I've selected subject animal to hunt in Zimbabwe this June in addition of course to Buffalo and others on the agenda. Question is, how does one hunt hyenas? over bait or as "targets of opportunity" much like baboons, which I also plan to hunt. Any info would be appreciated. thanks, jorge

jorge,

I think most hyenas are killed as targets of opportunity as you said. They do come readily to bait but you have to set the bait up specifically for them. We killed a big male over a bait we set for them and I recommend that method if you really want one.

Regards,

Mark

I will only speak from my experience, but on my last African safari, I wanted to get a hyena or two because I had never taken one, and put it on my wish list up front. My PH suggested that we get my lion out of the way first then we would bait for hyenas. We took two hind quarters of buffalo that we had used for lion bait and chained them to the base of trees and covered them with branches to keep the vultures away. We then checked them between hunting other game, mostly at first light, hyenas being mostly nocturnal. The first morning there were no hyenas around, then we noticed why, there had been a lion on the bait the night before. About that time he stepped out from behind a bush about 40 yds away. We slowly walked away. The lion had made scrapes all around the bait and urinated on them to keep the hyenas away (didn't work). The next morning we walked in to the bait just before dawn. There were hyenas all around the bait, making a lot of noise. They were in the process of running the lion off the bait. We backed away quickly as the lion was chased straight toward us (run was more like it). We then went back to the bait and managed to take a large female. The females as many probably know are usually larger and are the clan leaders, their's being a matriarchal society. They also have other male physical characteristics. Baboons have always been taken as a target of opportunity, as are usually some around when you are out hunting. For some reason, baboons seem to hang around areas where humans stay.

Jorge,

In Tanzania we baited for them. But I ended up taking one as a "target of opportunity".







Jerry Huffaker did a nice rug and skull mount on mine.

Regards,

Terry

P.S.
We saw the biggest, ugliest hyena while driving around. I didn't have time to get my rifle ready, or I would have shot that big-ugly out of the back the hunting car.

I took this Hyena in Zimbabwe last July. The way I hunted them was baiting, shot a few Impala does and strung them up on a tree, one hind quarter high enough so they, (the hyenas) could eat. the other hind high enough that they couldn't reach it, this would keep them there all night.

A blind was built, so a silent but deadly stalk could be made. We would sneak in to the bait just before light, the one morning we got to watch a female leopard feed on the Impala, that was a treat, got great video.

I shot this hugh lady just after daylight on the third morning, she came in with a male, I shot the first one and my friend took the second one.

I had a chance earlier in the safari at 5 Hyenas running together, but after chasing them up and down these hills they just plain out ran us!
Here's my Hyena.........it will be #15 in SCI

T. Carr,

I really like your hyena rug - thanks for posting the picture of it.

Thanks for the inputs gents, and Terry thanks for the rug idea. Hopefully, I'll be able to report a successful hunt! jorge

Jorge,

I have had good luck on hyenas some years, and drew a blank on others.

They are targets of opportunity, and sometimes we have shot them on lion bait.

In 1993 I think I shot about 6! Starting with the first animal of the safari.

We drove to a water hole in a valley, and as we stopped, we saw this hyena walking down the miuddle of the valley, paying absolutely no attention to us, as we were in plain view.

He passed about 100 yards from us, and a 130 grain Barnes X from a 270 Ackley sent him to the happy hunting grounds.

Hey Saeed, hopefully I'll be that lucky. I don't have that many animals on the menu, so I'll be able to dedicate some time to the Hyena per se and give him a good send off from a 180gr Partition out of a 300 H&H! jorge

I'm considering hunting a hyena when I go to Namibia in 2007. The outfitter said that the most common way to hunt them is to call them in . Has anyone ever hunted hyena this way? It sounds like quite a hoot.

I hunted for one this past Oct in Zim. We used a buff ribcage for bait. We snuck into a natural blind before dawn that was about fifty yards from the bait. As we approached we could here them laughing and could here bone cracking from maybe a couple of hundred yards. I shot the one I could make out best. I had thought there were six or seven hyhenas on the bait but when I pulled the trigger more exploded from behind the bait and the brush.



It was a fun hunt and I hope to do it again this Sept. I am also having a rug made, but the head will be flat. The skull and teeth are impressive and will go in my son's room.

