself, admits going something like 65 days in the blind before scoring. The leopard was his nemesis.

Geoff

45 days hunting leopards on 4 trips two in Zim and two in Tan. Go to Zambia, go with Johnny Du Plooy, Hunt with Alister Norton. Could have taken my leopard on the first night passed on a so, so cat. Shot 150- 160 lbs on 3rd night.
also got a 41 inch buff 5th day
Alister tells me he is 100% on leopard since Zambia opened back up. I belive him. Not as big as Zim but I am tickled to death. Booked With Wendell Reich

Zimbabwe, Zambia's Luangwa Vally and Mozambique's Nyassa area.

It can happen, and not just when hunting them.

Family trip to SA last year was a mixed trip of photo in Kruger and hunting too.

In the first five days in Kruger we saw Spots every day, sometimes in the distance, sometimes very very close.

We were discussing our luck at lunchtime in a cafe and the elderly gentleman on the next table begged us to change the topic (in a rather humorous way). He explained he had been coming to Kruger for 33 years and had still never seen Spots! Our luck was just too painful to listen to!

His luck must have rubbed off on us (I hope ours rubbed off on him ) as we didn't see another spot from that moment on!

I book for Norman Crooks as well. He's been my best leopard guy since 1999. He gets big cats in Zim and Namibia, but we are getting slightly larger cats on average with hounds in Namibia. I have paid deposits on his 2009 and 2010 cats on the best ranches. My client and I shot 2 cats there this past May on a 2x1, 10-day hunt. We would have been done in 4 days had my client been a little fitter (it's a tough hunt in mountainous country), and we chased cats every day we tried.

My cat was 8'1", 176 pounds. My clients was 8'4", 201 pounds. I have 1 cat left in 2009 and 1 in 2010.

The pics speak for themselves.

My cat:

His cat.

Be damn hard to beat those leopards Greg R's guy put them on. Those leopards are toads! I still cannot get over those leopards.