Ladies and Gentlemen,

The following story is from the book THE HUNTING IMPERATIVE; by Richard Harland; published by Rowland Ward; ISBN 0-9584188-7-x.


At one period leopard took up residence in the environs., Killing someone's dog and other domestic ducks and chickens in the workers compound, but invading attempts to kill it. One of my friends gave me a kudu hindquarters late one afternoon and Tsuro hung it in a branch of a tree intending to cut it up for refrigeration the following morning. That night Tsuro brought in my supper with the story of having just seen the Leopard walk past, illuminated by light shining out of the dining room window, and reminded me of the venison hanging from the tree, less than 20 feet from the house. Bvekenya’s nose rose into the air and a deep growl came forth. Leopard confirmed. The only weapon I had in the house was my baby browning .22 autoloader with the scope and silencer, everything else being locked in the armory of the office 100 yards away. Shutting the lamps off, I settled into my chair by the window with the rifle and torch, giving Tsuro and Bvekenya strict instructions to keep silent. Shortly I saw a shadow rear up against the tree trunk, so steadying the .22 I switched on the torch and was ready to shoot. as the beam let up the cat, it dropped to crouch facing me and snarled aggressively. Aiming between the brilliant orbs which stared at me down the scope, from what seemed like a few feet away, I fired. The tiny pop of the underpowered cartridge sounded hopelessly inadequate, and the instant whining noise of the bullet ricocheted startled me. With sideways bound, the leopard disappeared down the river bank, followed by absolute silence. Idiot! Now I hav buggered things up! I thought.
“Tsuro, light the lamp and shut the doors and windows so Bvekenya doesn’t get out. I am going to get a shotgun.†On my return we searched cautiously around the clumps of thorny capparis and undergrowth but saw nothing, and I was not prepared to go right down the bank into the reeds below the house. The next morning we found the leopard, an average sized male, lying dead in the reeds just out of sight where the torch beam had been able to penetrate. When the head skin was removed the path of the bullet was revealed. Entering between the eyes it had hit the sloping bone and slipped along between skin and skull, exiting behind the head then moaning off into the night. The impact, had however resulted in severe hemorrhaging of the brain causing death within seconds even though the skull was not fractured. Lucky me! I thought it might be a very good idea to stops potting away at dangerous game using subsonic .22 squirrel loads with immediate effect. The results can be almost as hair-raising as falling into a river full of things with big teeth.

Great Story! Proper shot placement and a Lot of luck can get the job done!!!!

Great story, but there's a big difference between a trophy hunt and a depredation shoot.

I'm sort of surprised the leopard went any distance at all with a .22 through the brain.

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:
Ladies and Gentlemen,

The following story is from the book THE HUNTING IMPERATIVE; by Richard Harland; published by Rowland Ward; ISBN 0-9584188-7-x.


At one period leopard took up residence in the environs., Killing someone's dog and other domestic ducks and chickens in the workers compound, but invading attempts to kill it. .

Interesting story, but if the above is a quote, then someone needs to find a new editor. That's 'evading', I believe...

We get a lot of people come in here with very powerful air rifles wanting to have them sighted in and "accurised".

None of these rifles are as accurate as the low power target models.

And as many of those who come here know we shoot a lot of the birds and other pests around the yard, they ask what rifle do I use.

They all look with amazement when I tell them I use a target Walther rifle. It is extremely accurate, but does not have as much power.

The secret is where to hit those pests - which include crows, mina birds, pigeons, green iguanas - which can reach up to 3 feet in length.

All I do is shoot them in the head, and they are dead on the spot.

And our crocs enjoy the varried snacks too

quote:

When the head skin was removed the path of the bullet was revealed. Entering between the eyes it had hit the sloping bone and slipped along between skin and skull, exiting behind the head then moaning off into the night. The impact, had however resulted in severe hemorrhaging of the brain causing death within seconds even though the skull was not fractured

quote:

I'm sort of surprised the leopard went any distance at all with a .22 through the brain

ForrestB
You might want to read this again

I don't believe that it went through the brain, as the story relates it going under the skin between the skull and the skin and exiting out at the back of the head. I actually had that happen on a first head shot on a hippo with the .375 H&H. However, the second shot brained him.