JPK

Hunt them over bait. It's the fun way!

I got my first taste of hyena hunting last year in Zim while filming for the Tracks Across Africa TV show in the Chifuti Safaris camp. Our hunter was Jim, a buyer with Cabela's, the PH was Mike Payne. We chained a hind quarter bait of a hippo to a tree one morning and built a blind about 75 yards away on a small hill overlooking the dry river bed below. The plan was to check the bait at first light each morning.

The first morning we checked the bait we parked the truck and made our way toward the blind. About half way there we could hear a male lion roaring on the bait, telling the world this was his spot. The hair on the back of my neck stood up a little, it was my first time to hear a lion roar like that. Mike raised his hand to halt our progress and whispered, "Lions on the bait. I took a good female on this same tree last year. They probably have any hyenas in the area buggered but it's not every day you get to see lions on a bait. We can continue onward and try to get a peek at them if you like, maybe we'll get lucky and see a worthy hyena lurking about." We all agreed to take a look.

As we closed the last 20 yards of walking to arrive at the blind the still, quiet of the morning erupted in what can only be described as a feline explosion. Lions were going everywhere, we were right in the middle of them. Females were growling and one gave us a close and meaningful growl. Everyone froze, Mike raised his hand and whispered, "Don't move, Tyge give me some light if she comes." He was talking about the female that was growling in the bush not 20ft in front of us. I quickly dug out my spare flashlight and had two at the ready while my video camera was slung over my shoulder. Mike had his bolt action .416 at the ready with the safety off (I heard him take it off in all the commotion, a sound that told me right then we were in trouble, don't ask me how I heard it but it may as well have been someone breaking a three inch sapling. The sound was unmistakable.), as did hunter with his .375 H&H. And now there was something else making me feel uncomfortable. It was our park ranger, his back was mashed up against mine. The moment I felt it and realized his back was married to mine is the first time I heard the other female, she was behind us and calling her cub back to her. I never looked but something told me his AK 47 was trained in her direction. This all took place in the matter of seconds but it felt like minutes. Mike kept whispering to us to be calm and don't move. We obeyed his requests.

As soon as it happened it was over. The lions moved off and we could hear them calling cubs back to the pride. Mike turned to us and let us know it was over. He was smiling. Jim, our hunter, was not, neither was I. Our park ranger was sweating profusely. Mike had us keep quiet and we crept up to the blind. Sure enough, there was our hyena, a lone scavenger on the bait. Jim took him with a clean shot and it was over. The sun hadn't even began to peak over the trees and we already had a trophy down. It was a really good male and made a fine trophy. We were all excited and high fiving each other, what a hunt.

As we loaded the hyena in the truck I asked Mike just how close we came to getting scratched on our way into this morning. He laughed and replied in that accent only someone from Zim has while saying, "Tyge, you don't get scratched by a lion, you get mauled! It was touch and go for a second there, I thought the ole girl was coming. The thing is, a female lion will bluff charge most of the time. Had it been a male on the hill with those sleeping lionesses he would have came no doubt. We walked into them while they were asleep and the ole boy was still down at the bait. We were very, very lucky."

Yeah, I was on a hyena hunt once. It was quiet a rush!

FOM,

Your run in with lions promts me to mention the evening prior my success with the hyhena. I had killed a buff in the late morning several hours drive from camp. By the time we had the buff back at camp our afternoon options were limited by daylight. We could either take a walk along a near by river or try sitting for the hyhena. We decided to sit for a hyhena.

As it was getting dark we had a lion roaring on one side of the bait and the hyhenas laughing on the other side. Both were close, maybe a 100 yards or so out from the bait.

We were hunting lions too so either would have been just fine, but neither would approach the bait. The lion was probably awaiting arrival of more pride members and the hyhenas were afraid of the lion.

Th PH was worried that one or the other would circle the bait and wind us, shutting down the bait so we left before too long. We ended up watching that lion on another bait a couple of days later. He was huge, but just a bit too young to shoot.

JPK

i've done it a couple of ways - 1st time we made a drag with a skunky old leopard bait, hung it just outside the camp and sat around in the kitchen on the barstools. when it came it it was just like a ghost drifting in and out of the brush in the moonlight. Took over 2 hours to finally come in for a shot. the second time we had shot a lion and his kill was still on the ground. so the next night the PH had a tape recording of hyenas feeding. We parked the truck about 100 yds from the old lion kill and turned the tape on. we had hed a couple that sounded like they were a mile or 2 away. It didn't take 15 minutes when we heard something. There were 3 that must have run like hell to get there and they were about 5 feet away from the truck.

I have called them in and also seen them in the moon light at night....would have been an easy shot with a scoped rifle.

My hyena hunt in 2001 (Northern Province, RSA near Kruger) is among my most memorable hunts. We never saw a hyena while hunting plains game so we decided to set a bait and sit at night and wait. I shot a young warthog for bait. We selected a spot on a knoll with a single dead tree emerging from its peak. We removed the intestines and other internal ogrgans and drug them behind our land cruiser laying a scent trail for a mile or two from three different directions - all leading to our bait site. At the site, we tied the carcass in the dead tree about three feet above the ground. We the took out a 4 ft. wide roll of burlap and wrapped it around some trees to form a blind about 30 yards from the bait. We then settled in for the wait in late afternoon and helped ourselves to a few Castle Lagers we had the good foresight to bring along. Sitting in the bush hunting at night was a thrill for me.

It was a full harvest moon that rose about 10:30. Around 11:30, my PH could hear the hyena approaching. I couldn't hear him because I am practically deaf from a lifetime of shooting without muffs. My PH said he was noisy as hell. I'll take his word for it.

In either event, the hyena approached the bait but wouldn't take it. He was clearly suspicious and edgy. After a few moments, he moved away and went behind a small bush. I couldn't see him in the moonlight although my PH could with his binoculars. We finally decided (using hand signals - we didn't dare speak) to flip on the red lens. As the light went on, I raised my .375 H&H and found him in the scope behind the bush. All I could see were his eyes but I knew he wouldn't hold long so I fired.

We never saw him run off so my PH told me to stay at the blind while he investigated. After a few minutes, I heard him let out a big Whoop!

It was a lucky shot. The .375 H&H Nosler partition went straight in the hyena's left eye (no damage to the pelt whatsoever!) and drove through his brain and into his spine. There was no exit and the hyena never took a step.

He was a beautiful specimen. Beautiful spots and a surprisingly thick coat. In terms of weight, he was "off the scale". We weighed him back at camp - 198.4 lbs.!

He is now a fine looking rug on the floor in my humble trophy room. I'm off to Tanzania this fall- mainly for buff and croc but I'm going to try to bag another "poor man's leopard". :-)

I really like the rug and skull mounts! Great ideas for my upcoming hunt should we find a hyena as hoped for.

HUNTED LAST AUGUST in Zambia and we hunted our hyena at nite with a call. Called like the heyenas, howling and wolfing and had them coming from 360 degrees. Was a blast, just wish I coulda shot more than 1 !!

Billy

More power to ya. Hyenas ("jibs" to an old MK like me) scare me in a very old place. Even a hyena rug gives me the fan-tods, let alone a full mount. And, the scat in my backyard from my Airedale after an overdose of deer bones startles me.

BNagel

I hope I posted this picture correctly. This was one of the highlights of my three safaris so far. I had taken these hyenas under bait, in the same manner as Widowmaker416. When we arrived the next morning there were several still hanging around. I popped one and the rest vanished. We gathered him up and were getting sorted for pictures. In the mien time my wife is getting hysterical pointing off in the distance. The group of us is ignoring her. When I did finally take a look to se what got her so worked up there was and entire clan of hyena headed straight for us. Maybe there’re 70 yards off. Up went the sticks, crack, down goes number two. Brent, the PH (who seems to enjoy hunting these critters as much, if not more than anything), saying hit another. Crack, down goes a third. Brent is all worked up now, yelling to shoot again. I didn't. Three is enough for me. I would have been able to clip one, maybe two more if I really let that blood lust take a hold of me.

Great topic. This is something I would like to do. That triple is nice and not something you see everyday. Wonder why they stuck around that long? I figured hyenas were smarter than that.

BNagel, by MK do you mean missionary's kid?